Dining Table MakeOver

7 Materials
$30
6 Hours
Easy

I never realized how much brown furniture I had collected over the last 20 years. This included my dining room table. I was searching for an alternative that would not require a full strip/sand project and found that a white table with dark chairs is a really common look, one that I'd never really noticed and I thought it would look great in my dining room.

Here is the original:

Before

I started by attempting to use a non-toxic stripper on the top of the table. This barely affected the top laquer of the original finish. It was thick and would have taken a long time and a lot of work to get the table completely stripped/sanded.

 

For the chairs, I wanted a high gloss finish with no brush marks. I have had really great luck with spray painting furniture/appliances lately and I knew it would save me a LOT of time and effort.


Prepping your chairs:

  1. Remove cushions (usually just a couple of screws on the bottom of the chair)
  2. Clean/Repair chairs - I had arm rests on two of my chairs that needed to be removed because one had broken beyond repair. Then I filled any holes with wood putty and let dry.
  3. Deep scratches - sand smooth




Primer - take outdoors in well ventilated area and spray slowly avoiding runs



Paint - wait at least 30 minutes between coats and make sure the temps stay above 55-60 degrees


Finish - wait another 30 minutes and coat with a laquer finish



Now it was time for the table. Instead of going to the effort to move it somewhere else, I just used a drop cloth under and left it in the dining room. For materials, I used Rust-oleum Chalked matte paint in Chiffon Cream, a Creme wax finish and a small paint brush and roller.


I did three coats of the chalk paint on the table and then two coats of the wax. Make sure to used the roller on the top for a super smooth finish.

Finished Look!


I am loving my new dining room and very glad I didn't buy a new set!

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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Danielle Danielle on Apr 08, 2019

    Are you planning to recover the chair seats?

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2 of 25 comments
  • Deanne Graham Deanne Graham on May 02, 2019

    Yes of course. I love refinishing furniture. I actually am more excited with doing a project like that than buying new furniture.

  • Melody Melody on May 29, 2019

    Great looking finish!!

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