Help With Drop Leaf Table,want to Paint or Lighten!
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Lovely table. Supposing you have a two-toned look - dark legs and light wood upper. And perhaps the central part of the table that doesn't fold down can be covered with decorative tiles of a colour scheme that goes with the 2-toned look. Added bonus of tiles is not having to bother with trivets.
My Dear M.I.Law had one and like you said, it was her and Dad. When someone would stop for a cup of coffee and lunch she would pull up the table side. It was gorgeous in her little area. She refinished it and added tongue oil. Beautiful table!!! Worn and scratched is Trendy!!! Beat it up, the older lookin' takes ya back in time. I myself am in to stain and grain.
Love the nostalgic look! I would paint it a pretty light color...white, soft blue, aqua or green. Of course you'll need to start with sanding it a bit and a good primer since it's so dark and it will need 2 coats of paint. When finished, I would add a pretty lace doily and a bowl of fresh fruit or seasonal flowers as a centerpiece. To the chairs, add some chair cushions for comfort, maybe a soft floral pattern. For company dinners, hit the thrift stores and find dishes of different patterns, but that have the same color scheme. Finish with pretty cloth napkins. The glass picture in the background would be nice on the wall above the table.
You may have a Duncan Pfeiff dining table. Please research before you start stripping and or painting.
Chalk paint it. Adding stencils would look great, too
Please don't paint this lovely old table. Any value would be lost!! Try one of the furniture "restorers" first on a place that doesn't show. If this doesn't work, your table is worth the time, effort, and money to refinish it or have it done.
I have one that will sit 12! My top is also rather slightly beaten. I've done some research and I also want to lighten up, but I learned that working on the top might be too much labor. I plan to paint all 3 rows of the legs, but I am going to cover the top with 2 layers of table cloths: the bottom layer with gray linen and the top layer with white cloth table. When I have dinner, I plan to take the top one off. Yes, I have chairs too and I am going to paint then white and change the seat fabric to something shabby and lighter. I hope to compare our noted once we are done! :D
Yes! Please check the table manufacturer. That's a beautiful table. Anything you do to it will lower the value. The suggestion of restoring or just lightning the top if you can't save it due to scratches is a great way of keeping the table but modernizing it without painting. Painting is just another "in" thing that'll go out of style in a few years and people will be stripping off the paint to get to the real, old wood.
You could always put a table cloth over it if you wanted a "lighter, brighter" look in that area.
If you decide not to paint the table you can always paint the chairs to help lighten things up.
Here is the thing about painting your own furniture...people talk about losing value... But if you never intend to sell it then it doesn't matter. If none of your children will want it ( and most don't today) then it is going to end up at a thrift store anyway. So do what you want.
A white table with aqua chairs would look wonderful and if you tire of that color combination you can always repaint the chairs.
Make yourself happy. Check out Pinterest for painted furniture ideas and you will find a blue that will put a smile on your face.
Chalk paint! Either make your own or purchase any of the brands sold now. I like the calcium carbonite powder chalk paint recipe - then you can pick any latex paint color you like and make it into chalk paint. With that dark of a wood tone you might have to use a primer first tho....
If you do decide to paint/stain this table I encourage you to check out unicorn Spit as a way to really beautify it. It doesn't have to be bright colors, it can be very elegant according to your taste.
http://www.hometalk.com/diy/paint/furniture/s-15-magical-furniture-flips-using-nothing-but-unicorn-spit-stain-19062023?page_num=14
I wouldn't paint it at all . If you find that don't possess a pricey antique as mentioned above , I would strip it with Citristrip and add several coats of polyurethane . This will lighten it considerably and protect it.
I agree with those that say ...do what makes you happy. May want a combo of paint and stain because paint might chip where the folding wood meets. How about a stenciled pattern to lighten? Or pickle the wood top and paint/glaze the legs in a soft color?
Use rustoleum furniture paint. Beautiful to work with and beautiful result. Best of it is no sanding or preparing required. After painting my varnished wooden fire place teal with it im going to paint my table as well. Honestly looks amazing
This would be beautiful on your table.
http://www.hometalk.com/diy/-30496679
I agree with the people saying you could devalue your table with and paint or other applications, but it is your table so do what you will, but if you could sell it and get something else that might be best for you to do
Do whatever you like to your table. It is yours to enjoy and use...make it your own.
My husband's mom past away and we were lucky to receive her table and 4 chairs and matching china cabinet. Lucky for us she purchased a purchased a full set of table pads for the table and used them religiously. The last thing I can think of would be to paint it. The only two things, I want to do is add lighting to the top of the china cabinet to show off my crystal and change the material on the chair seats.
I had a table that came from Lamberts in St Louis, MO. It had been used but it was beautiful Mahogany. That was around 1968 when I got it. Look under it see if it was from Lamberts and if it was it may be worth your time to find out the value of it. C.D.
Painted also all the cabinets white which were also teak
I have a table almost like yours. We got it 40 years ago from my husbands grandmother. The center is not as wide as yours. I just love the table. It has legs that pull out from under to hold the leafs up. What I'm doing is stripping it down. And the top has a vaneer that has water damage. So I am sanding that down. I'm not going to stain the table but I will varnish it or even polyurethane the bottom part. I'm going to leave it natural with a new oak vaneer. I'm going to use it as a buffet table in my dining room. I have oak floors so it will go good there. Hope your project come out as well as mine is.
Would placing a small hole in the back to place LED lights in the china cabinet hurt the value of it?
Hah, forgot that yours drop. Mine doesn't. Good question.
I don't plan to paint underside. If you don't mind spending time redoing the top, perhaps you ought to refinish the top. I am a bit worn out from working too much last couple of years so I plan to recuperate and recharge...thus take the easy way: table cloths! Good luck to the both of us! ![](http://cdn-fastly.hometalk.com/resources/design/emojis/1f600.png)
Thank you. Am pleased with it. Was going to put white on top and distress it but was so lovely the way it was. My house is very colourful any way!!
Lol im pinks purples and aqua. So.s my garden. I have 3 fences 1 pink 1 aqua and 1 purple. Really brightens up the garden
Strip it all down which is a dirty job but somebody has to do it. Then with a quality oil finish to bring the beautiful grain out.
I love using chalk paint!
I would darken the top and being you really don't eat at the table use it for show and add fabric chairs and angle them and add a large flower arrangement.