Ballard Messina Table Knock Off Revealed

 In my last post, I told you about my plans to knock off the Ballard Designs Messina table using a $100 dining set I bought on Craigslist. Today I'm ready to show you the finished product. The tutorial follows.

To recap, here is my inspiration:

Here's the $100 Craigslist table I started with:

And here is the finished product:

  

I couldn't resist setting the table with my collection of Johnson Brothers Fish dinnerware which fortunately was one of the few things that survived the hurricane. 

If you're interested in trying to recreate this, here's the tutorial:

1. I removed the legs so I could work on the tabletop and leaf more easily. I applied a faux zinc painted finish to mimic the top of the Messsina table. I gave you the detailed tutorial in yesterday's post. Click here to find it.

2. After the top was finished, I put the table back together. For the legs and apron, I mixed up a batch of DIY chalk paint using 1/3 cup plaster of Paris stirred into 1/3 cup water. I stirred that mixture into 1 1/2 cups of light gray paint and blended well (I used Benjamin Moore Sleigh Bells). You can use white, but I thought the light gray was softer and fit better with the look I was trying to create.

3. I applied two coats of paint to the legs and apron, distressing immediately with a damp rag and a sanding sponge.

4. When the paint was dry, I finished it with a coat of paste wax.

The whole project was pretty straight forward and went pretty quickly. I hope you like it. Stay tuned for the final piece of this project--the make over of the chairs. Thanks for stopping by!

© Salt Marsh Cottage 2014