Refinished Dining Table for Under $50

4 Materials
$50
5 Hours
Medium
I had been searching for the perfect dining table for quite a bit of time. I needed one that was large enough to fit six chairs, small enough to fit in the little eat-in kitchen area, and one that could be expanded (into the hallway, I might add) when guests came over. Oh, and of course, I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but I found this solid vintage dining table, with two removable leaves, for $37! The price didn't quite start off here, but in the end, that's how much it cost. If you click on the link at the bottom of this post, you can read about that whole bargain-shopping story.
Because I love to refinish furniture, I had all the stripping and painting supplies already on hand, which kept the cost of this project down. Basically, I started by stripping the old finish off the table top. I ended up doing three coats, and it still was darker than I wanted it.
I decided to use wood bleach for the last step to lighten up the wood, and also to remove a couple of moldy water rings that just weren't coming off either.
After the finish was brought back to as close to it's natural state as possible, I finished it with Wipe On Poly. It took 5 coats to build up the finish suitable for a table top, but I love the look of the hand rubbed finish.
I painted the table legs and base with an acrylic furniture paint, sealed it, and then she was ready to move into my little dining area. I have an entire post devoted to comparing different paints out there for painting furniture. It's packed full of a ton of information that you may find helpful.
This dining table makeover was part of a full room makeover - all completed for under $100! I brought in a new table, 4 new chairs, painted two old chairs, made floating window shelves, and completely changed the side of my fridge which is just to the left of this photo. You can see the full room, and what it looked like before, here: $100 Dining Room Makeover. 


I give all the details of all the specific products I used in my post, so feel free to stop by and check it out by clicking the link below.
Resources for this project:
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Jenny @ Refresh Living
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Skk9086056 Skk9086056 on Aug 10, 2018

    I too have a veneer table I would like to refinish what are my options

  • Lbr9723383 Lbr9723383 on Aug 10, 2018

    Is the table wood?


  • LD LD on Oct 08, 2018

    I have Adirondack chairs which I restained a few years ago and since being outside on my covered deck, the stain is now faded looks terrible. Sanding these chairs is very time consuming and I would rather paint them. Would chaulk paint do the trick and would I have to put a polyurethane coat on them? I want an easy and quick solution to paint these chairs.

    Thanks for your help!

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