I'm sharing a furniture makeover today on a solid wood piece that has been in our home for over two decades. Sadly, its been collecting dust in our basement for a few years because the finish looked dated and no longer worked in our living room. It's such a unique accent table and is always a great conversation piece. I've seen tables just like it advertised for up to $250.00, so it's definitely a keeper.

When I learned the theme this month for our Themed Furniture Makeover Day was WORDS, well what doesn't represent words more than a funky stacked book table! This small table is perfect for small space living and I'm excited to report that I recently found another one just like it.

Funky Stacked Book Table Makeover

You've heard me say this a thousand times but I continue to be shocked at how just a little paint can completely transform furniture and such was the case with this book lovers' table.


This is what the table looked like before. It's a solid wood table but the colors were making it looked dated. At the time I purchased it at an antique market over twenty years ago, the colors were in style and worked beautifully in our traditional living room.


To transform this unusual piece of furniture took no time at all. Just the magic of white paint and a little dark glaze is all it took to breathe new life into this stacked book end table. I couldn't be happier with the results.

Here's how I updated the book table

Step 1 - Prepping the book table for paint

Over the years I've used spray polish to clean these tables and so in order to remove any wax residue I cleaned the tables with a liquid deglosser first.

Step 2 - Painting the book table 

It took three light coats of Buttercream, a warm white paint color, to get complete coverage over the dark stained wood. I sanded the paint between each coat with 220-grit sandpaper for a nice smooth finish.

Step 3 - Aging the book table

In order to give the fresh white paint a time-worn look, I needed to bring back the layers of dust that accumulated in the ridges of the book pages. 🤣 I can't believe I want to recreate the dirty I worked so hard to remove each week!

To do that I brushed Grunge Glaze with a chip brush all over the table but especially in the ridge of the book spines. Before I dried I wiped the excess with a lint-free rag.

Step 4 - Protecting the new paint on the book table

To protect the paint finish, especially around the base, from those rambunctious hits with the vacuum, I applied a coat of clear wax and buffed it to a matte finish.

That's all there was to this makeover - quick and easy peasy, just how I like it!

I'm so happy to have my funky stacked book table back in the living room and it fits right in with our lighter and brighter and more casual decor now.

Now that I'm lucky enough to have two of these tables, each one will flank our DIY Parisian Upholstered Armchairs.

I've included a supply list below and it contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend for this project. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.


If you have any questions about this furniture makeover, please leave them in the comment section below or the Contact Me tab at the top. I love hearing from you!

If you enjoyed this book table furniture upcycle, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with a friend and pinned it to your upcycled furniture board or accent table board on Pinterest.



This is our last Themed Furniture Makeover Day challenge of 2016 and I'm looking forward to sharing more fun theme makeovers in the new year.

I can't wait to see the words inspired makeovers the talented ladies in our group did and I'm heading over to visit each one next. Please join me by pressing the links below.




I share my projects at these inspiring link parties.