I love to repurpose old furniture! Recently I found these side tables at garage sales. They were both $5 and I just knew I could make them look nice again. Since we have all new colors in the living room this was the perfect time. I really wanted something unique for the family area. For the large table I wanted to try a “plaid design” on the top. I can not find the picture of the tables before the primer. (Sorry) Here is how easy it was to repurpose old furniture and create the plaid look using paint.
Prime with White Spray Primer
I used a Valspar tester paint from Lowes in the blue shade that matches the family room. I also got a complimentary brown tester paint and an “opps” orange that I found at Lowes for $2.50! It was the perfect orange shade that I wanted. I really think they will look great together. 
I painted it the blue color.
After the table was dry I taped off two rows on the top and painted those orange.
After the orange dried I removed the tape. I put down new rows using the tape going the other direction and painted those two brown.
Next I taped off three more rows. Here is a closer look at how I taped each row.
At this point I started alternating colors. So I did two orange and one brown as you can see below.
Continue doing this alternating colors and directions. The paint dried very quickly so this did not take very long. I highly recommend the painters tape for a clean line.
Do the alternating until you reach the desired look. This was exactly what I was hoping for.
It looks amazing in the family area. Perfect for my reading chair.
