How To Make An Old Table Look New – Hello and happy Tuesday to you! I meant to post yesterday, but Monday I’m in a daze and wandering around aimlessly in my pajamas, eating peanut butter.
This is actually an older post from our archives and I have an in-depth tutorial to share with the most frequently asked questions about how to achieve a “painting” look on a table. So here I go!
How To Make An Old Table Look New
It’s a solid little seat, and I love the nature of the pedal base. But the top surface is infinite, so my staining technique is out of the question. I have nothing to encourage.
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And so on. In our shop. for a long time. At some point we decided to finish painting this bad boy.
It had a glossy laminate on top and needed to be sanded down to dry. Otherwise, the primer will have nothing to remember.
The light yellow paint was already a very flat sheen, so we didn’t sand that area. If it was amazing, we would definitely say yes! We painted and painted white with RustOleum satin finish spray paint.
Charming Table With One Bunch Of Flowers
I decided to paint the table driftwood and white chairs like the restaurant hardware. I love this technique that I invented to “age” wood. I paint the raw wood white, then sand until I see the wood grain coming out, then stain. But since this table is painted, we skipped the sanding part (it’s more like laminate (plastic) on the top surface) and opted for stain.
Nick brushed the stain (we used RustOleum Dark Walnut), and I came up behind him and scrubbed the stain away…leaving it in spots and stains, leaving it a stark white.
I wanted the top surface to look like the boards, so I taped another 4 inches (approx) to stain the individual boards.
Decoupage Table To Make A Table Look New
Then I brushed on the stain and dabbed it with a cotton swab, using a straight sweeping motion to create the look of the wood.
I removed the tape immediately after painting. Then after the stain dried (several hours) I went back and taped and stained the rest of the whiteboards the same way.
I liked where it was going, but I still wanted each “throne” to stand out from the other, so I glued a small piece to the crevices of each plank and painted it black.
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Not bad?! Our garage was too shabby for “after pictures” so we brought this baby into our dining room (which was in our old house) for a little photo shoot.
I love the rustic look with the crisp white chairs. Don’t you think it would look great with any decor style? I would say it definitely has a farmhouse vibe to it.
Changing this furniture is very simple. If the paint didn’t have hours to dry, it could have been painted in an afternoon
How To Make Old Furniture Look Modern
And if you’re looking for a less complicated way to refresh your table, try our gray washing technique for that farmhouse look in an afternoon!
If you like the “wooden/wooden” look, I think you might also like the technique I found for making new pine boards look like old barn wood. If that doesn’t fit strong, I don’t know what will. 😉
We also have an article to help you decide whether your furniture is laminate or wood veneer (and what’s the difference!).
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Check out all the other furniture conversions we’ve done over the years by clicking the image below!
Nick and Bethany Sy are the creative free spirits behind the DIY/lifestyle blog, Reality Daydream. They recently purchased a historic mansion and are documenting the ups and downs of the renovation and making it their own. When they found themselves in the trenches of infertility, they embarked on a journey that turned out to be their biggest DIY project yet, and they have 3 beautiful women to show for it. <3 Today I'm sharing everything you need to know to restore your old, worn wooden table and make it look great again.
Learn how to upgrade a table, including removing old items, painting the legs, replacing the top, and preserving it for years to come.
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If you look at my desk from a distance, you’ll think I’m crazy to call it dark.
This is an absolutely stunning table with beautiful wood grain and beautiful detailing. Nearby things are not so beautiful.
I found this table over a year ago on Facebook Marketplace and it is an absolute steal. I made a table with two leaves and six matching chairs for only $50!
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I was six months pregnant at the time, so I knew I wouldn’t be rearranging the set anytime soon.
Well, here we are for over a year and I finally decided it was time to clear the table.
The matching chairs need a little more repair, so they are currently hanging in our basement until I can take care of them.
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I love painting furniture, but there is something almost magical about restoring the wood finish to a beautiful wooden piece of furniture.
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This might be the scariest part of the whole process, but it’s actually not that difficult, just confusing and a little tiring.
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There are two main ways to remove paint or stains from wood furniture: sanding and using a chemical stripper. I have used both methods, but I prefer to use a stripper in most cases.
Sanding can be time consuming and it is very easy to accidentally sand the wood or sand the wood veneer.
Using the stripper requires more steps (including a bit of sanding at the end), but it ultimately leaves a smooth wood surface.
Teak & Resin Side Table
There are other strippers that use slightly less harsh chemicals and are kinder to the environment, but take longer to work. I chose to use KleanStrip because it works well and quickly.
It is best to work outdoors and be sure to wear gloves and a mask to protect your skin.
Pour some stripper into a metal container and use a cheap chip brush to apply a coat of stripper to your table. My table is quite large, so I worked in small portions.
Refinishing My Old Dining Room Chairs
This material works very quickly; I noticed that the coating started to separate from the wood immediately.
Wait about ten minutes then test if it is ready by touching a small area.
It helps to keep some paper towels around and an old box just in case to clean up the mess.
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If the coating is sticky or resists scratching, it’s not ready yet. You can remove it without much effort.
Otherwise, you cannot use Cleanstrip Remover after washing. It really helps remove the remaining coating and most stains.
After washing the small area, use a stripping pad to scrape the wood in small circles.
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See what a difference washing makes after. Even after washing the left side, nothing was found, while the right side did.
Once the table is completely dry, you can use sandpaper to remove any last stubborn stains and make sure the finish is nice and even. You should use extra fine sandpaper and make sure to sand in the same direction as the grain of the wood.
Yes, hand sanding is better than an electric sander at this stage.
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It really helped remove the last little stain and left the surface very smooth and ready for another stain.
I chose to paint the table legs rather than keep them for two reasons.
I want to work on removing the stain from every corner of this table, and luckily I love the look of the table with the white legs and wood top.
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The first step in painting furniture is always cleaning. It is important to remove loose residue, dirt and dust to leave a clean surface on which to paint.
After cleaning, I used painter’s tape and extra heavy paper to protect the newly removed tablecloth while painting.
When painting furniture white, I always start with a good sealer or primer to prevent the tannins in the wood from bleeding through the paint and yellowing the finish.
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As it comes in the form of spray paint, it was very fast
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