A little paint goes a long way.

I got a side table that was going to be thrown away at work (back when I had a job outside of the home). Patrick and I were just getting married and furniture was definitely something we needed.  Unfortunately, the side table looked an awful lot like a motel nightstand.  It may have been in a previous life.  As part of my living room makeover, I decided to give it a face lift.  Though the shape does have something to do with it, I concluded the main reason for the motel look was the fake wood covering.  Thus, I decided it would look a lot better if it were white.

First, I took off the handle and sanded the whole thing down pretty well to make the surface rough so the paint would stick.  Then, I wiped it down with a wet towel, let it dry, and painted it with white paint we happened to have.  I ended up doing three coats.  There was a rather cold wind blowing when I was working on it and the paint dried almost as fast as it was applied, which made the process difficult; there was no going over it a second time as it was too gummy already. The side that was into the wind probably needs another coat for touch-up purposes, but I figured it was best to do that when there was less wind.