Hey everyone! I'm so excited to share this latest project! A family friend contacted me recently to see if I'd be able to refinish her son's kitchen table. It needed an update and when they told me the look he wanted, I was so excited! This table is the perfect size, at first, I didn't realize that it also has a unique way of storing the leaf underneath it. After some deliberation, they decided to go with Minwax's Classic Grey wood stain for the top of the table, and for the bottom of the pedestal, we went with Rustoleum's White Linen Chalk Paint, the results are stunning!
The leaf is folded under the table top as you can see in the photo below.
After I finished sanding the table, the next step was to apply the stain. The photos below show that even though I sanded down to the bare wood, it wasn't absorbing the stain as hoped. It's a great example of what happens occasionally with harder wood, with the stain resting on the top instead of in the wood grain, it wasn't the result we hoped for.
After some debating, I decided to resand and start again. This time, before applying the stain, I used a wood conditioner to help the wood absorb it evenly. This ended up making the stain absorb into the wood beautifully.
What a difference!
After the stain had dried, I applied a satin finished Polyurethane to protect it. This will protect the wood from spilled drinks to hot plates. Next, I applied two coats of the chalk paint to the base of the table.
And for the final step, I applied a wax finish to the base of the table to protect the finish.
This kitchen table has undergone a wonderful transformation! I've got two new techniques I'm going to use from now on, with the conditioner and wax, and this will be a great centrepiece for their kitchen. :)
