Simple Kitchen Table Makeover

Older wood tables can feel dated, but they don’t have to feel that way. Follow along to see our transformation with our kitchen table makeover.

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Before

I don’t think I actually have a before picture of this table, but it wasn’t very pretty. It was a very dated oak, otherwise in great shape. I got it from our local thrift store for $25 (that included 4 chairs). I don’t know about you, but those are the types of deals I thrive on.

We had just bought our house and our previous dining table wouldn’t fit in our new breakfast nook space. So we went out, found this guy and I was itching to give it some love. While I use this as my excuse, it probably has more to do with the fact that this is just kind of who I am. But I was 5 or 6 months pregnant at the time, trying to tackle 3,000,000 projects before baby came, so I maybe sanded the top a little but mainly just painted it.

2 years later, it was starting to chip a little and I knew it was because it wasn’t prepped right. But regardless, I’d been wanting to sand the top eventually anyway. So with all of this quarantine time, I got to it and gave it a good sand down to the raw wood.

After

I didn’t do a very good job of documenting the process on this one, but it really was simple. I used an orbital sander and a high grit sandpaper designed for removal.

Another way to remove paint from a piece is to strip it with a paint stripper, but that’s not really my favorite type of product to use. So I sanded instead.

For this project, I wanted a really natural wood look. So instead of staining, I got it down to the raw wood and then I used a finishing paste wax to seal it. You can find that here.

I actually borrowed my father-in-law’s sander for this project, since I don’t currently have one of my own. Since borrowing it, I’ve found so many little projects to use it for. Needless to say, I’m going to need to go buy one for myself really soon here.