Table, Redone

As one of our wedding presents, my parents gave us an oak table and matching chairs. The table and chairs were put into storage because we were barely moved into our apartment and we were in the midst of the hustle and bustle known as Getting Married. Two years later, the table was still sitting in storage. It's not that we didn't like the table or that we didn't want it. Rather, we were really short on space, and our apartment conveniently (or not) came equipped with a table.

Now that we're in a bigger space we thought for sure we'd use the table. But then we opted for a bar in the kitchen--it's a small space and there are only two of us and we both like tall tables. Those factors added up to: a counter top and four screw on legs from Ikea (our current landlords are picky about installing things into the walls, hence the four, instead of two legs). That left the oak wedding table still in storage.

About this time I was scouring the internet and the ikea catalog for ideas for a craft table. In the midst of my scouring it hit me: I owned a very sturdy table already. And so, the table came to live with us in the FP.

Since I was a teenager, I've wanted to repaint furniture--all of those home decorating books at the library sparked the desire and the home improvement shows that have exploded in the past eightish years only added to it. I (with some serious coaxing from The Rock because I wanted to chicken out and just keep it the way it was) decided this table was The One. I researched how to repaint (using YouTube, of course). I stocked up on primer and paint during my many, many trips to Lowe's during our House Painting Extravaganza. And then, after the House Painting Extravaganza had finished, I started on my table.

Here's some pics and my notes on the process:




My dad took the table apart when it was put in storage so that part was already done for me. (I forgot to take a "before" picture of the table as a whole, so you get to see the top only.)

I started by sanding with fine grit sand paper. My can of primer said it could be used on cabinets without sanding--so I figured I didn't really need to sand, but it couldn't hurt to do it anyway. I used a fine grit (120, I think) sanding sponge that I found in the paint section at the hardware store. (it's on the left in the photo above)

After sanding:



Note the watermark on the top--I didn't think it would be a problem, so I just treated it the same as everything else.

Here's a close up view: you can see how the sand paper took off some of the finish, making the surface rougher. (I don't know if I was supposed to sand until the whole table looked like the lighter parts...I didn't though.)


Then I wiped all the dust off the table.

Now comes the primer. I took this picture in part to show you that the primer looked splotchy--that happened when I painted the walls too, but the top coat always seemed to go on without any problem, in spite of the splotchy primer. So I took a gamble and hoped it would be true here too (it is). I used a roller on the top and a brush on the sides.



The sides (underneath the table top) were tricky, but I plugged on in spite of drips. (In this photo I've propped the tabletop on top of the leaf, then covered the leaf with plastic. Later, I rigged a better system: two boxes (full of No. 10 cans--food storage comes in handy!) with a plastic drop cloth on top.

Then I sanded the stand--this is where I was grateful for the bendiness of the sanding sponge. When I finished sanding the stand it looked the same as the table top did. Then primed. I tried using a roller, but failed. So this is all brushwork. Note the brushy strokes.



A word about the table feet (they aren't really legs, are they? And they have claws. I love the claws. Need some for my bathtub too.)...the feet were tricky. I took them off and sanded and primed the stand by itself first. Then I painted the stand. After the stand dried, I sanded the feet and attached them to the stand. I kept them loose so I could pull them away from the stand when I painted close to the stand. I primed the feet and then gave them a coat of paint.

In this photo note how the stand is shiny with paint while the feet are not--they only have primer at this point.



If I could go back in time, I would have checked the paint and primer (on the feet) 15 minutes after I was done painting and mopped up any drips. Since I didn't do that, there are a few now dry drips on the stand. Don't look too closely when you come to visit.

Everything got a second coat of paint. (High Gloss White)

It took forever and three days for the table to mostly dry. I must not have given the lower coats enough drying time. And the table top is still a smidge tacky. I'll let you know if it ever dries.

Painter's remorse thoughts:

If I catch it at the right angle, I can still see the watermark. Go figure. I would have researched how to deal with watermarks.

As for brushes vs. rollers---the roller gave a more even coat of paint, but it also left some texture. The brushes left brush marks, but they applied a smoother coat of paint. (I used both sponge and regular brushes--I think it comes down to personal preference on that one.) In hindsight I don't know that I would have used brushes instead of the roller though. The uneven gloss/brush marks on top would have driven me crazier than the texturized top does.

I don't know if I should have bothered with High Gloss paint. I probably will end up putting on a clear coat anyway so I could have used satin. It would have eliminated any issues with seeing brush strokes from uneaven gloss application. But maybe a clear coat will have that problem in the end anyway. I'll avoid the issue next time by spray painting instead. I've heard spray paint leaves the finished product looking awesome. I'll let you know.

The End.


--Lu