We’ve had a bit of a functional problem in Chloe’s room. As beautiful as it is, it is a bit small and we hadn’t ever found a bedside table that would work with her daybed and the angled walls on either side of it.
We ignored it as long as possible, assuming we’d find something along the way. Well, we didn’t, so I ended up on the hunt. Nothing on hand seemed to fit in the narrow space to the left of her bed where we wanted to utilize the space there that isn’t large enough for any toy or book storage. I considered getting an Ikea RÅSKOG cart and spray-painting it, but didn’t want to make a trip all that way just for one thing so the nightstand mission got put off again. I still want to find a use for this cart. There’s really something about it that meets form and function in so many ways. Anyway…
Then the winter cold season came and we had to borrow a side table from the family room in order to find a practical place for Chloe’s cold-mist humidifier and such.
Although the telephone table on one side of the sofa isn’t really that functional as a side table. As a side note, I love having little tables that move around the house filling random needs. We have another that has been in the family room, living room, study, and is currently a plant stand to raise up a plant that our puppies were having too much fun with.
Our wooden twist tables are great in the family room and as lightweight tables to move around as needed, but aren’t exactly the look anyone was hoping for in Chloe’s room. Psst… if you’re looking for these tables, here’s a source.
Then I remembered this ridiculous frog table that my mother has been trying to pawn off on me for years. She had it in her basement long ago where it was paired with some rustic furniture in her rec room. It was a little rough after all of the years and abuse it’s taken and the 1990’s green wasn’t a fit for Chloe’s very girly room, but the character of it had potential.
So I sanded over the rough edges and glued the loose legs back on with some wood glue.
Clearly, someone went to a ton of effort with the details of this guy, which I felt a little bad about covering up. However, it’s better to make it a piece that would be used and loved over letting it continue to rot in storage. Right?
Un on painter’s pyramids, I gave it a thick coat of primer, then sanded the areas that still needed a little love again.
After a coat of silver paint, here he is! The hand-painted spits came through as texture which actually turned out pretty nice.
Then, I hand-painted a few of the details back on with some gold paint. He got eyes, a mouth, nose, a crown, and toes. I wanted to keep it simple, but get some of the character back. Since this is for the room of one of my darling princesses, I was thinking about a sparkling “princess and the frog” look.
Now, the old guy has a new make-over and a place where he can serve as form and function for a beautiful little princess.
The odd shape works well in the odd corner. I’d love it if he were a little taller and will address that later by propping him up.
But now the happy little humidifier has a place when the princess needs it and the total cost was $0 since the table was free and I was able to use paint already on hand, left over from other projects. (OMG isn’t that mattress support dying to be painted white???)
