Glazed

I've been thinking about adding a small table next to the rocking chair in my living room--some place to set a glass or book when sitting by the fireplace. At first, I thought it might be fun to try to find something at Canton or Round Top.
But, as I thought about it further, I decided to move the little TV table from my bedroom into the living room and then look for a new TV table.

A couple of days ago, I changed my mind completely. Remembering the small wooden table sitting in my carport, I wondered if it might work. I've had it for a while---it once belonged to my grandmother, and as I recall was blue when I first received it. While nothing fancy, I've always loved the shape of it. It has served several purposes in my house over the years---painted ivory as an end table, painted white in my bathroom and most recently painted beige and sitting out in the carport. She's just the right size and even has a bottom shelf to hold a couple of books. Badly ignored for the last year, here she is in all her glory.
I knew that she need a good cleaning and then a new paint job. In fact, this seemed to be the perfect time to try out the glazing technique I've seen here and here and here (just to mention a few). After considering various colors, I finally stepped way out of my "stay safe" mode and settled on red.

After cleaning off the dirt and grime, I sanded and sanded. Here you see a glimpse of the stenciling (circa late 80's) that once adorned her.
I flipped her upside down (oh, the indignity) to spray a couple of coats of primer on the bottom before turning her over to do the top side. I chose a terra cotta colored primer by Valspar in hopes that the red spray paint would cover easier.
Next, I spray-painted her red---several light coats. Gee, that's bright--hope I didn't make a huge mistake!
Once dry, I distressed the edges a bit.
I've never glazed furniture before, but I figured it must be similar to the technique we used to use for "antiquing" when I was a kid. I used this Valspar Antiquing Glaze from Lowe's--the half-pint I bought should be plenty for several more projects since it took such a little bit of glaze. I brushed on the glaze with a cheap paintbrush, being sure to hit the corners and crevices first. After a few minutes, I used a clean, damp rag to wipe off the excess. Glaze dries slowly, so you really have plenty of time to work with the it. If you decide it's not dark enough, you can always just repeat the process until you're satisfied with the color.
About 3/4 of the way into this part of the project, I realized that I'd forgotten to put on the gloves that I bought specifically for this!
Here she is after the glazing:
The last step was to add a couple of coats of polycrylic for protection. Here's the finished product, in place in the living room.
Well, I guess I need to add "shelf for carport" to my Round Top list!!