Dining Table Redo

From Do It Yourself Divas

I needed a change!! I have been dreaming of a new kitchen table for a while now. Due to the fact my husband is in school, it is not in the budget to buy a whole new table. I decided to take matters in my own hands, and do it yourself diva it!

Here is the Before. The legs and all chairs were painted an off white color. I thought that painting the cream color black, and staining the wood color would look simply beautiful. Here's hoping!

1. Before I painted or sanded or stained ANYTHING, I scrubbed and cleaned every surface. Warm water, soap and a sponge did the trick. I also removed all seat cushions as shown above.

2. I then sanded down most surfaces. I used a very fine sandpaper, aka 220 grain.


3. After sanding make sure to clean the surface again making sure to get rid of ALL dust!

4. Before painting I stained the table top. Below are the items that you need for a successful staining experience. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE CAN OF STAIN TO ENSURE PERFECTION :)

5. Paint in the direction of the wood grain.

6. Let it set for the allotted time.

7. Wipe stain away once the time stated on the can is up.

8. I repeated these steps 3 times to get the rich color I wanted.

(Note to all: Stain is extremely strong smelling!! I learned this the hard way! Make sure that the area you are working in is well ventilated! I found it helpful to have a couple fans going, and windows open while the stain dried.)

9. Here's what you need to paint. Lots of newspaper, favorite color of paint, and sponge paint brushes. The lady at Home Depot advised me to use real paint brushes, but I found that the sponge paint brushes worked wonderfully, especially for the detailed parts of the chairs.

9. Paint away making sure you are always painting along the grain of the wood. I did a grad total of 3 coats of paint on each chair and on the legs of my table, plus touch ups.

10. While my paint was drying, I decided it was time to change up the fabric on my cushions!!

11. After measuring and matching my cushions with fabric I LOVED, I folded it tightly around the cushion.
12. I stapled the fabric in place until I felt that it was smooth and under control.

13. Because of my baby, and babies to come someday I felt it necessary to preserve my lovely fabric with plastic. You can buy this at Walmart by the yard in the fabric/craft section. I measured, and fit it to wrap around my cushions just like I did the fabric.
14. Grab your staple gun and get busy again!

15. TADA! So shiny!
16. After cushions are wrapped up and stapled, fasten them to your chairs again... and you have completed your TABLE MAKEOVER!!



I AM IN L-O-V-E with my new table. BTW, this took about a week and a half from start to finish! All in all it cost me around $35-40 to complete this dream come true!