DIY Projects, Furniture Makeover

Dining Room Table Makeover

Hey Y’all! Today I’m sharing what is hands down my favorite project to date. This is definitely the biggest impact project I have done, and I am IN LOVE with the result.

So, cue the before picture:

TableBefore

This dining set has seen better days. I believe it’s from Target, but I’m honestly not even sure. My husband bought it for $50 long before we were married from a couple who was moving. It had been their newlywed table, and we inherited it as our newlywed table. It’s not awful, but it’s a dark, basic, “starter” table in all its MDF glory. Clearly not my favorite thing. You can see why I needed to update this baby.

I got my first supply of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint for my birthday, and I decided to give it a try.

Chair during

This labor of love took several days, but it was so worth it. As you can see, I started with a coat of Annie Sloan’s Old White. What’s shown here is the very first coat. I ended up doing two full coats and a third coat just in certain areas.

Chair After

This is the end result of my hard work. I wanted to go for a bit of a distressed look (not too much), so I lightly sanded around the natural edges of the chairs and tables.

 Chair Close Up

table close up

That messy porch workshop of mine. Sorry, y’all. In the photo of the table, you can see that I painted about an inch onto the tabletop. I didn’t paint the whole thing, because I felt like that would just be a waste. I didn’t want any unpainted parts to show through when I added the top though, so I just painted around the edges.

wax

Next comes the wax. Chalk paint needs an application of wax after the paint is dry. It’s a tricky process, but I seemed to manage. I think I’m going to do a separate post on my experience using this paint. Anyway, once the wax was applied, it was time to work on the tabletop.

Sanded Boards

First thing I did was sand the sharp edges of each board. We used 8 1×6 cedar planks cut to 42 inches (the width of our table). I wanted a rustic look, but not a give-you-splinters-while-you’re-eating-dinner look.

Stained Boards

Then I stained each of the boards. I have learned by now that gloves are a must while staining. Just…don’t go to school with stain all over your hands and knees. Your students will not appreciate it.

This is the stain I used:

IMG_1395

As you can see in the above photo, the color on the can isn’t quite how it turned out, but that’s alright. Up until this point, this project had been completely mine. I did have to enlist my husband to help with the next step, though.

We lined the tabletop with the newly stained boards, and nailed them in place.

nailed boards

Can I also just say that nail guns are really awesome? Okay, that’s all.

Poly

I added a coat of Polyurethane to the top to protect the finish. The poly brought out the wood grain even more and made the top look SO GOOD.

poly2

This photo shows how much the poly enhanced the wood grain. Hello, beautiful. After this, we waited for it to dry so we could move it back into the dining room. Never mind the fact that the dining room had been awkwardly empty for a week at this point.

Here she is, my new table! She doesn’t look quite so newlywed basic anymore!

after5

We decided to leave about an inch of overhang on either side to create just a little bit more surface area.

after4

We can’t do anything about the dark carpet or paneling, or wall color, so this table makes a big impact. It lightens up the space so much!

after3

after1

Remember how dark it was before? The before/after pictures were taken at the same time of day! I am loving this table now, and definitely won’t be parting with it for a LONG time.

Like I mentioned earlier, I’m going to do a more in depth post on my experience with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, so stay tuned for that! That’s all for today. Have a fabulous day, friends!

table before after

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3 Comments

  • Reply Melissa Rodriguez May 26, 2015 at 10:37 am

    Fawn! It’s gorgeous! I love it! Tido & I were given a brand new table for our wedding but it’s cheaply made and needs a lot of TLC! When we move I’m going to be asking you a lot of questions on this! Like.. What if I don’t have a nail gun?! Haha! I need to make friends with some new neighbors that might have tools!
    I’m interested in seeing your detailed post on using the paint too!
    Is it safe to use while pregnant?

    • Reply Fawn Rumfield May 26, 2015 at 5:32 pm

      Thanks Melissa! I’m clearly not a pregnancy expert, but I know that the paint is made from organic materials and has no VOCs, which I’m pretty sure is what makes certain paints hazardous to pregnant ladies. I would look into it a little more, but I would guess it would be safe! And you could totally use a hammer and nails if you didn’t have a nail gun, it would just be a bit more time consuming! 🙂

  • Reply When “Your Style” Seems to be Changing – Rumfield Homestead July 12, 2018 at 11:37 am

    […] room set to make room for new things (are you local? My dining room set that I refinished (click here for the original posting details) will be for sale soon!). Slowly, over time, I’m going to […]

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