Farmhouse End Table Makeover | The Barn Wood Finish

I forgot to take a "before" photo, but you can see here they were a yellow base with orange pine tops. My original intention was to do an artistic finish with multiple paint colors and a raw top. 

First things first, I painted the bases - they looked good so far. 

Then I started sanding the tops, but I accidentally sanded through the overlay and right through to the press board - so there went the "raw wood" plan. 

**Note: if you have any kind of veneer you are sanding down, be careful not to go nuts on it or you will sand right through it. My mistake was using 80 grit sandpaper on them and not paying attention!**

So next, I grabbed my Weathered Gray Water Based Wood Stain. You can apply WBWS over an existing finish, so the centers of these were not raw. I thought it would cover enough, but when dry - the centers of the tables were still orange. 

Mistake 2, as I was staining the tops with gray, I thought it may be a pretty "glaze" over the paint - NOPE. It just looked dirty. Boo. 

So back to square one with the design plan.

If you aren't flexible when being creative, you will break.  

I was really loving the white on these tables - the chunky turned legs make them look so farmhouse-y to me. So instead of repainting my layered finish, I decided to make them completely white. 

This was all from a little sample can (8 oz) of Dixie Belle Chalk Paint. It was given to me at a conference last year and I just never used it. Impressively, the little can covered the bases of both of these tables, twice. 

This is a true chalk mineral paint, with a very chalky finish when it dries. It's nice and thick though and covers very well. It has more texture to it than General Finishes Milk Paint, which is what I almost always use. It was a fun paint to play with.

Back to the tops. 

I added a layer of Walnut stain and painted the centers with a layer of Driftwood Milk Paint to get them all the same color gray. After a second layer of Walnut stain, they were starting to come together.  

Check out my blog for a full tutorial on my faux barn wood finish!! You can take anything from a piece of raw wood, to a piece of furniture that already had a finish on it and make it look like gray or brown barn wood with my technique. And it's easy! I promise.

After adding some layers I was getting some really nice looking texture. This is all on a smooth wood surface, but you can use your brushes to get this layered, texture for an authentic look!  

Over top of both the barn wood top and the chalk mineral paint base I decided to use Flat Out Flat Top Coat. This is my choice over any chalk painted surface. It goes on easily with a brush, and keeps the matte finish while smoothing out the chalk paint and sealing it all at the same time. 

On a casual top like the barn wood finish I didn't want it to be shiny, but needed the final layer of protection, so this worked well for that also! 

Here they are all finished up with the knobs that got their own makeover..  Check out my blog (using the link at the bottom of this post) to see the simple hardware makeover!!

Quite a difference from the yellow and orange they started as, don't you think?? I love how simple and clean the base is with this really interesting multi-layer top. 

Faux barn wood is the way to go!! I hope you love this makeover as much as I do. As much as I wanted to burn these tables in the middle of the process, I sure do love how they turned out!!

Push through on your next project - you've got this!

If you like my style and want to paint furniture (or already do!) -- find me on facebook @rootsandwingsfurniture. I love to share my furniture makeovers and give live painting tips!

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As always, please click on the blog link below to see more pictures, get extra tips and read my list of paint and stain products...

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http://www.rootsandwingsfurniture.com/blog/farmhouseendtables