About a week before my husband and I got married, I was driving down the street and a coffee table caught my eye at a garage sale. We didn't have one, so I stopped by to check it out. The lady sold it for $2. It had some damage to one corner {their dog used it as a chew toy} but it wasn't terribly bad, and I loved the rest of it, so I bought it. For 6 years it has had duct tape covering that corner. My goal was to one day fix it, but with school, work, and kids, the years slipped by and nothing got done... until this week!
Before
After
It doesn't even look like the same table! I love it!
Rather than give you a step by step on how I did it, I am going to do an overview. This way, if you have a piece of furniture {table, dresser, bookshelf, chair, etc.) you can use the same steps to create your own country chic look!
My first order of business what to fill in that corner! I use my trusty wood filler.
It's a great thing to have on hand if you do any remodeling or furniture painting. You can use it to fill in bigger spots {like this one} or to fill in tiny push pin holes. You can smooth is on with your finger really easily. In this case I had to mold it to fit the form of the corner of the table -- kind of like modeling clay.
I also used it to fill in a couple other nicks on the surface of the table. Let it dry completely, and sand away all that stain and gloss on the top. Mine ended up a little blotchy, I kept it though because I wanted a more antique and aged look for my table. If you don't, then keep sanding until it is all smoothed out. Start with a low number sand paper {mine was 60} then finished with a high number {80-120}. The higher the number the smoother the finish.
Next it's time to stain away. I have learned the hard way that it's best to wear gloves when you stain - or paint for that matter. I chose a walnut stain. Something dark enough to hide the corner that I had to recreate.
{Here's how the corner looked after sanding. The wood filler truly is ah-mazing!}
Here's how the table top looked after being stained. I ended up doing 2-3 coats to make sure I got it the color I wanted. The second picture is a close-up of the wood filled corner. You can hardly tell!
And here's how the top looks. You can see how the blotchy-ness {ya, I think I made that word up} in the sanded table top picture translated to an aged look.
Then I lightly sanded the legs with course, then fine grit sandpaper to rough it up enough for my paint to stick. I painted mine with Olympic paint from Lowe's called "white". Easy to remember, huh?
I used 2 coats of paint, wait for it to dry between coats. Then I took it in the garage to dry overnight. I used clear polyurethane to cover the entire table. What does it do? It seals the wood where you have stained, and protects the painted surface from chipping and rubbing off.
After polyurethane-ing the top of the table, I used my fine grit sand paper {120} to distress some of the painted edges around my table legs.
Then top coated it all with a layer of polyurethane - including a second coat for the top {which is why I did it before sanding the bottom... so it could dry).
Let it dry completely. Then I brought it in the house and I LOVE it!
Here's the before again... as a reminder.
... and some afters...
Do you have any projects that have been on the back burner for years!?! Which one do you want to tackle?
GREAT JOB! I need to restain my end tables and coffee table. but just can't seem to get to it!
ReplyDeletethat turned out so cute! Wow!!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from I Heart Organizing!!! Love this table, you are amazing :)
ReplyDelete