Rustic Checkerboard Storage Table

When I was on holidays back at the beginning of September I spent some time hunting around for some pieces to work on this Fall. (check it out here) One of the old pieces I found was this little end table. It was in really rough condition and had glue stuck all over its top. However, despite its misgivings, it was a lovely size and had beautiful legs. The best things about this old table though was the removable top. It comes off to reveal a storage space underneath. As soon as I saw the table, I don’t know why, but I thought of a checkerboard. A rustic checkerboard like you would have in an old cottage or cabin by a lake. I thought it would be fun to have a seat on one side of the lid and a checkerboard on the other.

Before making the seat or the checkerboard, I gave the table one coat of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Typewriter. Since I was going for a very rustic look, I wasn’t worried about coverage or chipping. The older the paint looked the better. To make the checkers, I cut a small branch in little half-inch circles. I cut enough to have 12 black, 12 red and 2 extra for each colour… just in case one gets lost 😉 The wood slices were then rubbed on a piece of fine grit sandpaper. This smoothed out the edges and cleaned up the little loose bits. Half were painted black and half red. To make the seat for the top of the lid, I cut a piece of foam and thin piece of plywood to fit inside the lip around the edge.

A beautiful piece of plaid flannel was laid around the foam and board and stapled in place. The flannel not only covered the foam and board but helped to hold it all together. Painting the checkerboard was a little tedious but not too bad. I marked out the lines first with a pencil and then painted them in. A regular checkerboard has 32 black squares and 32 white (or beige).To make sure the seat didn’t move when it was all finished, it was attached with four screws at the corners.

The screws didn’t look very good, so they were covered with a touch of black paint. Once painted they blended in perfectly.I am still not sure where the checkerboard idea came from but am still so glad it came 😉

Imagine sitting on a big leather couch, in a lodge by the lake, sipping cocoa, playing a game of checkers. Pure bliss. I used to play checkers all the time with my grandfather and have such lovely memories of it. This was one of those projects that made me smile thinking of him as I did it. I just wish he was still around so we could test it out together ♥