My Old Table Has a New Look Just in Time for Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving house cleaning project is wearing me out!  I need a break and I'm going to use blogging as my excuse to sit down for a few minutes.  And anyway, I'm dying to show someone my table now that it's sporting a new look.  


So, this is what it looked like before.  We bought the table about fifteen years ago at Ikea in Chicago before we built our current house.  I always liked the style of the table, but was never really fond of the knotty pine look- just too many knots, but it was a really good buy for a real wood table, so we purchased it.  It was always just finished with a clear coat.  I knew that one of these days, I would do something else to it, but I didn't expect it to take me fifteen years!

I decided to paint the bottom a white that would go with the adjacent cabinet, and I wanted to stain the top a darker color so that the knots wouldn't be so noticeable.  I settled on Amy Howard at Home- One Step Paint in Ballet White, and Minwax Gel Stain in Chestnut.



I sanded away that clear finish...inside the house.  I don't know what I'm thinking sometimes...maybe I just like to dust.  



When it was sanded down to bare wood, I applied a Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner (also by Minwax) that is supposed to make the stain go on more evenly.  When that was dry, I applied my first coat of stain.  The instructions said to apply liberally, which I did...then after three minutes, I wiped off the excess.


I then did it all again for the second coat of stain.  Here I'm showing a pic just after second coat application...Isn't it pretty?


This is what I had when the excess stain had been wiped away.


I was a little disappointed with the color of the top.  It's just not as dark as I had hoped for. It seemed like the wood just didn't want to soak up the stain.  I'm thinking that original clear coat had permeated the soft pine wood so that it was still sort of sealed even though it looked like I had sanded it down to bare wood.  Anyway, I thought about a third application, but it just seemed to be sitting on the top surface and wiping back off, so I think it would have been a waste of time.  I just decided to go with this.  It is still darker than the original look, and the knots don't stand out like they did before.  

After the stain had dried completely, I applied a satin polyurethane finish to the top and painted the bottom with the white.  The bottom part took two coats of paint, but it's a one-step paint, so I shouldn't need to topcoat it.


I could hardly wait for the second coat of polyurethane to dry so that I could clean up around the table, put the chairs back around it and take pictures!  



It looks so much better now with the antique cabinet.  The addition of the white just makes it work.


Now, I need to get up and dust...the entire house.

I was not compensated in any way by Minwax or Amy Howard at Home.  I'm just sharing what I used.

Judy

If you like what you see here, I would love to have you follow along.  To make sure that you don't miss anything, you can follow by e-mail.  Simply scroll down to the bottom of the page and put it in the space  provided, or you can enter it at the top of the sidebar.  I never share your  addresses  with anyone, so  you  can  feel at ease by sharing it with me.  Also, your first mail from me will most likely end up in  your spam folder, so you will need to go look for that one, then click on my e-mail address and save it to your address book.  That will assure that all future e-mails will go  to your e-mail folder so that you can   actually  see them.  I would be honored to have you follow along as I play!

Comments

  1. Judy,
    The makeover on your table turned out GREAT! Now all you need to do before all your guests arrive is to cook and dust :) Looks like I need to try the Amy Howard paint (really no waxing on this paint?).

    Blessings,
    Linda

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Linda. About the paint...Here's the quote from the brochure: "When dry, One Step will not peel, chip or come off, but it can scuff. To prevent scuffing, it is recommended to add a light coat of wax. We dare you to try to scratch it off! One Step bonds to almost anything including wood, formica, melamine, plastic, metal, lacquer and oil based paints." Then in another place, "Unlike other brands, customers do not have to add wax or a topcoat if they want a chalky, matte look." I'll let you know how it holds up- Thanksgiving will be a good test!
      Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
      Judy

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love all those colors in that room! The table goes great with that nice hutch. Most of my furniture is knotty pine from when the country look was in style in the 80's. I have plans to paint some of it with with white chalk paint after we make the move to the new house. I did a desk and table so far and I like the results. I distressed them both so I wouldn't fret over scratches, dings and scuffs and I really like the look.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Lorraine! I debated over and over in my mind whether or not to distress before deciding to not distress...I'm sure those table legs will get hit a few times with chair legs, so if it starts looking too bad, I will probably distress later. I'm sure there will come a time when I will wish I had gone ahead with the distressing!

      Delete
  4. Judy, I love the table and the turquoise chairs! I'm a huge fan of Amy Howard paint, but haven't used the stain yet. Glad to know it turned out so well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Kim! I've never been one to shy away from color!
      Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. Thank you Darrielle! I appreciate you dropping by and leaving a sweet comment.

      Delete
  6. It turned out looking great, and the blue chairs are adorable with it!
    Happy Thanksgiving week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Leslie Anne! Happy Thanksgiving to your and yours, too!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts