Painted and Stained Kitchen Table: A Tutorial

So, my painting habit is in full swing. :) As you know, we recently Painted Our Kitchen Cabinets White. Then I painted our Barstools White. I even Spray Painted Some Lamps White and now, I've painted our kitchen table and chairs white and re-stained the top. :)

Busy, busy, busy. :)

Here's what the finished table looks like:

Here's what it looked like before. It really bothered me that it just blended right into the wood floor. 

I figured painting the bench and chairs white would make it stand out a little more. And thank you again Kelly for convincing me to paint the whole bench white. I thought about painting just the legs white and staining the top, but I like it so much better this way. It really helps it stand out with the entire bench painted white. :)

Here's another reason I wanted to re-stain the table top. It had some pretty good scratches on it. 

So, we started by cleaning everything really well with mineral spirits (there's a pic a little farther down) Then we started sanding the table top down to the bare wood. We used four kinds of sand paper. First we used 60 grit, then 100, then 150, then 220 (in that order). We just wiped it down between each sanding. I believe all four pieces of sand paper came in one pack at Home Depot. 

Below is the sander we used. It uses a 1/4 sheet of sand paper at a time (so we cut the sheets into four pieces) We only used a 1/4 sheet of each kind of sand paper. My hubby said he was really impressed with this sand paper too. 

Let me go ahead and show you the rest of the products we used. Here's the spray paint we used for the table legs, bench, and chairs. It's Rustoleum Heirloom White. I think we used about 8 or 9 cans.

We bought this kind of mineral spirits to clean everything with before we started. We wiped down the table, chairs, and bench with this stuff using a soft cloth. 

Here's the brush and stain we used. (We used a rag to apply the stain. The brush was only used to apply the Polycrylic top coat.) The color of the stain is "Jacobean." 

Here's a close up of the Purdy brush we used to apply the Polycrylic.

And here's the Polycrylic we used for a top coat. It is water based and we were able to use it inside the house, which was nice. We just put the table on a tarp in the entry way while we worked on it. It does mention that it can't be used on red mahogany stains, so if you're using that, you'll have to choose a different top coat. 

Okay, so like I said, first we cleaned everything with mineral spirits, then we started sanding down the table top. Here's a pic when we first started sanding it.

And here's a pic when it was sanded down to bare wood. 

After we finished sanding the table top, we began to spray paint the table legs, chairs, and bench. Don't forget to use a mask when spray painting. We turned the table upside down and taped off the edges to avoid getting spray paint on the newly sanded top.

This was after we painted the table legs. 

After everything was painted white, we began staining the table top. 

This was right after we stained the top. 

After we stained the top, we let it dry for about 24 hours. Then we put a total of four coats of Polycrylic on top of the stain (sanding lightly with 220 grit between each coat and waiting 3 hours between coats) Does that make sense? Basically, we put one coat of Polycrylic on the table top, then waited 3 hours, then lightly sanded it with 220 grit, then wiped it down and applied another coat of Polycrylic. We did that a total of four times. I think the can recommends only 3 coats, but we use this table every day and decided to go ahead and put four coats. 

The Polycrylic directions say after the final coat, to wait 3 hours before "light handling" and 24 hours before "normal use" but being the paranoid person that I am, I made everyone wait 4 days before using the table again. :)

Here's a few more pics of the finished product... 

I never could decide what to put in my dough bowl, so I temporarily retired it and filled one of my $2 Baskets From Kohl's with some hydrangeas (which I obviously need to fiddle around with...flower arranging is not my strong suit) 

I love how it stands out from the floor now. It really brightened things up. You can see how well it goes with my painted barstools in this pic too. 

Here's a good close up of the stain. It's a lot darker than the original color. 

Here's a quick run down of everything we did: (and keep in mind, this is just what worked for us with our particular table, it may not work with all types of wood, etc.)

1. Clean everything with mineral spirits

2. Sand table top down to bare wood using 60, 100, 150, and 220 grit, in that order.

3. Paint table legs, chairs, and bench with Heirloom White spray paint.

4. Wipe the table top clean and stain with Minwax Jacobean. We used a soft rag to apply the stain. Let the table top dry for about 24 hours to let the stain soak in. 

5. Apply Polycrylic with the Purdy brush, then let it dry for 3 hours, then sand lightly with 220 grit and apply second coat of Polycrylic. Let that dry for 3 hours before sanding and applying 3rd coat, etc. Do this for a total of 4 coats.

6. Wait at least 24 hours before resuming normal use. 

I hope this tutorial made sense for y'all. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask in the comments or email me. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. :)

So, that's it! I'm pleased as punch with our "new" table and chairs. I think the total cost was around $75. Not bad for a totally new look. :)

~Lisa

I'm joining these parties: Dwellings, Savvy Southern Style, Imparting Grace, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Maria Elena's Decor, From My Front Porch To Yours, The Dedicated House, By Stephanie Lynn, Joy In Our Home, Miss Mustard Seed, Driven By Decor Best of the Nest, Thrifty Decor Chick Before and After