Dining Table Upcycle

Happy Monday! It’s a new week and I’ve survived to compete in the next round of the So You Think You’re Crafty competition. I hope you will pop over and vote. I hope you’ll be able to figure out which one is mine! I’m excited to share with you my dining table upcycle today. I love how fun it has turned out. The inspiration are these gorgeous Vera Bradley place mats. I really wanted a table that would bring in the fun yellow green and be bright and cheerful.

My mom found this table at a neighborhood garage sale and she knew I’d been looking for one. She texted me some pictures and I told her to go for it. It was only $40 and it was solid wood with a leaf. The table I have now we bought at Fred Meyer’s when we were first married. It’s been ok but it is cheap. It is even starting to bubble like water has gotten into the cracks. So this will be an awesome change.

Looking at the table before I upcycled it, I felt that it was dark and a little boring. I loved the details in the chair but they hardly stood out. Such great design should be appreciated.

What I used for this project: 

• Sandpaper and sander
• white paint
• black paint
• I color matched the placemat for the chair color
• Briwax
• Stain
• old t-shirts
• paint brushes

I wanted to paint the top white and the base black. To make it easier I decided to do the top first and then let it dry and remove it from the base to paint it black.

I started by sanding away. It is important to get all the shiny finish off before painting. Use a hand sander for this otherwise it will never get done.

After I got it all sanded I went to work painting. I started using a paint sprayer. It kind of went on a little bumpy and not super smooth. If I did this again, I would probably use a brush or a roller or just cans of spray paint. 

It took a couple of coats, but it got all covered. Be sure to let it dry in between each coat. When it is dry, remove the top from the base by removing the hard ware. I was kind of glad there was some overspray on the base because it wasn’t easy to sand. So we used it like it was a primer. 

After the fiasco with the paint sprayer, I decided to just spray paint (with canned spray paint) the base. So much easier. Wish I would have done the top that way too, because I ended up having to sand it down some.

I painted the base a couple of times with the black and then sanded down the edges. Using a sander and by hand. Wipe off the sanding dust and then stain the sanded off edges. It gives the table base a nice distressed finished look.

The base was pretty easy. Back to the top. I used the Briwax to give the white top a little bit of a distressed vintage flair. Again I sanded the edges of the table top. Using old t-shirts I applied a generous coat of the Briwax. Let it sit for a few seconds and then wipe it into the table with the t-shirt. I went over the table top twice with this method.

Lastly, the chairs. They were a beast. I couldn’t really sand them… and they had a bunch of grease on them. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I had so scrape them off and then I just painted them lightly with white spray paint to prime them. Using a brush I painted them a few times. They turned out lovely, and I might add some stain to enhance the carving details (I haven’t decided yet).

Here is a little before and after comparison. It looks so much lighter and bright. It will make my dining area look so happy.

I love how it turned out and all works together with these place mats that I am so in love with.

Are you working on any big projects? I feel like I’ve got to get them all in before it gets to cold because it makes painting big things so much harder!

Linking up with: Linky Party Palooza