Good idea, not so good results

Have you ever decided to do a little project which seems simple enough but ends up a mess?
I decided to paint the top of the square end table that sits next to my recliner.  Everything is dark in the living room and I thought since the top was pretty well scratched up anyway I would paint it a creamy white.

I went to town and bought a can of satin finish spray paint, sand paper, masking paper and tape.  Even got one of those trigger tops for the paint can (I've used them before and they work great).

John took the table out to our shed (one of the perks of being a campground host) and I spread out an old sheet and got started.  I sanded the top and washed it down and let it dry.  I wiped again to make sure I had all the dust off the top.  Masked around the bottom and started painting.  It became obvious early on that it was going to take a lot of paint to cover the dark brown finish.  After multiple thin applications I noticed a lot of what I can only describe as "paint dust" all over the floor....and I ran out of paint.  I decided to let it dry overnight and paint again the next day.

John offered to go into town and get another can of paint and to finish the painting.  Well...it was a disaster.  The paint was rough and uneven and frankly a mess.  And...he'd used all the paint....for just a table top!!

So back to town this morning to get yet another can of paint.  They were out of the satin finish and since I was not happy with the results anyway I got more extra fine sandpaper and a can of gloss finish in the same color.

I sanded the top smooth....nice but really needed more paint...cleaned everything up and re-masked.  As soon as I started painting I knew it was a bust...the paint just sort of turned into a grainy mess.  John of course, trying to be helpful, took the can of paint and said he'd do it....now if you know me at all you know I hate having someone take over my project, so I stormed out and after an hour of cooling off John said he figured out what was the problem.  It was the trigger nozzle which the paint spray was hitting as it came out of the can and dropping a fine mist of drops...whatever....I am fed up and as of now the table is still in the shed and John is in the dog house.  SHEESH...what a mess.   I'll take a look at it tomorrow and decide if I can salvage it or junk it and get a new table.