Farmhouse Dining Table Makeover

Hey there,

Has it been hard for you to go back to your regular routine after the holidays?  Well, it's been so hard for me to get in the swing of things, and the cold weather isn't helping much. 

I'm glad I tackled so many projects last month for the reveal of the dining room, this one is one of those.

I had no idea what kind of table was this, I did a Google search for dining tables with drawers, and the best match was this: Farmhouse dining table with keeping drawers and tapering legs from non other than Magnolia Home line! Whoa, after seeing that price, I'm so happy with the time I invested bringing this beautiful table back to life. :)

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This was a lucky find, my SIL knew I was looking for a table with drawers so, when she saw the free Craiglist ad she immediately let me know. The above pics are the ones the previous owner posted. And that's my van with the precious item coming to its new home.

The table-top had some paint stains, but I didn't bother much about them, those usually come off easily. The circled marks were the ones I was concerned about.

I thought the stain would come off easily, so I used the lacquer thinner - acetone mix, spreading it and scrubbing it with a steel wool pad. It surely removed the paint stains, but it didn't do much to the heavy coats of stain/varnish the table had.

More power was necessary --->Citristrip - Stripping Gel to the rescue. I applied it with an old brush, following the product instructions. After 30 minutes and using a joint knife, all that stuff started to come off easily.

For those stubborn areas, you need to apply some more stripping gel, wait some minutes and remove.
After I removed all the stain/varnish, I cleaned the entire surface with the thinner-acetone mix, and then one more cleaning with denatured alcohol.

The above left picture is how the top looked after it was all cleaned.
Those two big circles were still there, they didn't look like water stains, in fact I believe it was stain. My guessing is that the person who stained the table left the gallon of stain on top of the table while working on it, creating those two big marks.
Well, the only thing that worked at minimizing those marks was the sander. Yep, I used a 120 grid sandpaper. Every time I went over those patches, the sandpaper was left with blotches of sticky residue.
The above right picture is how the surface looked at the end of the day, when I brought the table inside the house.
 I still can see the marks, but as my friend Beck says, those are the imperfections we have to "embrace".  ;)

The next step: two coats of Annie Sloan clear wax, buffing it in between coats.

I liked the green base the table had, but it was already looking tired. I went for a brighter color. Even though it looks white, it's a light grey color.

I used the secret formula of homemade chalk paint I always use. Well, it's not so secret, you can find it here. The thing is, I always use regular flat paint, yes, the one I use for the wall, same amount of POP & water.

After the two coats of paint were dried, I gave the entire base a good sanding with 120 grid sandpaper. The corners and those little crevices the table has were sanded some more, you can see the green color peaking thru.

A tack cloth was used to remove all the dust before applying two coats of wax to protect the paint.

Well, this table sure needed some TLC. It wasn't the easiest of the projects, but it wasn't that big of a deal either. The end result: I love it!

The lighter wooden tone and the tabletop design are now one of my favorite features.

Hmmm, perhaps after the little drawers.

I'm already filling them with my office things. Can you see the spots on the tabletop? Yep. They're noticeable, but I already got used to them.

I like to pay more attention to the grain, and the color, and at how soft it feels.

This is a bird's-eye view of the table that I shared during the Christmas tour.

I'm LOVING IT! I'm now using it as my desk. Pretty soon, I'll be sharing this room with its new office attire, stay tuned! ;)

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You can also check how this kitchen table was transformed:

Kitchen Table with Driftwood Stained Top

Kitchen Island Makeover

DIY - Above Fridge Tray Divider

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