A Designer Table for a Budget Price by Taylor

When looking for a table for our kitchen, I had an idea of what I wanted, but the price tag was always too high.  For example, I saw the table below at Pier One, but I was not going to pay $400.00 for it!

 

It looked nice, but didn't have a lot of character and wasn't even that sturdy.  SO.... I kept looking.  A couple days later I came across this table for $50.00 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

 

The finish was scratched and splotchy and but I knew that underneath all that wear and tear was a beautiful table just waiting to come out!  A couple days later I found four wooden chairs at Goodwill for $5.99 a piece, so I purchased them to go with the table.  Then, we got to work refinishing the table and chairs.  Inspired by a piece I had seen at Pottery Barn, I decided to stain the top of the table a deep brown and paint the table base and the chairs antique white.  First, we detached the table from the base and used medium grade sandpaper to sand the surface until it was smooth and even in color.

 Then, we used tape to protect the sides of the tabletop so we could spray paint the bottom.  We wrapped painter's tape all the way around the table, flipped it over, and started painting.

 Then we flipped the table back over and wiped off the top.  We took the tape off and used a foam paint brush to brush our stain on.  We were very careful to make sure it was going on evenly.  We used an old rag to wipe the stain according to the directions on the can.  When that dried, we put a clear finish on it to protect the tabletop.

 Then, we lightly sanded the chairs and the base of the table to prepare them to be painted.

We spray painted the base of the table and the chairs.  Then, when the paint was dry, I took my sandpaper and rubbed off the paint from the edges, corners, feet, everywhere you might see normal wear and tear on an old table. We are really happy with our new kitchen table and the best part was the price- including paint, we did this all for around $110.00!