Dining Table MakeOver – from boring brown to WOW in a few hours!

I never realized how much brown furniture I had collected over the last 20 years.  This included my dining room table.  Here is the original:

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.  After my kitchen cabinet refinishing marathon…no thanks!

I was searching for an alternative that would not require a full strip/sand project and found that a white table with dark/black chairs is a really common look, one that I’d never really noticed and I thought it would look great in my dining room.

For the chairs, I wanted a high gloss finish with no brush marks.  I have had really great luck with spray paint…so I decided that is how I would do the 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
4. Primer – take outdoors in well ventilated area and spray slowly avoiding runs
5. Paint – wait at least 30 minutes between coats and make sure the temps stay above 55-60 degrees
6. Finish – wait another 30 minutes and coat with a laquer finish

Tip: Review the recommended temperature guide on the back of the can.  I didn’t finish all my chairs the same day and I can see a noticeable difference on the chair that was sprayed on the colder day.

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.

Here’s the finished look: