Vintage Remake!

We have been up to quite a lot this past month. With the holiday season just around the corner, I have been wanting to get a bigger table so we can fit more people around it to entertain but like most young families, we are on a budget and can't afford the $1400 table I want. So I have been browsing around on the internet, mostly ksl.com to see if I could find a table and chairs for cheap. I wasn't finding what I wanted. While driving home a few weeks ago, I passed a yard sale and spotted the perfect table and chairs. I quickly pulled over and hopped out to inquire of the price. $100 for the table, leaf, and six chairs! SWEET! I couldn't pass this up so I bought it and had Mark's dad help me take it home. I was so excited to get started on it. I have always wanted to redo a kitchen table to look vintage and this was my chance! When Mark first saw it, he had his doubts but I quickly reassured him that it would look great. He just had to trust me!

This is what it looked like before we started the redo process. It had a 1970s look to it but in overall great condition. We just need to tighten up a few screws here and there before we began.

 I didn't take step by step pictures of the the process which I totally should have. Darn it! Oh well.  Before we started on it we had to do some research because the table top has a Formica laminate top. We didn't know if it could actually be painted or what kind of paint would work best. So we looked up on the internet and went to Lowe's. We finally decided on a paint specifically formulated for Laminate surfaces and a cream paint and primer in one for the chairs and legs of the table.

So we began our adventure! We sanded and ruffed up the table and chairs and then began to paint. We painted the chairs first, then once dry, I went over all the chairs and table legs with dark brown glaze to create the antique look. That was quite the process. My back sure was glad once it was all done. After glazing, I let them dry for a few days then coated them with a Poly acrylic top coat for protection. Finally, the chairs were done and they turned out perfectly!

Now, the table top was a whole different story. What seemed like such a simple and short process turned out to be 3 weeks long! Due to the fact that the paint fumes were very potent and being pregnant, I left the table top up to my remarkable hubby. He did an awesome job! He got it painted perfectly but we weren't too happy with the color of brown. So we debated on changing the color but finally decided to keep it. So once dry, Mark went to put the top coat on it but it started to bubble and wasn't going on clear like it should. Well come it find out, we needed a Polyurethane top coat to go over the oil based paint! We quickly tried wiping it off but that did not work. We knew we had to sand the paint off and start over. It was super frustrating. We had to go and buy another can of paint and changed the paint color to more of a charcoal brown. That was a good choice! After getting it sanded, Mark began again to paint. The paint color was perfect which made us excited! We let it dry for a few days then sprayed the right topcoat on top of it. After several weeks of trying to get it right, it finally turned out perfect!!!! We were able to create my dream table for under $225 dollars and now have a dinner table that sits more than four people!