You know how you get the itch to redecorate because your space is not “speaking to you”? Well, that happened to me with my dining room. I am so grateful to my wonderful “in-loves” for gifting us this brand new dining room furniture (circa 1983-ish). It had a beautiful wood finish, but just made the space look rather dark.
The Before
See! This was a beautiful set, but it was not giving me the feel that I wanted in my dining room.
Since I’m a crafty girl, I thought that I would spruce this furniture up a bit and use a new product I found online called chalk paint. This paint is supposed to be a refinishers dream since you have to do minimal prep work and the results are lasting. I searched on Pinterest to see what other people did to make their furniture new without spending an arm and a leg and found Annie Sloan Chalk paint.
It took a little digging and searching, but I FOUND IT!
I picked up 2 cans of chalk paint (Paris Grey and Provence), 1 sample of a darker grey (decided against it since I wanted to brighten up the room) and one can of soft wax. The only con for this stuff is that it is expensive.
I went to a local upholstery fabric store and found the clearance section. I loved the combination of grey and turquoise. I looked like it was made especially for me (and so did the price).
The Prep
Before I got started, I found some old sheets that we weren’t using anymore and put them under the table and over any surface that would be ruined by the paint. After that I wiped each piece down with some cleaner to get rid of any residue, oil or dirt to make the painting process easier. I would recommend doing this in the garage if you can. I did it inside and it was perfectly fine. The paint smells a little, but not enough to send you packing. The wax… You’ll live.
Take everything apart
Since this was dining room furniture, It was fairly easy to take everything apart. You’ll likely need screwdrivers (flat and Phillips head) if you have removable seats. That was pretty much it for me. The table has a leaf, but it comes out easily and was very helpful for painting.
Start Painting!!
This was by far my favorite part! It was like magic was happening before my eyes. Even at night, the room looked brighter. I used the Paris Grey for the table and decided against making the legs the darker grey color. I think I actually did paint one, but the beauty of this paint is that once it dries, you can paint right over it like nothing happened. This process is truly forgiving.
Once the paint dries, it is a matte finish and looks AMAZING! I ended up doing two coats, but it was pretty solid after one. I chose not to do any distressing because I figured we would distress it enough over the next 20 years.
While the paint dries…
While the paint dried, I started to re cover the seat cushions. I simply took the old fabric off and used it as a guide to cut the new fabric. I made the new fabric a little bigger than what i had cut off (I’m no professional and I didn’t need those kinds of problems). Using my handheld staple gun, I attached the fabric. I stapled one side then pulled it tight across the batting and stapled the other side. I repeated this on all four sides and then finished stapling. I treated the corners like presents and made sure they had crisp edges.
TIP: If you have a pattern like the one above, make sure you have the pattern facing in the same direction (unless, you don’t care. In that case, carry on).
Reassembly!
This is the moment you’ve been waiting for! Once all of the pieces have been painted, dried and waxed, you can start putting your pieces back together again. If you thought the initial paint was magic, this will blow you away. I couldn’t believe how easy this was and how beautifully everything turned out.
The Finished Product
This project made my dining room look like it dropped in from a magazine, but for a fraction of the price. The other amazing part is that if I ever feel the need to change it up again, I can. Think of all of the possibilities :-)! This dining room table can stay with me forever and I won’t be mad about it.
The next time you decide change things up a bit at your house, see what you can recycle. Not only will you be a friend of Captain Planet, but you will also create something amazing!
Leave a Reply