How to Redo your Coffee Table for $3

When registering for my wedding, I decided to register for a new coffee table.  I've had my current coffee table for over 5 years.  It's moved with me twice and been through two boyfriends.  I've dated smokers all of my life and people were allowed to smoke at my old house.  We also didn't have coasters at one time.  So you have a combination of water damage, cigarette ash and just general wear and tear.  I think the final straw was when I was wiping down the table and got a splinter through a Pledge wipe.

This is what my coffee table looked like

Unfortunately, I did not receive the coffee table I registered for at my Bridal Shower and I highly doubt anyone is going to buy it for me as a wedding gift.  I don't want to buy a coffee table for myself so I had to figure out some other way to fix the top of my coffee table.  The obvious way to fix it would be to sand it down and refinish it, but that just sounds like a lot of work -- a lot of work that I don't want to do.  I'd seen someone use marbled contact paper on an old kitchen table to refinish it so I tried it with my coffee table and I'm very happy with the results.

What you'll need: scissors and wood grain contact paper from the dollar store that is a similar shade as your coffee table.  I bought three rolls but ended up only using two.

First- clean off your coffee table.

Second- unroll the contact paper and lay it across your coffee table.  You'll want the first sections that you cut to be the exact same length as the coffee table.

I have no clue why this picture is at such a weird angle -- I think I was standing on my couch.

Third- make a small cut on the contact paper at the length at which you'll need to cut it.  Flip the contact paper over and you'll see that it has very convenient grid lines for cutting.

Fourth- cut the contact paper at your desired length

Fifth- cut the contact paper in half lengthwise (hot dog style).  You're going to use these pieces to cover the edges of the coffee table to the old wood finish doesn't show on the sides.

Sixth- place one of the pieces of contact paper at one side of the coffee table with about 4 inches hanging over the edge of the table.

Seventh- remove one edge of the contact paper and stick the contact paper on the edge of the coffee table.  Then slowly peel the backing off of the contact paper and use your hand to smooth the contact paper onto the table.  I didn't have a very big problem with air bubbles, but we'll discuss how to remove them later.

Eighth- repeat this step on the other side of the table.

It will then look like this

Ninth- cut a piece of contact paper that is long enough to cover the left and right edges on either side of the coffee table.

Tenth- line up the piece of contact paper with the bottom edge of the coffee table, remove part of the backing and cover the table in the same manner as above.

Eleventh- at this point, the entire top of my coffee table was covered.  If you want, you can do step 10 again on the top half of the coffee table in order to completely cover the coffee table.  OR you could cheat like I did.

A small section of the edge of your coffee table is exposed on either side:

Just cut a a small piece of contact paper the size of the exposed wood and cover the edge with it.  It's as simple as that.

When you're done, it should look like this.

Yet again -- I must have been standing on the couch for this one.

If you experience air bubbles, just take a pin and poke the bubble gently then rub it out with your finger.

Another awesome part about this is that now the table is water proof and you don't even need coasters! :)