Furniture,  Painting,  Refinishing

Working With What Ya Got…Table Makeover

Several years ago, Jim built this hall table. It has been moved around in several different locations but has landed here and is a perfect fit for this wall.  Actually it was pretty cheerful and we happily lived with it for 6 or 7 years. While I enjoyed the color, it was time for a change.

table makeover,painted table
BEFORE

This project is part of the ‘snowball effect’ of painting the room green. This table was due for a makeover. I manhandled the table through the door and outside where I gave it a light hand sanding for the new paint to stick better. Then a quick once over with a tack cloth.

table makeover,painted table
Only took a couple of minutes to sand

Once back inside, I spread out a sheet of plastic, taped off the hardware, and got my navy paint out.

table makeover,painted table
Painting in progress

The next day I did a second coat and let that dry. Then the table sat for over a week waiting for us to get some free time. The paint needed time to cure and I’m practising patience. We wanted to add a new wooden top to it in case you were wondering why the top was still yellow. Oh, and I signed the top and dated it in case in another lifetime someone discovers it.

Hall table,makeover,paint
Ready and waiting

For the wooden top we started with this board. It wasn’t labeled but we think it was off one of the first logs we milled and that would make it fir. Jim says he can see the beauty in the wood, I was a bit more skeptical.

table top,wooden table top,table makeover
Yikes!

We squared up the sides of this ugly board and cut it into 4 inch wide strips.  At this point the boards were sanded and cut down to 14 inch lengths. We also cut out a piece of luan plywood the exact size of the current tabletop. We measured and drew a line down the center of the plywood and started arranging the strips of wood in a herringbone pattern.

table top,wooden table top,table makeover
Getting the boards in place

Once we were happy with the placement, each piece was glued in place and weighed down with cement blocks overnight.

table top,wooden table top,table makeover
That should work

The next day we removed the cement blocks, flipped the whole thing over and Jim cut off the excess wood hanging over the edge of the plywood.

table top,wooden table top,table makeover
Getting a trim

From the same wood, we added trim around the edges, the same way you would build a picture frame with mitered corners. We settled on 1 1/2 inches thick to give the top a beefier look.

table top,wooden table top,table makeover
Finishing off the edges

Jim did a final sanding and we gave it a coat of stain and let it dry overnight.

table top,wooden table top,table makeover
Staining the top

In the morning we brought it in the house and got it in place. Then Jim put a coat of wax on and gave it a good buffing.

table top,wooden table top,table makeover
He’s buff

So here is the BEFORE…

table makeover,painted table
BEFORE

And the AFTER…

table top,wooden table top,table makeover
AFTER

With a closeup of the top for good measure.

table top,wooden table top,table makeover
Soooo pretty

This could be done with any table really. Who new Fir could look this good. Jim did. That’s who!

Later

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