If you’ve got a ho-hum table that needs a little pizzazz, this do-it-yourself effort is just what you need. It’s so easy, a child could do it. In fact, letting a kid make his or her own table is a fun weekend project. The artwork is simply a mosaic of paint chip shapes.

Playing with paint

Paint chips, designed to help people select the perfect color for their next creative project, come in a variety of sizes and shapes. You can purchase paint chips in books, get colors that are discontinued from vendors or pick them up at your local home improvement or discount store.

Some chips come with assorted gradated colors on a single piece, sometimes with a white or dark line between. You can use the lines in your design (or not). It’s likely that you’ll want to use the portion of the chips without the printed color and style designation type, but not necessarily.

Look for paint chips in gloss or matte finishes, or mix them within your mosaic planning for more interest.

A few paint chips are actually prints — from fruit to butterflies — that suggest color combinations you might consider for a room. These can add a little extra fun to your design, so watch for them included with some paint lines.

Many paint chips come with cutouts or perforations, so you can have some premade shapes to work with if you need them in your plan.

Making a plan

You will need a table as a base — either a new one, or a repurposed one. Size doesn’t matter — from side table to coffee table to dining room size — the technique works well on any. If it’s a circle or oval, that works, too.

Assuming the table is in good shape, or you’ve refinished it, measure the top surface in both directions.

Decide on the shape of your planned arrangement so you know approximately how many chips you’ll need and plan a color scheme.

The featured table is 21 inches square, and showcases the color chips primarily measuring 1 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches, alternating direction and pairing.

Topping it off

There are two ways to protect your table’s artsy surface — add a glass or Plexiglas table topper cut to size or cover the paint chipped surface with a decoupaging medium such as Modge Podge. The featured table uses 1/8 inch thick Plexiglas. If you’re purchasing a glass table topper, be sure to get tempered glass for safety and have the edges rounded.

Small non-slip clear disks can be placed between the table-top glass and the table surface to help keep it in place. Look for them at the home improvement store.