Gadora was asked to find three tables for a living room. A sofa table, side table and a coffee table, nothing too dainty. They would need an old world feel of gold and brown when finished. After 4 days of scouring Craigslist, hitting garage sales and resale shops looking for items I could mix together, Gadora happily settled on these three…

Three Pine Tables
I gave myself 5 hours to finish all three pieces…
Three hours later, Gadora had removed the handles, sanded the tables and applied Glidden’s Bark chocolate over each surface.

Side Table with Bark paint
Once dry, each piece was covered in Behr’s Crackle paint. Sticky and white like glue, the treatment eventually dried with no evidence of application.

Coffee Table with crackle glaze
An hour later, Gadora and Penny applied the top coat of latex paint. The thicker the application the larger and more pronounced the crackle. On the legs we applied a lighter layer of paint, hoping for smaller crackles. Within minutes the Bark underneath began its bite.

Side table with crackle
Into the night we marveled at our transformations. Each piece has new purpose.

Side table, almost done!

In slightly more than 7 hours (only two more than planned!) the tables were snapped up, crackled… and now they POP! Hardware pulled from a ’60s dresser beef up the new facade.

Recycled Hardware
The details. Once crackled, Bark brown was brushed into the crannies and on the details of the spun legs. Before dry, a wet rag was used to wipe off the excess.

Sofa table close-up
*Thanks LV for “Gadorable!!”
Here, the side table shows really well.

Side table - AFTER
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Sofa table - AFTER
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Coffee Table - AFTER
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April 1, 2012 at 10:49 am
hmm. I tried using Crackle from sherwin williams, unfortunantly the crackle effect begins taking place in about10 seconds. This leaves me hardly any time to cut in or fade from the last line I painted (which in turn leaves some brush strokes very noticable) how much working time do you have with the Behr crackle?
April 1, 2012 at 4:16 pm
I usually make sure the bottom coats are painted and dry. Then work in sections for the crackle bit. I always use real bristle brushes, instead of plastic. Maybe that was a factor, too? The crackle from Behr takes place pretty quickly too. I’d love to see a pic!!
October 21, 2011 at 10:38 am
Hi! I planned on doing this project on a kitchen table. I was wondering what the exact color of the eggshell colored topcoat is?
November 6, 2011 at 10:09 am
Thanks for your note. Many of my projects are completed with “Oops” paint from the hardware store, there’s a price break because it’s paint someone didn’t want. And, might just sit at the store unused. Part of the fun of doing projects is experimenting with paint and colors. Sadly, I’m not able to tell you exactly which color this one is.
August 29, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Hi Gadora! I am going to crackle paint my dining table-the question how I sand the feet and all curves under? Coz’ the top is not a problem when u r using machine. and how long it might take?
thx
August 29, 2010 at 8:42 pm
I typically use a combo of sanding sponges and sand paper. Of course time it takes depends on intricacy of detail and size of your piece. Hope that helps. Scrape
March 31, 2009 at 12:47 am
It was! Next time I’ll make a video of how quickly the top coat begins to crackle. Fascinating. What do you need refashioned?
March 30, 2009 at 8:12 pm
wonderful! was this the first time you’d done this crackle business?
March 30, 2009 at 8:01 pm
WOW! Gadora does it again. Crackle is totally not my thing, but these look amazing. I would never have seen such potential in the ho-hum pine tables, but they are so glam now. NICELY DONE!