Entry Hall Table Makeover

We wanted a hobby we could do together and make a little extra cash at. We decided on refinishing furniture.  This is our very first project. Let us know how we did! :)

My guy was in a new resale shop in our neighboring town and happened upon this diamond in the rough.  He paid $50 for her.

Our dining room table that we use daily is similar to this one and this look is what we want to have ours turn out like, so we experimented with this nice little entry hall table first just for practice.

We just assumed it was a dining room table when my honey brought it home and never knew it was an entry hall or foyer table until the day we actually placed the two pieces together.  She was a shorty!  It was in 2 pieces at the resale shop and it stayed in pieces for many weeks while we worked on it.  We were a bit bummed it wasn't a dining room table, but we carried on anyways.

There was lots of sanding to do and also some repairs of the base were needed.  It was cracked and falling apart.  It came with only 3 original castors.  Well, original to the person who refinished it before we did, I don't think it came like that originally, but maybe it did.  The table is a bit of a Frankenstein, but still functions perfectly the way they rebuilt it. Some new parts and some old parts were used.

I decided on a very dark top and a lighter base color.  The pretty wood grain just popped with all its beauty when I added the stain.  I used Minwax Dark Walnut #2716 stain and Minwax Fast Drying Polyurethane Clear Satin (4 coats) to make sure it has a very long life.

The bottom was first primed with Zinsser Primer Ultimate Stain Blocker, excellent for blocking previously stained surfaces. No sanding required, just add the primer and then paint.  For painting we used a small amount of a gallon of Valspar $5 bargain paint from Lowe's in a mushroom color and then antiqued it with an almost black antiquing glaze by Valspar in the color of Asphaltum #98278.  We sealed the painted parts with Valspar Clear Protector for faux finishes.

You can still see it's cracks and years of wear, but I think it gives the vintage table character. I love it! The only sanding we did was on the top. We love the roughed up look.  We bought 4 new casters for her. They started out a putrid lovely gold tone finish but we ORB'ed them and they looked wonderful and looked like they came with the table.  The center shot shows how the wood grain catches the antiquing.  The 3rd picture is the after top in the natural sunlight. Pure BEAUTY! :)

Lovely isn't she? I wanted to keep her but that was not what we had planned so she now lives with a new family.  We are in search of our next project now.  See the Fall vignette on the table up there?  It's Our Thankful Tree for this year,  to see that post, go HERE.

THIS JUST IN: Did you know you could use COUPONS on Amazon? Me either, but look right here for all your favorites and start saving, I am! :)

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
The Dedicated House  - (I was featured)