How to Paint a Dining Room Table & Chairs! Makeover Reveal!

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I teased my dining room set makeover in the dip into color post, now here is the full reveal including how to paint your own dining table and chairs tutorial!


This DIY is my most ambitious project to date, it was a lot of hard work, a lot of late nights and a lot of wine.  (Thank you, two buck chuck, or else this project would have been SO expensive) 

I LOVE my new dining set and it was worth it, but I was unsure of my ability and terrified all my work would be for nothing!

When we left Hawaii, we sold our IKEA dining set; we had it for years, it was good to us, but with the move, I wanted to makeover areas of the house (and name brand furniture sells at a premium on Hawaii Craigslist).

We moved to Ohio in November and I began pinning inspiration.
Thanks to a pin from Lonny Magazine and my girlfriend who liked the pedestal table the best- the hunt began for a pedestal dining table.  The pin is very modern, which was not what I was looking for, but I knew I could paint it a shabby chic/vintage look.

Four months and $75 later, this beauty came in our lives:

The chair hunt did not end until May, I had been looking for two months and my daughter's 1st birthday was coming up in June- my goal for the dining set to be complete.

So, I finally found a set of 6 chairs for $24 (Craigslist again) and figured that at $4 a piece I would just paint them for her party and get rid of them when I found something better.  I liked the chairs, but I did not LOVE them.

So, naive, am I... 

Stripping, sanding, priming and painting 6 chairs is VERY VERY VERY time consuming.  

My best friend banned me from using the word "chair" in conversation I complained so much.

So at $4 a chair it was a great deal that will stay with us forever =) (They are quite beautiful chairs, it just was not exactly what I was looking for)

The before chairs:

Supplies

Multiple washcloths (I am messy)

Chemical Stripper

Plastic Scraper

Good quality brushes (avoids brush strokes)

Foam brushes (this helps avoid brush strokes & allows you to get in the hard to get places easier)

Hand held medium grit sand wedge

Dropcloth/Old Sheet

Primer

Chosen Paint

Minwax Water-Based Polycrylic Protective Finish in “Clear Gloss”

Safety Supplies-

Goggles

Mask

Gloves

Sanity Supplies-

1/2- 1 Case of wine

Loving husband or friends willing to listen to complaints

The helpful people at Lowe's (No, I am not affiliated, but I could not have done it without their paint section employees!)

First Step- 

Clean the surfaces and decide your method of stripping.  I chose to chemically strip, because of all the little crooks and nannies I did not want to use a handheld sander.  Personal choice- some people rock the sander- I am not one of them.

Follow the instructions on your stripper- I used Klean Strip Green (1st time using it, worked well, but do not have much experience in this area)

Second Step- Remove Paint

Once the stripper is on, leave on for 30 minutes (or the amount your bottle states), check if the paint will easily come off with a sponge or washcloth. If it does not, leave on longer and check periodically. 

If it does you can proceed to scrape or rub off.    The table had to be scraped, the chairs only needed a wipe down, it depends on the paint/varnish of the piece.

Also, be safe when using a chemical stripper or sanding.  Removing old paint can bring up quite a lot of crap you would not want to breathe in!

DIY Laurel- (They should do a DIY Barbie!)

Third Step Priming:

Priming is a fun step if you are painting your set white, because you get a tease of what it will look like!

Priming is also easy- paint a light coat on surface, dry for at least 24 hours.  

Now, you are ready to paint!

Step Four- Paint- I painted three coats on mine, but use your discretion and paint as many or as little as needed.  I waited at least 24 hours between each coat.  

Note: The sandpaper wedge comes in handy during Step1-4.  Sand away imperfections during stripping, priming and mistakes when painting.

Step Five- Protectant- 

I had no idea what to do here and started googling.  Since it is a kitchen table, it will get a lot of use, so I wanted something that would help me protect all my hard work!

I found one of my favs- Young House Love had instructions.  (I wish I found earlier because they go through whole process) 

Apply a thin coat of the protective finish, wait until completely dry & apply another coat.

YHL recommends waiting 72 hours to 5 days for it to cure.  I went the extra mile and waited a week because I was terrified of anything happening, lol.

YHL has more detailed info on the protectant, including alternatives- I did everything they said to do- Thank you so much YHL!

And here is what I ended up with:

What do you think?  

I really love it! All the hard work was worth it! I get so happy every time I walk in the room and make my husband stand there with me and just stare at its beauty.

P.S.- I just created a Facebook Page for A Bubbly Life- I would love for you to join me there!

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