Old Kitchen Table Makeover

I have a secret.

I have always been afraid of painting furniture.

Shhhhh....don't tell anyone.

I have many irrational fears....

- movie theaters

- home improvement stores...especially the natural wood section

-Wal Mart on a weekend afternoon


.....but painting furniture is at the top of that list.


So for years I have seen many a blogger renovate their furniture by taking Goodwill pieces o' junk and transforming them into treasures beyond belief. I mean really, who can turn a 70's craptastic coffee table into something that would make you squeal with joy?? Not me, that's fo sho.

This is the thing.
I have lots of craptastic furniture in my home right now that totally needs to be transformed.
I have end tables (that I refuse to show you at the present time) that look like something off the set of Three's Company and have I done anything with them?

Nope.

My mom has mentioned many a time.." you know, you could paint those...." in the nicest of ways.

 Yes, I know I could.

 But I have always been afraid.

Very afraid.


Afraid that it will cost me more money to paint it than buying it new or semi-new.

Afraid that it will end up looking like the misshapen pig cutting board I made in Wood Shop in 8th grade.

Afraid that I might be ever so consumed by the paint and primer fumes that I would end up dancing the pachanga in my driveway to the horror of my neighbors.

 No, not horror.
 Amusement .

To the amusement of my neighbors.


So when rearranging furniture in the basement for the big re-do, I wanted to create a desk area for our laptops/ipods so that the cords weren't all over the place.

Case in point:

Ugly.

And I may or may not have tripped on these cords once or twice.

Or eight times.

So I had a plan.

A grand plan.

A plan so big, it almost scared myself.

Yes, that great of a plan.

I have had this kitchen table since 1995.

My mom and dad gave it to me and my ex-hubs as a wedding gift.

I love this table and it has lasted so well.

So well that it outlasted the marriage.....bah dum dum....I'll be here all week.....

They got it at a custom oak furniture store so it goes to show that you get what you pay for when it comes to furniture.

This might have cost a lot more than an Ikea table but I guarantee the Ikea table is not going on 17 years of use.

I can pretty much guarantee nothing at Ikea is going to get 17 years of use.

No offense to Ikea and I love me some Ikea but every piece of furniture I have made the mistake of buying there is now sitting in either a Goodwill or in the back of an alley.

Please say it is sitting in a Goodwill...

Anyhoo, I held on to this table for all these years because of the sentimental value of the love my parents had for me when they bought it in the first place.

Plus, I had a lot of memories associated with it.

This was the dining room table in my first apartment.

Then it was a dinner table at my brother and sister in law's home after I moved into the tiniest house on the planet.

Then it was our kitchen table at our home we live in now.

I have done hours and hours of college homework on this table.

We have had lots of roaring, fun parties sitting at this table.

Annie and I have made scads and scads of Christmas cut-out cookies on this table.

The hubs and I have had long, life - altering conversations around this table.

I fed Ellie her first solid food at this table.

Then a few years ago, I was given my grandma's old round table and wanted to have that in the kitchen.

                                So this guy went to the basement and became the computer table.

My plan for this well loved table is to use it in our family room against the wall as a "desk". I want to corral all our technology/chargers into one central location so that we aren't running around the house looking for the chargers/technology in question.

But I didn't want to keep the finish that was on it.

It was a little dated.

So I was going to try attempt ruin give my best shot to painting the top of the table an espresso color and the legs a cream color.

Now, I have sweated over this project for many a month.

When finally I asked my brother (handyman at large) on one of our weekly phone convo's about possibly staining the table.

Suuuuuure he said.

Then he listed a ten step process that would make even Centsational Girl sweat.

Ohhkkayy.

Then a few weeks later I brought up the subject again only this time I asked if I could paint the table.

Suuuuure he said.

Only three steps.

Yay!

So he told me what I would need and how to go about it and off I went to the store.

Then the stuff just sat.

And sat.

And sat.......

I just needed to break down and get it over with.

The worst thing that could happen is that I would have one ugly table on my hands.

Wait, that is the worst thing possible!!!!

Here it is in the garage all primed:

This is the primer that I used.

I didn't get the big one, just the smaller can.

But any primer is just as good.

This is the brand I remember my dad using when he painted and I trust his judgment.

Here are the chairs that came with the table.

I am painting them as well.

And here you can see why I am painting them.......

The years have not been very good to the paint on the chairs.....

I am painting the chairs the same color as the base of the table.

Cream Puff by Behr.

I had to get regular wall paint for the cream because they didn't carry that color at my two local Home Depot's. But the paint department associate was so helpful and told me that this paint would be just as good, if not better.

And this is what I used for the tabletop:

Then finally, as instructed by my brother, here is what I got to put on it for the last coats:

My brother (who btw way has a name, Matt) told me that I needed a good paint brush and to not be afraid of spending some money on it because it can make all the diff.

I only ended up spending $12.28 on mine but let me just tell you, when you see the other brushes that cost 2,3,5 dollars....well $12.28 seems like a lot of moola.

And we all know that I am cheap.

So this was a big step for me.

So then I went ahead, took a deep breath and dove in to painting furniture for the first time in my life.....

half way done with first coat

It only took me about 10-20 minutes to do this first coat.

I let it dry for a day then put on the second coat to the top as well as start the cream on the legs and base:

I love it already.

I love it so much it hurts.

Yep, that much.

I also started painting one chair at a time.

I did one chair a day, actually.

Because this was ten times harder than the table.

All those little spindles and little places.

My hand was cramping up after doing just one and so I knew if I wanted it to look anywhere near decent, I would definitely have to do one a day.

Here is a tip: if you see any old furniture you want to rehab, look for straight lines rather than lots of curves or spindles.

If I had to do it again, I would have just given these chairs away and got some at Goodwill with smoother lines.....that is how much of a pain these were.

The chair after one coat of the cream paint.

And now here is the whole shebang done:

I am lovin' my new chevron mouse pads!

I got them on etsy....gotta love etsy....from a shop called In HIS Name.

You can visit Lori here to check out here cool wares.

She has lots of chevron prints too in many colors.

The best part?

I ordered these on Tuesday and got them on Friday!!

Thanks so much Lori!

I love the chair pads too!

Got them at World Market for $6.48 each on clearance!!

Ahhh..a project is never ever done.....but atleast we now have a homework/computer station that is upstairs and in the area where we all congregate the most.

Plus, I am so proud of myself for stepping outside the box and tackling a project that I was afraid was too big for me.

Bring on the 70's craptastic furniture....I am no longer afraid. :)