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Hello and welcome! Today's project is a cutie, a small round DIY side table that I painted cottage white and gave a little character to with a vintage inspired stencil!

I could not get the barley twist legs I found at the curb one day out of my head. Someone had thrown out an antique wash stand...and I happily picked up the pieces, my brain exploding with all kinds of ideas! Actually, I wasn't even sure what the pieces had been until I recently spotted this on FB Marketplace and knew that's what I had, minus the bowl and a few of the skinny bits.

All these fun pieces! I used a few of them already to make a DIY plant stand, and I have future plans for the mirror, but today's project focused on the three beautiful barley twist legs.

I had been displaying them in a crate until I figured out what I wanted to do with them. They still had screws sticking out each end, which made them a little dangerous to just have laying around.

I decided to repurpose the antique legs into a small DIY side table for our sunroom. We love using our vintage style daybed to lounge, read and nap on, but really needed a little table for resting a drink.

When I brought up this table idea to Mr DIY, and explained how it would be built (10" wood round, twisted legs, another 10" round, feet), I mentioned that I needed to purchase three short legs for feet so the table was elevated off the ground. He immediately volunteered to make them, and said he'd always wanted to turn wood! So who was I to say no to one of his dreams? I was just delighted to pass off the hard work to someone else, hehe.

Here are the pieces we used to built this small side table. The only original pieces were those three long barley twist legs. Mr DIY built the rest!! I'm so proud of him and happy that he was so eager to do all the hard work take on this project with me 😉

Full disclosure: this project didn't cost me $20 because I had some of the pieces, and Mr DIY built the rest. BUT, if I had to purchase the feet and the wood rounds, it would have been right around $20!

Mr DIY has a friend with an amazing workshop with all the tools a guy could want! That's where Mr DIY built our barn doors that are hanging in our master bedroom. That's where he headed to create the pieces we needed to turn these legs into a table!

Okay, take a look at the ends of the legs above. See how the ends are different. They aren't twisted like the rest of the length, but they're turned. Mr DIY said he could replicate that so that the side table would have matching feet. He also made the 10" wood rounds with beveled edges that I needed as I was unable to find them in the store.

Mr DIY purchased three blocks of wood for the feet.

He had a blast turning that block of wood into something beautiful! These pictures are blurry, but you get the idea.

He needed to drill a hole into each end and fit it with an insert nut so it could be twisted onto the screw that was sticking out of the legs. Do you love how technical that sounds? 😀👌

He made the feet a little longer than we needed, and then cut them down.

The wood rounds were made from scrap wood and, as per my request, given a beveled edge. They ended up looking just like these ones from Hobby Lobby, but they're 10" instead of only 5". You can also find larger round wood table tops at Home Depot and Lowes. I used a 14" round to make a farmhouse beaded wood tray.

Once the wood rounds were cut, holes were marked, drilled and fitted with insert nuts for the legs to screw into.

It was easy to put the table together because all the pieces simply screwed into place! Here's a little upside down pic while I attached the feet.

And the almost-finished table just as I envisioned it! Isn't it cute? Definitely needs some paint though to really give it that cottage charm.

I ended up using a white blocking spray primer and then white chalky spray paint because those twisted legs are not easy to paint with a brush!

I could have left the table as is, it's super cute! But I wanted to add a little vintage style to the top. I was inspired by the vintage feedsack quilts I've seen online and particularly the colorful pastel quilts. They have such soft, pleasing colors and remind me of spending the night at grandma's house when I was little!

I used this quilt stencil and a bevy of colorful chalk paints, all from DecoArt. If you're interested in the specific colors I used, I'll list them below.

After taping the stencil in place, I pounced the colors on with stencil brushes in a variety of sizes. 

Stenciling goes quickly and you use very little paint. In fact, it's best if you lightly tap your brush on some paper towel first to remove the excess paint. This reduces the chance of getting any paint bleeding under the stencil.

I loved the results, but wanted to tone it down the bright colors a little so the table looked more vintage. I brushed on a coat of DecoArt Vintage Effects Wash in white. This product made all the difference and gave me that soft cottage pastel look I was going for.

This little DIY side table is now finished! I think it was a great way to put those gorgeous antique legs to good use! It makes me smile!

The top surface is perfect for a mug or even a plant, and I like that the bottom shelf can fit a plant too!

The little round table fits in so well with all the other cottage style happening in our sunny sunroom and looks great with the farmhouse floors that Mr DIY installed!

I think Millie definitely approves...or at least she's happy that I'm finally finished working on this side table!! All that action wore her out ❤🐾 Actually, a nap sounds like a great idea! I'll just be here if you need me 😊

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These are the Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint colors I used (you should be able to purchase small 2 oz sizes at the craft store):

I would love to know what you think of my DIY cottage style side table. Do you like how I repurposed those antique legs? If you want to make a similar table, keep an eye out at flea markets for old chair legs (they're usually about $5 each)...or you might luck out and find an antique wash stand in your neighbor's trash!

bringing beauty to the ordinary,