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Trash to treasure: Replace a Glass Table Top

 
This vintage bamboo end table has been totally transformed.  Not only did it get a fresh coat of paint; I also replaced the broken glass table top with a fresh new wood top.

This vintage bamboo end table has been totally transformed.  Not only did it get a fresh coat of paint; I was also able to replace the broken glass table top with a fresh new wood top with major style.

I absolutely adore how this end table turned out, but as usual no transformation is complete without some sad tale of woe.  This table had a very scuffed-up wood finish and it originally had a nice thick piece of beveled glass instead of a wooden tabletop.  I forgot to take a before picture before getting to work, but it looked very similar to this table.

I bought this table at the Goodwill, plopped it in the back of my SUV and headed home.  On my way home, another car abruptly cut me off and I had to slam on my brakes.  I avoided hitting the other car but the sudden stop caused my end table to flip over, sending the glass shattering all over me and the car.  I only had one very tiny cut but I was furious that my glass had been broken.  Now my table had a gaping hole in the top.

Well, the table sat in the basement for awhile.  At first I was planning to simple replace the glass tabletop with new glass, but I didn’t want to just put a thin, cheap piece of glass on the table.  I also didn’t want to spend a ton of money.  Finally inspiration struck.

The hubs cut a nice piece of birch plywood to fit the hole on top of the table.  I stained it with Minwax Jacobean stain and headed over to the Graphics Fairy to find the perfect graphic.  I think sheet music is absolutely beautiful so I chose a scrap of old sheet music as my graphic.

 
It was the perfect shape for my little tabletop.  I used this super simple pencil transfer method to transfer the design to my stained plywood. Then I traced over the design using a basic Sharpie.  Seriously, it was that easy!
 
 
 I painted the body of the table white which made a beautiful ‘frame’ for the wooden top.  (You can see all of my favorite paints right here.)
 
This vintage bamboo end table has been totally transformed.  Not only did it get a fresh coat of paint; I was also able to replace the broken glass table top with a fresh new wood top with major style.
 
 
This vintage bamboo end table has been totally transformed.  Not only did it get a fresh coat of paint; I was also able to replace the broken glass table top with a fresh new wood top with major style.

I love the finished product so much.  It is way more awesome than it would have been with just a fresh paint job and its old glass top.  (But I’m still not happy with that guy that cut me off!)

 

 

Comments

  1. Lauren says

    I’m so sorry about your accident, but glad you weren’t too badly hurt. I must say, though, that this table looks awesome with the wood top and sheet music graphic. I am a music lover so of course my eye is drawn to this; great work!

    Reply

  2. Gloria Fox @ Potentially Beautiful says

    That looks amazing! Broken glass was a bit of a blessing for this table although I’m sorry about all the broken glass in the car and the stupid driver. :-)

    I stopped by your booth last week. Looks great and you have an awesome spot right there in the front of the store.

    Reply

  5. Jody says

    What a great idea of plugging the wood in where the glass once was. I have two coffee tables with similar glass tops and I’ve been trying to come up with something grand to do instead of the glass. I love the sheet music idea. Thank you!

    Reply

  8. Terry says

    Glad you weren’t hurt, but a bad beginning for me usually brings a great ending and you table is no different. Beautiful.

    Reply

  9. Jake says

    I know I already commented, but I just saw it posted on MMS’s furniture link party. So, I figured I’d say it again; nice.

    Reply

  11. Jenny says

    I think this was destiny! A great way to challenge your creativity, right? I know I would have been frustrated too, but it turned out beautifully!

    Reply

  14. Carrie @ lovely etc. says

    Shabbyfriends, I guess it depends on whether you want to preserve and keep the originals or not. If so, you could use scans. For me, the color and texture that the old paper adds is one of the best parts so I would probably just use the originals.

    Reply

  15. Tammy says

    This is truly lovely! I love the sheet music idea. You did a great job. I am your newest follower. Hope you can visit me sometime soon!

    Reply

  19. ivenad says

    I just want you to know i have spent 14 hours looking for a table at thrift stores, habitat, garage sales and consignment shops that I can do this to. I LOVE IT! I did almost get sucked into paying $20 for a similar chair just to do what you did. Total copycat. or wannabe copycat anyway.:)

    Reply

  21. Belinda says

    I have a table just like that. The glass broke many years ago & was too expensive to replace. Thanks to you, I now am inspired to do something similar. Thanks!

    Reply

  24. Jenny says

    It looks great. How scary about the glass breaking all over you. I’m glad you are ok. My Mom has a set of 2 of these that are the original oak color with the glass. I hate those tables, but they sure look good the way you remade them!

    Reply

  33. **CREATIVE CARMELINA** says

    Just stunning! I love the contrast of the white crisp painted table…and then that gorgeous vintage music sheet decoupage! what a great creation!

    Now following you!
    Stop by sometime!

    ciao bella

    Creative Carmelina

    Reply

  34. niartist says

    Love how this turned out. BRAVO!

    I wanted to let you know that I’ve got a great giveaway that ends Friday. It’s for $100 to wallquotes.com, and trust me they’ve got something I know you’ll love!

    Stop by and enter ASAP. I’d love to see what you would do with their products! See you soon!

    Artie
    http://niagaranovice.blogspot.com

    Reply

  35. Anon. says

    Gorgeous! Glad you made lemonade out of lemons re the glass breaking. If you don’t mind me asking, what colour/brand of stain did you use? I’ve got a harvest table I’d like to refinish and your stain colour looks like what I’m looking for!

    Reply

  36. Carrie @ lovely etc. says

    I used Minwax dark walnut stain. I’ve used it a few times since and really love the rich, dark color. Hope your table turns out great!

    Reply

  38. A rootdigger says

    suppose you wanted to do sheet music on the glass, how would you proceed. And with the glass what were you going to do with the table, just paint for a great look too?

    Reply

  39. Carrie @ lovely etc. says

    Good questions. Yes, I was originally just going to keep the glass and paint the table. And I think that would have looked nice too – but the glass breaking definitely pushed me to be a bit more creative and I love the outcome. If you wanted to do sheet music onto the glass, you have a few options. You could decoupage actual pieces of sheet music to the glass using something like Mod-Podge. Or for a look similar to my table, I would probably draw the design on the underside of the glass. They make special glass markers though a regular Sharpie paint pen whould also work. Putting the design underneath will keep the paint from getting scratched off the glass – although you will have to draw the design backwards so that it will appear forwards from above.

    Reply

  41. Bliss says

    Korrie might not know this, but stumbling on her chocolate table was my inspiration to start my blog. A table is still on my agenda, but it’s an intimidating project for me. Yours turned out great, I love the graphic you chose.

    ~Bliss~

    Reply

  42. Angela Serensko says

    Hi! Saw your table with the music sheet; the redone piece that had the broken glass. I want to do something but on a larger scale. My cocktail table has a large glass top that I want to change and this is the greatest idea! Can you tell me how you did it?

    Reply

  43. Kristi moseley says

    i have 2 end tables almost just like this one. I want to do something with the glass because it is all scratched up. Any other ideas other than the music? I am not very crafty! LOL… Also was the bottom wicker hard to paint? I was wondering if the paint puddled up in it? Did you use a brush on it? Thanks!

    Reply

    • Carrie says

      Kristi, Even if you didn’t do music, you could still do stained plywood or even painted wood. You could also possibly just wrap the glass with a pretty piece of fabric. If it fits snuggly, you might not even have to glue it to the glass. Or you could tint the glass with glass paint to hide the scratches. The wicker was a little bit of a pain to paint, but not too difficult. Just time consuming. And yes, I did use a brush to help get into all the grooves.

      Reply

    • Carrie says

      Thank you! It definitely wasn’t how I meant things to go but I think it turned out so much better once the glass was gone as well!

      Reply

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