I finished painting the side tables my brother and I built over the weekend and installed them in our home theater. I generally prefer to finish wood furniture I have built with a clear protective finish. Because these pieces were made with both bamboo and baltic birch and because they will share a room with a spalted maple entertainment center, I opted to paint them to match the walls so they do not compete with the other elements in the room. The top shelf will make for handy storage of remotes and headphones while the lower shelf is sized for books. When viewed from all but the lowest angle, these tables appear to float above the floor. This look is achieved by using a 10″ deep toe kick and adding 40 pounds of ballast to the back side of the table so it does not tip forward.