A Cheap Coffee Table and Design Dilemma... {Home}

We picked up this old coffee table at Yardigans (on Trafalgar just east of Highbury in London, Canada - for the locals) several weeks ago for just $10.

It was dusty, scuffed up, and very retro but it had a great shape (bar cart like) and good bones. I brought it home gave it a good wipe down and removed the wood tape (!).. I never knew there was such a thing. Removing it was easy since it came off in full pieces. It took all of five minutes.

Then, with other projects on the brain, I brought it down to the basement to live until I had the time to show it some love. We loved it here especially on movie nights since it held all our drinks and snacks.

And then, with the upcoming birthday party for our youngest we needed more seating so up came the coffee table from the basement to replace the bench in our living room (and we moved the bench to window for seating). Do you ever do this..  rearrange your house/furniture to accommodate guests?

Surprisingly, even in all it's retro glory, it received several compliments and we haven't had the heart to send it back downstairs. Plus, we've noticed it's super functional in our small living room.. it doesn't take up much square footage and it's two-tiered which makes it interesting and great for storage. I like that we were able to return to using the bench as seating. Gotta love a cheap fix.

But, now that this has all been established... let's talk makeover. I'm truly tired of all this brown (the couch, the rug, and now the coffee table). So it's nice that the top and bottom of this coffee table can be easily removed for another surface.

I'm leaning towards doing something like this surface. I think it's rustic, cottage-feeling, and would fit into our existing decor. However, I think I'd like to paint the metal white (not black) to freshen it up and draw the attention to whatever is on the coffee table, rather than the table itself.

But, here's where you come in... I'm open to ideas. Should I do a punch of color? Consider a glass top or solid piece of wood? Painted or unpainted? What would you do (wwyd)?