We love to use our Ikea Flisat children's table as a sensory table or as a simple sand and water table. But the mess can be too much for indoors. We have put the table outside on our deck but sand still travels everywhere and the area around the table always needs sweeping.

When we lived in the UK we would often use our Ikea Flisat table for sand and water outside. When it rained I would bring it inside or put it under our door table setting. It held up for over a year. But eventually it got a few spots of mould, the timber started darken and generally started to look weathered. Water proofing was always going to be a good idea but it sounded hard and expensive.

Recently I was looking to paint my Street Library. I found this exterior paint for timber that was affordable, available in small quantities, available in a range of colours, UV and mould resistant and doesn't need a primer. Wow, this paint would also be perfect for children's outdoor furniture. The sales assistant said this is the paint she recommends for children's wooden cubby houses too. 

With the left over paint from my Street Library I decided to paint our the Flisat table. The paint I used is Cabot's Deck and Exterior Paint, (I paid $14. 60 AUD for 500ml). I gave it two coats, it dries within 20 minutes and I left ours 24 hours before leaving it outside. I spoke to the paint staff about colours and they can tint it in a range of colours but not bold/bright primary.

Our table has only been painted and outside for a couple of days and it has been out in the rain. The water wipes of easily. It's looking good.

I'll provide an update to this post when it's been outside for a few months and perhaps over the summer too! It feels good to put this table outside and for Otto to make a huge mess and not to worry about it. Straight after I took these pictures he put two muddy toy dump trucks into the water to wash them, it was very messy and I didn't have to worry. 

Are you looking for other ways to add to your Flisat table? I recently found and loved these decals from Etsy and also I think this Duplo idea is fabulous! 

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