DIY Card Table Makeover

A couple Christmas’ ago I won an old card table in a white elephant gift exchange. Card tables are actually super useful because they fold up and you can transport them wherever you need without taking up much room. I have used it a lot since I’ve gotten it but to be honest its old and looks super old. It has a lot of wear and is in need of a makeover.

There are a lot of ways that you can makeover a card table. I’ve seen people reupholstering them with fabric or with a vinyl table cloth by using a staple gun. I decided I wanted something I could use for photo backdrops and something that would be fun to use for games.

This is what I started with, its worn and seen better days.

The first step I took was to sand off any weird spots that were sticking up or where the top was chipping. After sanding I sprayed it with a cleaner and wiped it dry.

When it was completely dried I then moved it outside and set it up on the porch. Its easier to paint this way because you can access the sides easier than if it was setting on a flat surface and you don’t need to put any drop cloth down if you are careful.

This brand of chalkboard paint is from Walmart I am sure you can get it at craft stores too.

Now you can start painting, this paint is pretty thick and I only had to do one coat. It wouldn’t hurt to do more than one coat if you want to make sure its perfect. I also used a brush because chalkboards usually have a lot of texture so that was my way of mimicking that. If you want a really smooth top I would use a paint roller to make it go on super smooth.

When you are done painting make sure to wash out and take care of your brush so you can use it for your next craft project. This is good to do while you are waiting for your paint to completely dry.

I highly recommend this chalkboard paint, I have used others in the past that were really thin and didn’t cover well. It also dried in under an hour. This worked great for this project.

After the paint is completely dried, the last thing to do is prep the board so i t looks like a chalkboard. If you want it super clean looking then you can skip this step. Most chalkboards have residue of chalk on it and it is what gives it that chalkboard look. All you have to do is take the side of the chalk and rub it all over the top of the card table.

Until it is fully covered like pictured above. Now you can take a paper towel or napkin and rub the chalk into the card table top. You want it to get into the texture of the top so it looks like a chalkboard. Its very subtle but it makes the board look great in the end.