17 January 2014

Dining Room Table {Project Pretty}

Over the past couple of years I've been debating on revamping my kitchen table. It was a cookie cutter table, and I was eager to make it unique...but how?

I've been a huge fan of the farmhouse look --natural, dark wood. I'm also a fan of color and metallic, along with natural ocean decor. My decor taste is truly all over the place, so finding a look that isn't too masculine, too feminine, too rustic, too beachy, or too posh has been a challenge.

There's still so much that I want to change/alter/upgrade, but for now I'm working with what I have.

First up, the dining room table.

 Here's a peek at what it looked like when I started. It was your standard honey toned table.

What you'll need:

  • Old Rag for staining (I didn't use a paintbrush for staining or painting during this project)
  • Shop Towels (for your paint and glaze-- this is the blue thick paper towels. You could use another rag if you'd like)
  • Paintbrush (used only for sealing)
  • Rust-Oleum Kona Stain
  • White Latex Paint (any brand will do)
  • Valspar Gold Glaze
  • Polycrylic Sealer

Steps:

  • First, sand your table. I used a palm sander for the top, and hand sanded the legs.
  • Second, stain your tabletop. Wipe on with your rag, then wipe off. Let the stain soak into wood, but in thin layers at a time. I gave mine four layers. 
  • Third, stain your legs and the sides of the table in the same fashion --wipe on, wipe off. I only gave the legs two layers of stain.
  • Fourth, once the stain in dry, take a shop towel and rub a thin layer of white paint over your stain. At this point, you're thinking "Dear God, I've ruined my table!". Don't worry, it gets better and you CAN'T mess this up!
  • Fifth, once the "ugly" is dry, lightly sand over the legs and sides until you've achieved the level of distressed you desire. You should have three colors at this point --the original wood, the stained wood, and some white, depending of how much you sanded off.
  • Sixth, with a clean shop towel, wipe on some gold glaze-- go crazy if you want, but make sure you get some in the grooves and cracks of your table. I glazed only my legs and sides --thick in the grooves, thin on my flat areas-- leaving it with a nice shimmer when the sun directly hits it.
  • Seventh, once everything is dry, apply a coat of polycrylic sealer. Let it sit for 24 hours before reassembling your table.





 Industrial bookcase is another DIY project. I'll post a tutorial on that soon.

 table leg detail


 chairs painted in Valspar Mermaid's Song, Ocean Whisper, and Sea Lily
bamboo rug, overstock
fur blankets, Target
black and gold pillows, Target


Love Emmie



14 comments:

  1. Wow! The table turned out so lovely. I love the touch of gold, it's perfect. And, the color of your chairs, perfect. I think we have really similar taste. haha! Where is that rug from? Can you vacuum it or no?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a million!!! The rug is from Overstock. It's an 8x10 bamboo rug and it was under $200! YES, I vacuum this sucker EVERYDAY and it's still holding up almost 3 years later. I also wipe up spills, etc and it hasn't even cracked or split. I def recommend it for active kids/families.

      Delete
  2. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! And I'm still a huge fan of your striped curtains :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha thanks Kristy!! I've been debating on changing those up too! :/

      Delete
    2. Haha thanks Kristy!! I've been debating on changing those up too! :/

      Delete
  3. nice job! i like your work and it's so cheery in your house! Have a good week, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Becky! I'm working hard to get it all put together...finally! I hope you have a great week!

      Delete
  4. i seriously love everything about this! that blue on the chairs is totally fab!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Stumbed on your blog and my goodness, you have some decorating and photography talent! And some beautiful kids! Your post about deployment instantly brought back some emotions for me too. Looking forward to following along :)

    ksmmartin.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi! I just got done checking out Love Emmie and being that you are a military wife. Reaching out to see if you wanted to work together on a piece for resources related to military members and veterans. I'd love to chat further about it? Much appreciated!

    Erin
    eballard (at) creditcardinsider (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  7. It looks great! Our family uses the kitchen table and chairs that my mom bought in Virginia 25 years ago and they could definitely use some TLC :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love what you've done and as I was scrolling through your post, I spotted your bookshelf before you mentioned it. Glad I stumbled across your blog. Love your style!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi there,

    I found your blog after one of my friends shared it with me on Facebook and wanted to run a few things by you. I'm working on a home education project, and I think it’s something you could definitely relate to. Let me know if you have a moment to discuss.

    Thanks!

    Andrew

    info@futureschoolpr.com

    ReplyDelete