Last winter I started the hunt for a coffee table. I had something very specific in mind, which is never a good place to start when 1) you don’t like to spend a lot of money on furniture 2) your expectations are a little far fetched.

What I had in mind was a large square or circle storage ottoman that could double as a coffee table. I was very lucky to find several online that were the too small, the wrong color, or several hundreds of dollars out of my price range.

And then I came across a table on Craigslist.

Now a good blogpost would include pictures of the original post I found on Craigslist but in my haste to email and visit the seller, I forgot.

So just imagine, a black, 36″ square coffee table with pullout seats underneath topped with – wait for it – black pleather.

Fancy, huh?

But I knew I could paint the black table, and I thought I could try recovering the seats, so with that information we drove to look at it.

Once we met the kind seller, we did a quick review of the table and stools to check for sturdiness and overall condition. She said it was a few years old and for the most part was in perfect condition, minus one “dent” on the side.

She had it listed for $125 and I was ready to pay that much for it, but when we told her we’d have to go to the ATM to get the rest of the money, she sold it to us for what we had on us – $75!

Needless to say I was thrilled with our purchase and couldn’t wait to get it home and reassembled.

Once we got it in, I did a quick picture of it compared to our old coffee table, which now looked like a dwarf compared to our new square table.

 A few days later after building up the mental courage to begin painting, I went to Lowe’s for supplies: paint, paintbrush, and a small, disposable roller. I decided to use my go to chalk paint recipe because the idea of sanding all the table and stools sounded and still sounds like a nightmare.

 

After about two full coats we were in action. It’s always so fun to see the second coat drying – mostly because that means you’re almost done, you get to reassemble, and remove the dropcloths from your living room floor 🙂

The next item on my to do list was one I hadn’t tried yet – reupholstering.

I use that term VERY loosely because this was about the most basic reupholstery job you can find {read – I didn’t even remove the pleather, I just decide to cover right over it!}. #LazyDIY-er 
One of the more fun parts of the whole project was looking at fabrics. After looking through the store, I decided I wanted something simple versus a bold pattern, and was set on ticking stripes. I texted G this picture – hoping he would confirm the one I was leaning towards.  

And he did! The blue and cream ticking stripe won! 
G thought the other was little dingy and I agreed. So with my coupon I headed to the counter and checked out for a little less than $15.

 

Have you ever bought something off Craigslist? This has been my favorite find to date!