How to Make the Background of My Table Opaque

Spread drop cloths over the ground in your work area. Place two sawhorses next to each other on the cloths, spread about as far apart as the width of your table's base. You can use your table base to hold up the glass tabletop for painting, but you run the risk of accidental paint transfer. If you use the base, cover it well with a couple of drop cloths or painter's tape.

Straddle your glass tabletop over the sawhorses or your covered base; face its bottom side up so you can easily work with it.

Run a large cleaning sponge under warm water to soak it, and then lightly wring it to remove some excess water. Squirt some liquid soap onto the sponge and squeeze it again to saturate the sponge with soap. Wash your tabletop's glass surface with the soapy sponge, and then dry the glass with a clean towel.

Dab a cotton pad in isopropyl alcohol, and then swipe the saturated pad over the glass. This conditions the glass surface for paint.

Lay out any planned designs, which you must apply before the final background color. Brush or sponge glass paint onto foam stamps and apply them to the surface. Don't use text-based stamps, since they won't look right viewed from the top of the glass. You could also use stencils. Spray adhesive onto a stencil and press it against the glass and then sponge or brush on paint inside the stencil. Make shapes, stripes or borders with painter's tape, and sponge or brush paint onto the inside of the taped shapes.

Remove any stencils or tape and clean off the sticky residue with alcohol-soaked cotton pads. Allow the painted designs to dry for as long as the paint packaging states; typically, glass paints require at least 24 hours to "cure."

Spray several light coats of glass paint onto the glass surface; cover the glass completely. Apply two more coats; wait several minutes between each coat to give the paint time to slightly dry. Apply a final coat of black paint to ensure the painted glass is totally opaque. The painted background totally covers any designs or images you've applied, but the designs are still visible from the other side of the glass, which becomes the top of the table.

Allow the glass paint to cure before flipping the table onto its "right" side and replacing it onto the table base. You can now clearly see the paintwork you did on the underside of the table, but the table's surface is still food-safe, easily wiped and even.