• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Crystel Montenegro at Home

  • Home
  • Project Categories
    • DIY Projects
    • Furniture
    • Home Decor
    • Lifestyle
    • Organization
    • Woodworking
  • About Me
  • Printables Library
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover — And What NOT to do!

June 6, 2017 by crystelmont 1 Comment

Alright, you guys. This one’s gonna be a DOOZY. You might be surprised to find out that this type of project is quite often how all of my projects go. I have this image in my mind of how I want something to look, so I try what I think will get it that way, and then it doesn’t work out. So I try something different. And you know, I’m not even mad about it because I learned some lessons and next time I’m going to avoid making the same mistakes. But you guys don’t have to, because I learned it all for you! Lucky, lucky you.

My husband and I were in desperate need of a kitchen table when we moved to Austin, TX for two months so my hubby could work. We got on the Austin craigslist (which I love) and found this table and chairs for a whopping 25 bucks!

Kitchen Table and Chair MakeoverAnd it’s in great condition, might I add. It was pretty dirty from having sat in some guy’s garage for a while but wouldn’t you know it that the little momma cleaned up quite nicely. But guys. Orange. It just wouldn’t do. And I know what you’re thinking, “Crystel, you couldn’t be patient and live with an ugly table for two months?”. And my response to that is, Well, apparently not. You see, I have some free time on my hands what with not having a vehicle during the day while my husband is working and only one child who takes looooong naps. And, you know, beautifying is my thing. So I got to work.

So this Pottery Barn table was my inspiration for color, and I thought I knew how I could get it there. Source can be found here.

I loooove this color of stain. Weathered, but not too weathered. So, I began by sanding down my table. This took TIME, people. So. Much. Time.

Farmhouse Table Makeover

So here’s where my mistake comes in. Looks good, right? Well, look a little more closely. Oak Kitchen table and chairs makeover

Oak Table and Chairs Makeover

Do you see that right there, my friends? I cannot tell you how long I worked to get the poly coat out of those grooves. I had tiny pieces of sand paper that I was shoving in there to try and get it out and it was to no avail. I even tried using a wood stripper which in hindsight I realize that if I had a wire brush that might be just the thing I needed. I did not, however. But I had scratched the grooves up enough that I thought for sure it would be just fine with the dark stain, so I called it good.

I began by staining it with Minwax Provincial.
Oak Dining Table and Chairs MakeoverSo far so good, right? Oh, but just you wait.

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

GAH! What have I done?? All that hard work and it turns out to have a bad case of the uglies.

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

And what’s more, check this out! Somebody was so obsessive about getting the stain out of the leg grooves that she totally missed entire sections of the table! Plus those nasty little corners that I was struggling with almost equally as much as the legs.

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs MakeoverOak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

So, by this time, as you can imagine, I was pretty discouraged. Wanna guess how much I wanted to go back and sand everything down again? Like, zero. So I got to thinking… I have this chalk paint here, and chalk paint can really fix anything. And it wouldn’t require any more sanding, which I couldn’t bear to even consider doing anyways. It’s not the look I was going for, but what the heck. If I hate it I can try again another day.

So I went for it! I gave it some good drying time and then started with the painting. And then the darndest thing happened. I used Americana Decor Everlasting chalk paint, which is my go-to white, and it was as if the stain seeped through the paint! What the heck?! So I decided to give it another coat.

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

Nope, and nope.

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

So I decided, yet again, to give it another coat. Aaaaand nope. Can anyone tell me why this happened? I am still so puzzled by it. I was expecting a pure clean white but I guess I just wasn’t gonna have it. Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

By this time, as you can imagine, I was what some might call frustrated. I decided to leave it as it was because I guess it had kind of a rustic look about it anyway. So I decided to take care of the table top and let bygones be bygones.

All I did for the top was take that same color of chalk paint and did a little dry brushing. I began by wiping off most of the paint off of the brush, but now I’m realizing I should have wiped ALL of the paint off the brush, because it was leaving too many brush strokes. Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

I gently brushed over the entire table, which afterward ended up looking like this: Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

See that? Not pretty. But, it wasn’t anything a little bit of (ugh) sandpaper couldn’t fix. I went over any of the harsh brush lines with a fine grit sandpaper and it took those brushstrokes right away. Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

Muuuch better, although still not exactly the vibe I was going for.

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

But, I’d just about had it up to my ears with this table so I decided to throw a top coat on it and call it good. Only, I wanted to try a Shellac top coat because I hadn’t used it before. I’d always stuck with a good ol’ Polyurethane to cover my oil based stains and I quickly figured out why. Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

This is several days after I used the Shellac. We had dinner, and I put a hot pan on the table with a hot pad between, mind you. That little dark circle right there is where the Shellac was completely melted off! And if you look closely there are even marks on the table where our bowls were that had hot soup in them.

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

After I thought all of my troubles with this table were over, there had to be this. But you know, the rustic looking table legs have actually started to grow on me. Even though the table went in a totally different direction than what I had originally planned aside from the Shellac I am actually quite pleased with it. Someday I might redo it, since we will be taking it back to Utah with us. But we’ll see.

Redoing those chairs gave me a much easier time. I had done them slowly, one each day so as to not overwhelm myself after my experience with the table.

I sanded them down, probably more than I had to since I was using my homemade chalk paint for them. I did discover that the sanding made it much better when I distressed it later on. As I was distressing it came off in bigger chunks if there was still a shiny poly coat underneath the paint, and that yucky yellow showed through more than I wanted. Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

After the sanding I painted with a fine roller brush so I wouldn’t have any streaks. I used Behr paint in a color called Jojoba, and I love the color! I’ve been feeling a little obsessive about the sage greens lately, and this color just increased my obsession. Oh, also, you wanna know a money saving tip? I didn’t want to buy a whole huge pint of paint just for 4 itty bitty chairs, and I didn’t have any other plans to paint anything else this color, so all I did was buy a sample size of the paint and it was enough to cover all 4 of my chairs! I decided to go with the Behr Marquee paint which is much more expensive but has great 1 coat coverage, and the sample was still only $5 or so. So cheap!

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

Once the paint was completely dry, I lightly distressed the corners and high points and then lightly dry-brushed over the chairs with the same American Decor chalk paint in Everlasting. I don’t like too much distress, but this turned out just beautifully.

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs MakeoverOak Kitchen Table and Chairs MakeoverOak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

And the finished product! I slapped on a top coat of Minwax Polycrylic which is a water based top coat that I just love, and now my paint won’t chip, and it makes for an easy clean up!

Kitchen Table Makeover

Oak Kitchen Table and Chairs Makeover

Thanks for tuning in, guys. Seriously. I hope you will learn from my experience and do it right the first time, haha. But, you live and you learn I guess. Until next time and good luck!

 

XOXO,

 

Crystel

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

Filed Under: Furniture

Previous Post: « Update a Wingback Chair with Chalk Paint
Next Post: Flower Arranging 101: Making a Large Flower Arrangement »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amyk

    May 18, 2020 at 3:57 pm

    Get spray paint for chairs. They also have spray paint clear coat to spay ontop if worried bout chips. You can always touch up if chips anyway. No need to sand any furniture. I did a dresser. I have it for 5 years. I just used spray paint. So easy. If it messes up redo it no problem. I have someone so jealous of my dresser. I.painted it turquoise. Lol. Girl who wanted it was going to pay 600 for one. I told her wait till garbage day like me and snatch it from the neighbor and get spray paint. She was shocked.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome!

Hey there! Welcome to my blog! I'm so happy to have you here, and I hope you'll find something that inspires you. Crystel Montenegro Home is a website that I started in an effort to show you that creating a beautiful, comfortable and functional home does not have to be an expensive or difficult ordeal, and that YOU. CAN. DO IT! Read More...

Categories

  • DIY Projects
  • Furniture
  • Home Decor
  • Lifestyle
  • Organization
  • Uncategorized
  • Woodworking

Check out My Instagram!

Search this Site

Connect with Me!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Favorite Posts

How to DIY Picture Frame Molding

Faux Antiqued Wood Finish using Chalk Paint

Faux antiqued wood look using chalk paint

The Best Weekly Schedule for the Stay-at-home Mom

Organization, organization printable, free printable, schedule, weekly schedule, week schedule, creating a schedule, schedule ideas, life schedule, kids morning routine chart, create schedule, time schedule, schedule chart, routine schedule, schedule weekly, visual schedule, schedule diy, diy schedule, day schedule, weekly schedule, routine daily schedules, schedule daily, time management schedule, exercise schedule

Footer

Pages

  • About Me
  • Copyright, Disclosure, Privacy, and Comment Policies
  • Got a Question? Comment?
  • Home
  • Latest Projects
  • Printables Library
  • Subscribe here to access my library of free printables!

Never Miss A Post!

Copyright © 2022 Crystel Montenegro at Home on the Foodie Pro Theme

 

Loading Comments...