Antique Gate Leg Table

I picked up this table for $15 at an estate sale!! There was no questioning whether I had enough room for this one - I would make enough room. The piece is structurally solid, but the top needed a major face lift, and the legs were scratched and worn. I decided to keep a wood finish on the top and just paint the legs. Milk paint seemed like the natural choice, as it gives that antique look. Figuring out how to use milk paint in a paint sprayer was the next challenge.
The bones of this piece are solid, but the top needed to be stripped and refinished, and the legs were scratched, scuffed, and worn.
Whenever I use milk paint, I always sand first. Milk paint penetrates raw wood, but it sits on top of finished wood, so if you give it a little something to stick to, it only chips slightly (which is the look I prefer).
To prepare for spraying the paint (painting spindle legs by hand is not my idea of a good time), I taped butcher paper to the top. I sprayed two coats, turned the table over, and painted two more coats, making sure to hit the places I missed when it was flipped over.
I stripped, stained, and sealed the top, and it looks 10 times better than it did before!
For more on how I use a paint sprayer with milk paint and for more details on this project, head on over to my blog.
Jenny @ Refresh Living
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  3 questions
  • J. Liz J. Liz on Nov 13, 2015
    It's beautiful. What's the total length if it's used for a dinner table?
  • Pg Pg on Nov 21, 2015
    Beautiful. Is that what they call a gate-leg table?
  • Susan C. Johnson Susan C. Johnson on Jun 13, 2017

    The table is beautiful, what color of milk paint did you use? Did you also polyurethane the legs?

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