DIY Faux Painted Marble Coffee Table

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A few months ago, I bought a new coffee table for the living room. I decided to get a new one when I rearranged the furniture in this current layout and found that the edged grain plywood herringbone coffee I made very leather of furniture arranged in a new way. (This will make a show elsewhere.)

So after looking at maybe hundreds of coffee tables, I proceeded to go back to this mid-century modern coffee table with a stained wood base and white top.

The choice was not natural for me because mid-century modernity in general did not appeal to me, and yet it was what I always came back to. I found it in a lot of different online stores, but I was done buy it from Amazon, with the lowest price and free shipping.

The table always has high ratings with good reviews, except for one thing. Almost every review mentioned that the table above is NOT white. It is depicted anywhere from off -white to a yellowish -brown color. Because of that I hesitated and kept watching.

Everywhere, I was going to want a table with a high stone (especially marble). Naabtan nako this same table with a marble top from West Elm, and almost bought it. I’ve already put all of my payment information in and am ready to click the last button to make my purchase, and I can’t. I finally decided to change my mind very quickly and always pay for that at a coffee table. And only 20 inches wide, anyway. I really want something at least 24 inches wide.

So I ended up going to the first coffee table. And sure enough, the one above is definitely NOT white. I think it really starts out white, but the clear coat they use for height really isn’t yellow. It will look like an oil-based polyurethane that will fade a bit later.

I have already decided that if the finish is more yellow, I will paint it. That’s exactly what I did. About three weeks later, I trimmed the top to the bottom, prepared this Rust-Oleum spray primer, and then sprayed this Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch white spray paint. I’ve been living that way for over two weeks now to find out if I want it, and I’ve finally decided it’s too white.

So yesterday, I decided to make a faux marble finish on the top. I don’t want a busy marble with a lot of veins. I just wanted something subtle to give a marble look while brushing the white surface on the table. Here’s how it happened…

(Note: If you read this post on any website other than Addict 2 Decorating, that means you are reading a site that stole my blog content. I ask that you consider joining me on my real blog by clicking here.)

I used paints in two colors – Behr Polar Bear (white) and Behr Intellectual (gray) both mixed about two parts of the paint into one part Floetrol, and then added a bit of water added. I also use a sponge soaked in water. I didn’t find a large sea sponge, so I used a yellow sponge from Home Depot (the kind found in the tile section) and squeezed the pieces and cut them to give them a more natural look like a sea sponge. And then there are a variety of hand brushes. I didn’t end up using any of the artist’s brushes in the plastic package, but I used everything else-a 1-inch sash brush, a 1.5-inch sash brush, a very large and soft watercolor brush (one that looks like a makeup brush), a large and wide stain brush, and two small round art brushes.

I also used a spray bottle with water, and had paper towels on hand. With all my belongings, I was ready to start.

Step 1: Create a soft gray and white background.

Using the wet sponge, I spread the white paint on the table top.

And then I put some gray paint on the wet white paint.

And then use the big brush to stain…

… I punched and punched and sealed and circled until the two colors blended very well to create a soft background with a variety of colors.

Step 2: Create large gray veins.

Next, using a 1-inch sash brush, I made some really big gray veins. The key when creating veins with a brush is to be messy. You don’t want to brush it, instead, fill the brush and then drag, push, and roll the brush as you move across.

Once the veins are there, I use a large stain brush to soften the veins a bit.

I also used a large, soft watercolor brush to soften the look.

Here’s how it looks with veins softened with the same brushes.

And then it’s time to bury the roots a little. Using the sponge, I picked up the white paint on either side of the dark veins…

… And after using the large stain brush, I started to brush and rotate until the black veins were buried to suit my taste.

You can see here the difference between the buried vein underneath, and the remaining vein veins that have not been softened and buried in white paint.

I kept doing that until my big, dark veins were buried and softened, and it seemed like I wanted to look at it.

You can see here the difference again after half the table. The veins on the front of this photo are the same as I like, but the veins on the far side of the table have not yet softened to white.

This is how the table looked after all the big gray veins were buried and softened as I wanted.

Step 3: Add small dark veins.

The final step for marching is to use a small round art brush for smaller, darker veins. Again, the intent is to be chaotic and imperfect. To get this look, I loaded the brush with gray paint, and then dragged it up while pushing, pulling, and rolling the brush.

The bottom half of this thin vein is what it looks like after I painted it with…

And then I used a spray bottle filled with water to gently sprinkle on the tip of that vein.

Water only fixes to soften and break lines (because you don’t want perfect lines), but there are areas that I brush a little with a 1-inch brush (which I really clean) to even break up the paint to give it a more natural look.

And of course, you can make as much or as little discretion as you like. I decided to keep it easy to say, so I stopped like this…

Step 4: Clear the coat at the top.

Once everything was dry, I wiped the top very lightly using 22o-grit parchment paper to make sure there were no paint stains anywhere. After wiping off all the dust, I applied my absolute favorite clear top coat – Overall High Performance Top Coat Finish with a flat finish.

I rolled the topcoat using a 6-inch roller and 1/4-inch nap roller cover marked for smooth surfaces. I made two coats, lightly laying 220-grit paper between the coats.

And here’s the finished table!

One thing I do know while looking at marble photos online is that you can’t destroy marble. There are so many variations out there! I found a lot of photos that I thought were not real marble because they weren’t murag real marble to me. But they are! I can’t believe it. Some of them never looked real marble. All that is said to be hard to mess up and make something that doesn’t “look like” real marble.

The challenge is that it looks like a real marble that I really like, because I can be a little picky. 🙂 Fortunately, I got a look I wanted. But of course, heaven has its limits. You can make as much or as little variation in the background color as you want, as much or as little “burying” the large roots as you want, and how much or as little root as you want. I mean, if something like this is more to your liking, you’re really crazy about it.

But personally I like the more subtle marble, so it’s a perfect one. And it really magnifies the glowing white that used to be.

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