Kitchen Table

So after putting an offer on our first house I went a little nuts.  There was so much that I wanted to do to our house (that at this point wasn't even ours yet) but I couldn't!  (Chill out..I know but I was excited)  I decided to get all my furniture ready for our new house.  Keep in mind we have a 2 bedroom, not very large apartment...and it was winter so I couldn't do anything outside.

I decided to start with our kitchen table.  A friend of mine gave us this table about 5 years ago because she was getting a new table.  This friend had 5 kids (4 boys).  This table was beat up! Covered in dents and paint and who knows what else.  Only three of the chairs had survived.  Luckily, another friend was getting rid of a little bench and that worked quite well with our table.  Got to love free stuff!! I can't find a good before picture (whoops!) but this one shows the table and is way cuter then any picture of just a table!  Just your standard orangey wood table with tons of wear and tear.

I started off by using a stripper for the top of the table. Citristip from Home Depot http://www.homedepot.com/p/Citristrip-1-qt-Safer-Paint-and-Varnish-Stripping-Gel-QCG73801T/100208204  Let that sit for a bit and then scrapped it off.  This worked pretty well but was way messier and more difficult then I thought it would be, however, it smelled like Creamsicles...seriously.  After it sits you scrap it off (I used a Pampered Chef pan scraper) and then wipe it down with mineral spirits. Do not skip this step I tried to and ended up running to the store to buy some.

I then got a bunch of sand paper and I sanded one chair in about 15 minute.  My husband wanted to sand one and took about an hour.  Needless to say, he is WAY more thorough then I am.  I don't have time for that! This is during nap time!  So I decided to do an "experiment" :)  I sanded one lightly, there was the fully sanded one and the third I didn't sand at all.  I used a white paint and primer in one so I thought that maybe that would cut it.  Drum roll!
AHHHH! (After a couple weeks)

I pealed off a bunch of paint and then tried to strip it with my citris stripper and I was left with this nasty mess.  Lightly sanding worked fine.  So moral of the story don't be lazy but don't kill yourself sanding. Better yet stop right now and go to the store and buy an electric sander...just do it.  They are like 20-30 buck and a dream come true.






I used a Miniwax Polyshade Espresso stain for the top http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/stains-color-guide/.  I was in love!  My table had little wooden knobs on the side so I took those off.  I found pretty little gold metal ones at Home Depot for only a dollar.  So I primed and sanded those and sprayed them with a metal finish.  I love how this table turned out.  What a difference.  I still have to resurrect the third chair but I am happy to take one for the team.  Learn from my mistakes!

I LOVE this table!  It came out better then I imagined.  I highly recommend redoing your table if it needs some love. Made such a huge difference in our living area.

What I would do different:
Chalk Paint!  Annie Sloan is a dream but if you don't want to spend that much then make your own with Plaster of Paris and paint.  No sanding and better finish. I would probably still do a super light sanding (can't hurt)

or

Use and electric sander or liquid sander.  I just learned about liquid sanding!

Thanks for reading!

Erica