How to make a faux marble top coffee table

Don’t you love the look of a creamy white marble top coffee table? They are so fancy and expensive looking. We needed a new coffee table in our living room (the plastic Ikea table just wasn’t cutting it any more). However, a real marble table was out of the budget, and I didn’t want to get something that I would worry about the kids destroying. So I decided to make my own faux marble coffee table. Using an old coffee table, some epoxy resin, and some opaque pigment, you can also make your own faux marble coffee table.

*This post is sponsored by Environmental Technology Inc. I received epoxy resin in exchange for this post, but all opinions are my own*

Before: broken wood coffee table

I scored this solid wood coffee table, for free, because the glass top and legs were broken. I figured with a bit of paint and resin, I could turn this piece of furniture into a beautiful faux marble coffee table. I love that this coffee table has a drawer in it that we can use to store our remotes, or for hiding away a puzzle.

PRime the coffee table

I started by removing all the hardware from the coffee table. I laid it upside down inside my spray tent on some drop cloths, and gave the legs a light sand with 180 grit sandpaper. Then I wiped off the dust. If you’re worried about grease or dirt on your furniture, now is also a good time to clean it with some soapy water.

I pulled out my paint sprayer and gave the entire piece a coat of primer.

Paint the bottom of the coffee table

Then I used Fusion Mineral Paint in Picket Fence and did three light coats of paint using my paint sprayer, lightly sanding in between each coat. Chalk paint is a little thicker than regular paint, so I added a bit of water to the paint sprayer to thin the paint a bit.

Fix the table top to make a solid surface

This coffee table used to have a glass top. I decided rather than replace the glass, I could make a solid surface and make it look like marble.

I cut some 1/4″ melamine to fit perfectly inside the coffee table top, and added some caulking to seal all the gaps.

I let it dry, then also added a second smaller piece of melamine underneath the table top to give it a bit more strength.

Paint the coffee table top

Then I painted the entire top of the table white to create a blank canvas for the faux marble resin top.

Mix the resin and flood coat the table top

(I apologize for the horrible pictures for the next few steps. I set up my camera to record, without double checking the settings, and it didn’t turn out great)

First I mixed up the epoxy resin. You can determine the amount of resin to mix up based on the size of your piece of furniture. I mixed up about 1 litre of epoxy resin to give a nice flood coat. Epoxy resin has very specific instructions for mixing to ensure that it will cure properly.

I added equal parts resin and hardener to a container, mixed it for two minutes, then poured the resin to a second container and mixed for another minute. I added some white opaque pigment to give the resin a creamy white color. I poured the resin over the top of the table and spread it out using a small piece of cardboard, and smoothed out the edges of the coffee table using my hands, while wearing a plastic glove.

Add grey veining

I saved some of the white resin in my container, and mixed in a tiny amount of black opaque pigment. It does not take much pigment at all to get a dark color. I drizzled the grey resin in squiggly lines on the top, and also added a few spatters here and there. Just keep going until you get the color and pattern that you want.

Blend the grey resin

Next I used a fancy tool called my hair dryer and blended the grey resin into the white resin. This also helped pop any bubbles that rose to the surface of the resin. You have about 20 minutes of working time from when you pour the resin to when it starts to set, so work fairly quickly.

Shiny faux resin table top

If you like the look of a shiny marble coffee table you can stop right here. It looks pretty good right? I decided to take it a step further to make this coffee table looked like honed marble.

Sand the table top to give it a matte finish

Use a palm sander and a sheet of sandpaper to take the sheen off your faux marble. I found 320 grit sandpaper gave the honed marble look I was going for.

Reattach the legs and hardware

The last step is to screw in the legs and add some hardware.

DIY faux marble coffee table

Pretty cool right? I’m very happy with how this coffee table turned out! It’s easy to clean and looks just like marble.