My HGTV Pool Table Project
Last Saturday, a week ago from today, I watched a lot of HGTV. This is a rare thing for me, but for whatever reason it was really interesting to me that day. They were showing all kinds of shows about remodeling rooms, or improving houses so they would show well and sell.
One of the shows was called “24 Hour Design” and the episode was called Classic Casual Living Room. One of the things they did with this room was turn a plain white fireplace into a dark, antique-looking fireplace. I really liked the effect so I decided to test it on my pool table.
Here is how my pool table used to look. It was nothing special and had an old, beat-up, wood veneer look to it. The previous owner even used the side of the table to pop bottle caps off of bottled beers, so the wood veneer was all chipped off in places. The bases of the table were chewed on by their family dog and looked horrible, with teeth marks all over them. So while this may have been a risky undertaking for a nicer pool table, there wasn’t much risk of mine looking any worse than it did.
The first thing I did was prime all the wood surfaces of the table. You can see that I used a tinted primer, in hopes that I would be able to get away with just one coat of black. That turned out to be a no, because it would end up taking two coats.
After the primer dried I painted the table jet black. I used Behr interior paint, with a satin finish for a bit of a shine. Like I mentioned before, it ended up taking 2 coats. I must admit, when I got to this point I was tempted to stop right here. It looked infinitely better to me all jet black than it did with the wood veneer. I was concerned that my next step would not come out like I planned it.
What was the next step? Take a brush and dip the end in red paint, also satin interior Behr paint. Then wipe most of the paint off on a paper towel so that the brush is almost dry. Next brush the edges of the table and in random places to add light red streaks. The effect turned out to be really cool. What it did was make it look like the tabled used to be painted red, and was then painted black. It made it look like the red was showing through because the table is old and worn.
The last thing I did was take black shoe polish and polish the entire table. I let it dry and then wiped it off. I had used satin paint so it had a shine to it already, but the polish really added more shine! Wow, it looks so good, and I’m really happy I undertook the project. Here’s the result:
I still have to add the red to the base pieces and polish them, but I wanted to make sure I like the effect before I did that. I think this really made the pool table an eye-catcher, and one of the coolest pieces in the room!
Oh, also– Thanks to Sarah for giving me advice on what kind of paints and primers to use.
Comments from old site:
Written by Mr. Kraus
Posted: Saturday, August 25, 2007 at 4:54 PM
Sorry I’m so late to respond, but if anyone is reading this, I used Red Red Wine Behr paint.
Written by Judy
Posted: Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 1:50 PM
Weird! I just finishing painting an end table black and was searching the internet trying to find this episode of a makeover show where they did the mantel with shoe polish and red paint. I found your site first 
I used primer and 2 coats of black Behr paint so I am ready for the next step. What color red did you use? Worried about using something too bright. Thanks in advance! The pool table looks great!!!
Written by Chad
Posted: Monday, July 2, 2007 at 6:20 PM
Well Chris, there might not be a new home. The market is horrible and the house isn’t getting much action. We have placed ads online for… ROOMMATES. We decided we are willing do that for the next 2-3 years so the wife can finish college. So don’t give me any guff about this decision!
http://www.hirewebdevelopers.com
Written by Chris
Posted: Monday, July 2, 2007 at 3:04 PM
WOW, did that ever turn out great! When you called that morning and asked Sarah about what you had seen on HGTV, (and asked if Sarah watches HGTV *laughs*) I really didn’t think you’d be that serious about taking it to your pool table that way. Now I bet its going to be hard to let that go. I can totally see you thinking of some way of weaseling the pool table into your new home somehow.