Paint Stick Herringbone Table Top

I'm crushing on my "new" end table. Our living room looks like a flea market, no joke, with all the mismatched furniture. We used to have cute stuff but went Dave Ramsey crazy and sold "everything but the kids" to create our first Emergency Fund...and we haven't really gotten around to replacing it. That's because I am relying on my killer DIY skills to paint & create my way towards a cohesive look. Sure, I got the skills, but the time....that's another thing. I admire the women who take on those 30 day one room makeover challenges. Such a great idea! My two year old "assistant" really limits my creative time (give mommy back the paint brush! stay away from the nearly full can of primer! drills are only for mommies. where did you throw the sanding block?). Make it a 30 week challenge and I'll sign up! Maybe I'll just make my own 30 week challenge...then in 30 weeks if its not done I can claim a typo and make it a 30 month challenge. I'm a genius!

Moving on, this project was inspired by a similar paint stick table top created by Thistlewood Farms. Click Here It went straight to my Pinterest table it Board which is filled with several herringbone table top ideas and tutorials. Nothing like looking back over my pins to realize I have a thing for the herringbone pattern. Its just so darn cute! Even on gloomy rainy days like this one.

see the 1, 2, 3 below for the color progression

Color Progression:

1. table in original color with the top scored...not sure if Gorilla glue needed the extra help but I figured it couldn't help. And really, I only want to do this project once, no re-gluing of loose paint sticks in my future.  After securing & dry-time, I used a jigsaw and Dremel to square out the top. Stained with Early American Minwax stain.

2. After washing and priming, it was given a coat of white latex paint but I just wasn't feeling it. Too bright, like, where-are-my-sunglasses-this-white-paint-is-hurting-my-eyes bright. It needed to be toned down.

3. Lightly distressed with a sanding block, then using a dry brush, I streaked on a choppy layer of latex paint in Accessible Beige -- as opposed to Inaccessible Beige? Unattainable Beige? Unavailable Beige? One of the strangest paint names I've come across. You can see the choppy paint job best here. 

Such a cute end table in the end! The top needed several layers of polycrylic. There are a few spaces in between a few paint sticks that could use more sealer, so...its still a work in progress.