You can't tell from looking at this table (and boy do we wish we had taken a before picture) but when we purchased a previous sofa at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store they gave us this piece of furniture for free. With just a few simple steps we transformed it into our coffee table. Let's take a look at how we accomplished the task.

If we were to remove the glass top you would see that the table top underneath has water damage and isn't fixable. Our solution to cover up this eyesore was frosted glass. We first measured and then measured again. The first stop was our local glass shop to order custom fit frosted glass. We then made our way over to Home Depot and picked out a paint color--Behr's Velvet Morning. When the glass finally arrived we rolled the paint on the frosted side of the glass, letting it dry for 24 hours. Because the glass is frosted the paint covers much more evenly than if you were to use standard glass. We also picked up some felt pads so the glass top stays in place.
Related DIY Posts
Comments (15)
What a wonderful transformation! You could also further jazz it up by painting the actual table a fun color.
How much did this cost?
Wow! That is awesome.
I'm curious about the cost of the glass.
Hi visualingual, the cost of the glass was right under $50.
I love this! I have kids though and am not sure it would be safe to put glass on top of the coffee table, how easily would it slide off?
" have kids though and am not sure it would be safe to put glass on top of the coffee table, how easily would it slide off?"
Put rubber pads on the glass top and it won't slide off.
Wow, for $50, I love this solution even more. I'd expected it to cost more, given the thickness of the glass, frosting, and finished edge. Very cool!
Think this is a good project/topic, but I must have gotten out of the wrong side of bed this morning. The writing style really puts me off- it's written as if the audience is a group of fourth graders- I mean "Let's take a look at how we accomplished the task" ? C'mon! I think it is such shame and it seems that quite a few AT posts do this. Why? Why? Is it just me?
Maggieann, it's not just you. The quality of writing on AT... varies. I think this tone, though, is part of the "house style," just like the royal "we." It's sometimes annoying, but I think a blog with so many writers posting so many similar/same posts has to enforce a single voice for the sake of over all brand consistency.
I hate to nitpick because I think this is a really cool DIY but, if the glass is just sitting on the coffeetable, why wasn't it removed to show the "before" effect? The post only mentions felt pads, not any kind of adhesive, so I don't see why the writer couldn't go through just a wee bit more trouble to really show the transformation.
Thanks visualingual...glad it is not only me.
To be more constructive, I think a 1/4" or so wide border in a contrasting colour, in about an inch from the edge would really take this to the next level.
Old trick. I've been doing this since college. Don't forget, there are tons of specialty types of glass that can give you many different effects. Even those with high square foot prices don't add up to much when you're just covering a table or dresser top. If you haven't visited your local glass shop yet, you should.
One warning though, stick with squares and rectangles; cutting curves and inside corners ratchets that cost up a huge notch.
I used dark gray glass for the top of my fireplace.
A 19x59 piece with a polished edge (smooth) cost 80 dollars. It sits on a white painted surface and I can add dark shapes of paper under the glass to give it a change of pace in a design way. I only got 1/8 thick---wish I would of gotten it at 1/4 thick. Would of made it a boulder statement. But it still looks great at 1/8th.
VL and Maggieann, your comments recall an argument earlier this week about an AT post plagued by bad grammar. I landed on the "good grammar is a necessity" side and got both boos and cheers for my stance.
For a site that's so visually interesting, I do wish the editors -- if there are any -- could raise the writing quality to the same level.
I'm more interested in the plate with the cool artwork, than the actual project. Where can I get one?