Table update

If you know me, you know I can't go long without something to keep me busy.  I'm in between semesters, which feels amazing, but I can only read so much each day without falling asleep.  I did start watching the Outlander series this morning (which is fantastic!) and I'm currently reading the fourth in the book series (equally amazing!).  I would like to be planning a trip, but our finances will not allow that.  So, I set my sights upon our coffee table.  It's the set we bought when we built our house almost 10 years ago.  Back then, it was black.  After children and scratches, I decided to paint and distress it some years ago, which suited me well for a bit.  However, the top was looking pretty bad and I couldn't stand the glass pieces in it any longer.  They always had fingerprints and just never seemed clean!  Here are some before pictures.

I am into the rustic/shabby chic/country vibe for decorating, so I decided to stain some wood to create a new top.  I started with selecting eight 1x4 boards and one 1x3 board (for the center) that I thought were straight.  Then, I got the wonderful Home Depot guy to cut them to 54 inches.

At home, I sanded them with an old sanding block I had, then used tack cloth to remove the dust.  I used an old washcloth to apply one coat of the Varthane Carbon Gray wood stain.  Then, I put on a coat of Minwax Polycrylic, waited for it to dry, sanded with 220 sandpaper, removed dust with tack cloth, and repeated until I had three coats.  No sanding after the last coat.    

This is where I needed some help from my hubby.  We started in the center and worked our way out, attaching each board with Gorilla Glue, then screws in the center and ends. The hubs drilled a pilot hole for each screw and then put them in.

Here is the finished product!  It isn't perfect, but I love it!  Covers up the things I hated and gives the whole room a new feel!  All for two days work and $80.75 + tax.  Now, keep in mind that this includes $15.97 for the Polycrylic, and $8.48 for the stain, both of which I have enough of to use for several more projects.  The screws were also $5.98 for 238 of them (when we only used 51), but there were no smaller packs in this color.

What do you think????