Have you ever thought about repainting your dining room table?
Monique needed a new dining table to accommodate her large family.
However, she wasn’t excited about the hefty price tag that often accompanies a new furniture purchase.
She had wanted to try painting a piece of furniture instead of purchasing a new one. And she found the perfect opportunity when she stumbled on this used set online for only $200 dollars.
This second hand table and chair set had a dated look, but was still in great condition. It was the perfect candidate for a makeover!
Comparable dining sets to her finished product can be seen for sale for upwards of $1500 or more.
In our most recent ‘share your project’, Monique Morgan transforms a dated dining room table and chair set. Check out how she gives it new life as a charming vintage set for her family dining room.
To give her table its new look, Monique painted the chairs and legs of the table using Home Plate, a popular antique white color. In combination with Home Plate, she used the All-Natural Glaze finish (a mix of brown and black) for the table top. Finally, she used a clear and durable Top Coat sealer to finish it all off.
How you can achieve the same look:
Clean your old furniture
The first step in any vintage furniture makeover should always be a thorough cleaning. Especially if you’ve purchased it second hand. This will help ensure the grease, grime and dust that build up over years of use are properly removed. Plus, it will allow the paint to properly adhere to the surface of the furniture.
Check out American Paint Company’s Surface Prep & Brush Cleaner is a 100% natural organic soap. It has a fresh citrus scent, and is a perfect option to help you prepare your piece prior to painting. It also doubles as a fantastic brush cleaner to help keep your brushes in good condition for your next project.
Applying the Glaze ‘stain like’ finish
Once you’ve finished cleaning your piece, it’s easy to apply Glaze directly onto the old wood. It is typically recommended to use a top coat sealer first to prevent the glaze from absorbing into the wood too quickly. In Monique’s case, she was able to apply her glaze directly to the table. This gave her the dark and elegant look of her finished table top. For the deep color she was looking for, Monique mixed American Paint Company’s Black and Brown Glaze together.
Typically, furniture stain comes part and parcel with a horrible smell. But with American Paint Company’s Glaze Finishing products, you can achieve the same gorgeous stained look without the unpleasant fumes. American Paint Company’s Glaze is available in Black and Brown, and can be mixed or diluted in order to achieve the desired color and effect.
Paint and distress your table
The other main product used for Monique’s project was American Paint Company’s Clay, Chalk & Mineral Paint. This paint is an all-natural and eco-friendly alternative to the typical paint options available. It’s healthier and cleaner, allowing you to tackle any DIY project in your home without the toxic smells that accompany other paints. It’s available in 46 fantastic colors and is quick drying and easy to use.
Monique chose one of APC’s most popular shades of white: Home Plate. It is an antique white, perfect for achieving the charming distressed look Monique was striving for. After applying the color on the table legs, chair legs and chair backs, she achieved her vintage look by using a distressing technique involving rubbing the paint off once it had dried, but before sealing the color. This technique aims to remove the paint from detailed parts of the furniture, as well as along the edges where the paint would have naturally worn off with time and use. Monique’s use of this technique was very effective, as you can see in her finished photos.
Using a durable sealer
When revamping a piece of furniture that will get a lot of daily use, it is especially important to use a good, durable sealer. Why? Because you’ll want to protect your hard work over the long term! Wax sealers, which are more readily available than alternative options, are not ideal for high traffic furniture like this. They may only hold up for 1-2 years – not nearly long enough to justify all the time and effort that went into updating this beautiful dining set!
For this reason, Monique selected American Paint Company’s durable Top Coat sealer. It is another all-natural and eco-friendly solution, and has the benefits of a heavy duty long term sealer without the smell or toxic chemicals. This makes the DIY process more enjoyable, and is an especially good non-toxic solution for a dining table where family meals will be shared. APC’s Top Coat also doubles as a great primary coat to ensure even coverage with either glaze or paint.
Monique found the American Paint Company products she used simple, quick to dry, and very easy to work with. She was especially amazed at how easy it was to apply the Glaze Finish with minimal preparation to the original finish. With just a thorough cleaning and a light sanding, Monique was able to dive into her dining room table makeover without much fuss.
By following the same simple process as Monique, you can easily update your own piece of furniture to create an elegant, vintage look like hers. Or, you can make it your own with some of the many other products available from American Paint Company.
I want to do this project but am concerned that with the table having shellac on top, that the glaze won’t adhere. Any tips? Thank you.
Hi Laurie! If you’re concerned about applying Glaze on top of shellac, then you can lightly sand to remove the shellac. Keep in mind however that often times it’s best to have a barrier between the Glaze and the raw wood. This prevents the Glaze from soaking into the wood and creating a blotchy look, where the Glaze might actually be darker in some areas than others. We recommend applying a layer of Top Coat down first over the wood, and then apply the Glaze on top of that after it dries. This will give you more time to move the Glaze around the piece without it soaking in too fast.
Hello. I wanted to know if I could order directly from you. I live in Rotterdam, NY 12306, and do not have any retailers in upstate NY. Can you please let me know at your earliest convenience?
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Hi Shelley; Sorry, we do not sell direct. We only sell through our authorized retail locations. However, if you send us a PM on our Facebook page, we can put you in touch with an authorized retailer near you that may be able to ship to your location.