When you are trying to decorate your home on a budget and Goodwill is one of your go to places, sometimes you have to take things as they are ­–— even if they are missing a few pieces.

A few years ago I bought some brass end tables for $9 each. They were in perfect vintage condition except for one thing. The bottom of both tables were missing a piece of glass. I decided to take them home and and fill them with plywood covered in faux croc skin. As with most projects, this never happened.

A year ago, I was trying to update my living room and decided to bring out those end tables and use them for coffee tables. Of course I forgot that they both only had one piece of glass.

Since I knew I wasn’t going to DIY anything I called a glass company to get a piece of glass cut. I was quoted $40 per glass. So I decided to wait. Fast forward a few months later it hit me. I can repurpose the glass from a set of large picture frames!

It just so happens that I had two matching frames in storage that I was going to use to frame some art, but decided against it. I disassembled them and to my surprise, they fit, perfectly! Since they frames were already purchased I didn’t have to spend anything to upgrade my glassless coffee tables. Although my frames worked on the first attempt, this may not always happen.

So, I am going to give you a few tips on how to make sure you snag the right frames for a coffee or an end table that may be missing a piece of glass.

Tip #1:

This project works best on small to medium sized tables.

Tip #2:

Keep the exact measurements of all tables you want to place a piece of glass on.  

Tip #3:

Always tap the glass to make sure it is not extremely thin. Older frames tend to have thicker glass so try to look for a frame with age.

Design Tip:

Elevate your basic glass frame by giving it a mercury glass finish or spray painting it a solid color. 

I know we all love frames. Even after we have painted them all the same color and created a gallery wall or created a shadow box, frames still have a lot of life left in them. So the next time you see a glass table with missing glass or even a regular side table you want to protect the top of, consider using the glass from a picture frame; its cheap and easy!