12 New Things - Bedside Table

Hey ya'll! Remember Sarah Mae's idea of learning 12 New Things?  Well my first month is up and my new thing for September is a goodwill transformation.  Sarah has had a really crazy month and hasn't posted the link up yet, but I figured I might as well post my little project anyway.  I will link up when she does!

My hubby found this loverly little end table...thingy....on the side of the road and brought it home for me! It wasn't exactly what I had in mind for our guest room but it was FREE! 

The top had some pretty good water marks and the "wood" was peeling off in a few places too.

Flash was on in this pic....that's why it looks so much lighter....

This beast was that lovely wood-grain laminate so I gave it a REALLY good sanding with some 220 grit paper.  I've read that some people had trouble getting the paint to adhere so I wanted to make sure mine turned out the first time!

Then I gave it a reaaaaallly good coat of Zinsser Bullseye primer.  This helps the paint to adhere to the cabinet.

When that was dry, I gave it three LIGHT coats of Rustoleum flat black....cause I loooooove all things flat black.  From what I've read, things go a lot better if you do lots of light coats instead of one really heavy one. I also used some leftover nickel spray paint to paint the hinges and handles.

And that's it! I have a feeling I should have done a coat of Minwax to protect it...but I was impatient and wanted to get it into our guest room so I guess we'll see how long it lasts!

Oh and yes, that IS a plastic covering on that lamp shade. That is one of the little lamps I picked up at the thrift store sans light shade so I'm trying out one I found at Wal-mart. I can't decide if it's the right size...too big? Maybe?  Help!

I'm also linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party