This table was my mother-in-law's. When she passed away it came to live with us. I'm not sure why... we've never used it as a dining table (it's a little rickety) and so it basically was a catch-all, makeshift desk, laundry folding table that ended up in my downstairs for about... oh... twenty years! I hate to admit that, but it's the truth. I guess it held sentimental value of some sort because we never found it a new home. Never even considered it, really. :/
Anyway - one day I took a real good look at it and thought "dang that thing's ugly..." It had been a hobby / breakfast eating table in its last life so it was covered with cut marks from Xacto knives (model airplane building) and really abused all around.
I figured I couldn't make it look worse.
This was my first attempt at sanding real wood. It's a solid Oak table top. I really didn't know what I was doing, and looking back at it now... I could do better.
And it's on my list of things to fix. But in the meantime, it's better than it was.
Anyway - one day I took a real good look at it and thought "dang that thing's ugly..." It had been a hobby / breakfast eating table in its last life so it was covered with cut marks from Xacto knives (model airplane building) and really abused all around.
I figured I couldn't make it look worse.
This was my first attempt at sanding real wood. It's a solid Oak table top. I really didn't know what I was doing, and looking back at it now... I could do better.
And it's on my list of things to fix. But in the meantime, it's better than it was.
Look at that poor thing. I don't think it had any finish on it at all. I'm not sure it ever did. And judging from the underside, I'm pretty sure it's homemade.
If you've been reading through my tutorials you've probably already realized that I'm just not into the 'shabby chic' look. I mean, don't get me wrong - there are some pieces of furniture that demand they look used and abused. And I've nothing against a few pieces of shabby furniture, but for the most part I like a newer (very slightly distressed) furniture look. I'd rather have a cool piece of furniture that looks like it has been loved all these years, then something that looks like it sat in the barn for a decade before being rescued. I suppose if I had a cute cottage, or small beach house, the shabby look might work better. But in my current home - it just ends up looking like junk.
Maybe it's me. Maybe I just don't know how to pull off the shabby chic concept.
Anyway, I'm rambling... so first I painted the legs. I knew I wanted it white - sort of a country table look. I roughed up the spindle legs with (220 grit) sandpaper so the primer and latex Behr paint would stick.
**Side Note Here** That was a bear of a job! At this point in my furniture rehab learning curve, I still hadn't discovered chalk paint. (Check out my page on Chalk Paint) With chalk paint I wouldn't have had to sand the spindles. Sanding spindles is NO FUN. The only way to sand them is by hand. Ugh. I recommend avoiding it if you can. But I'm a tenacious kinda gal so luckily that didn't turn me off of rehabbing.**
Here's a few shots of the table in progress. I flipped it onto it's back to do the underside, and I didn't bother to remove the legs.
If you've been reading through my tutorials you've probably already realized that I'm just not into the 'shabby chic' look. I mean, don't get me wrong - there are some pieces of furniture that demand they look used and abused. And I've nothing against a few pieces of shabby furniture, but for the most part I like a newer (very slightly distressed) furniture look. I'd rather have a cool piece of furniture that looks like it has been loved all these years, then something that looks like it sat in the barn for a decade before being rescued. I suppose if I had a cute cottage, or small beach house, the shabby look might work better. But in my current home - it just ends up looking like junk.
Maybe it's me. Maybe I just don't know how to pull off the shabby chic concept.
Anyway, I'm rambling... so first I painted the legs. I knew I wanted it white - sort of a country table look. I roughed up the spindle legs with (220 grit) sandpaper so the primer and latex Behr paint would stick.
**Side Note Here** That was a bear of a job! At this point in my furniture rehab learning curve, I still hadn't discovered chalk paint. (Check out my page on Chalk Paint) With chalk paint I wouldn't have had to sand the spindles. Sanding spindles is NO FUN. The only way to sand them is by hand. Ugh. I recommend avoiding it if you can. But I'm a tenacious kinda gal so luckily that didn't turn me off of rehabbing.**
Here's a few shots of the table in progress. I flipped it onto it's back to do the underside, and I didn't bother to remove the legs.
Look at the cut marks on the top of that table. Yikes! I sanded the top (not very well since I was a newbie). I plan on redoing the top this summer. It'll be a quick day job and I have a cool plan for a design on the top :)
The sander in the photo is my husband's old sander that doesn't spin correctly when you sand unless you press down hard. It's seriously stupid to sand with a half broken sander... I felt like I'd ran a jack hammer all day. I have a new sander now - you can find that info on my tools page.
It's amazing this job didn't turn me off of sanding and furniture completely. But, like I said - I'm tenacious.
The painted legs turned out nice. I like the bright white. By default (meaning I'm a clutz that bangs into things) the legs ended up slightly distressed because I didn't know better.
Note to self ** sand and/or prep all areas BEFORE painting any of it.
So here's three photos of it, including the finished one.
We have 1) before - 2) Painted and sanded but not oiled - 3) finished.
The sander in the photo is my husband's old sander that doesn't spin correctly when you sand unless you press down hard. It's seriously stupid to sand with a half broken sander... I felt like I'd ran a jack hammer all day. I have a new sander now - you can find that info on my tools page.
It's amazing this job didn't turn me off of sanding and furniture completely. But, like I said - I'm tenacious.
The painted legs turned out nice. I like the bright white. By default (meaning I'm a clutz that bangs into things) the legs ended up slightly distressed because I didn't know better.
Note to self ** sand and/or prep all areas BEFORE painting any of it.
So here's three photos of it, including the finished one.
We have 1) before - 2) Painted and sanded but not oiled - 3) finished.
Big improvement. But now I can look at it with a more critical eye. I can see where I can improve. I can hardly wait to get started! :D
For the finish on the top, I only used Danish Oil. It's a way of bringing out the natural color of the Oak, without adding color from a stain. I did nothing else to it.
I should have put several more coats of oil onto it to give it a more protective finish. My husband tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen. Sheesh! Did I really just admit that?
So the feel of the Oak top is not smooth. It's kinda sandpapery feeling. That's due to my poor sanding skills...
Since I only used Danish Oil, and by the time I get to it this spring it'll have been a year since I did that, it should be fairly easy to get the top sanded back down. Now I know how to progress through the grits of sandpaper, and I should end up with a lot smoother surface. I'm expecting a lot of those small Xacto knife cuts to disappear this time around. Wait until you see what I have for the design on top! It's gonna rock.
For the finish on the top, I only used Danish Oil. It's a way of bringing out the natural color of the Oak, without adding color from a stain. I did nothing else to it.
I should have put several more coats of oil onto it to give it a more protective finish. My husband tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen. Sheesh! Did I really just admit that?
So the feel of the Oak top is not smooth. It's kinda sandpapery feeling. That's due to my poor sanding skills...
Since I only used Danish Oil, and by the time I get to it this spring it'll have been a year since I did that, it should be fairly easy to get the top sanded back down. Now I know how to progress through the grits of sandpaper, and I should end up with a lot smoother surface. I'm expecting a lot of those small Xacto knife cuts to disappear this time around. Wait until you see what I have for the design on top! It's gonna rock.