Coffee Table Makeover

I've been working on restoring some furniture this summer, with my first project being our living room coffee table.  We've had this coffee table a long time now (about 17 years) and originally it featured a dark stained oak surface mounted on top of a black wrought iron frame.  It's been about 7 years now, but I had already painted over the black iron making the base white instead.  I liked the white base much better, but always wanted to lighten the top so that it matched the kitchen and dining room tables.  

(You can click here for a post that shows how dark the table used to be)

This table happens to be a very sturdy, well made piece of furniture, totally worth the effort of re-finishing.  And for whatever reason, this summer was the time in which I finally got the courage to try, check it out:

Wear & Tear

  You can see in this photo how dark the stain used to be.  This photo was taken after the kids and I spent some time with a pile of sandpaper, but you get the idea.  The table did have lighter areas where the surface stain had become quite damaged though.  I think that's what prompted me to finally do something about it, it was looking like a mess!

Chipped Paint

The coat of white paint was showing some abuse as well, with the original black coming through here and there.

Hidden Artwork

It was easier to repaint the base after first removing the top.  Not only did this make the frame much lighter, but I didn't have to worry about protecting the top from paint either.  I flipped the table over to start unscrewing and discovered this hidden 'artwork' that somebody decided to add with his markers.  Of course I'm leaving that little bit of history in place 😉

Sand, sand & sand some more.

Remember how I said the kids and I began sanding by hand with a pile of sandpaper?  Yeah, no, not happening! I quickly realized that this was a job for an actual power tool and consulted with Husby.  He didn't think his belt sander would be the best choice so I borrowed a palm sander from my Dad and was back in business.  Let me tell you, even with a power tool it still took a couple of hours to remove all of the old stain, but the work was oddly satisfying 😄

Now, I already had the white paint, brushes and sandpaper on hand and I borrowed the sander.  That meant that the only item purchased was a can of Minwax varnish for less than $10.  It took 3 coats of the varnish to properly seal the table, but I still have quite a bit of that left over as well (looks at kitchen table with contemplation....😁)

Project Complete

And there you have it; a nice, clean re-finished table for under $10!

There are a couple more items that I've fixed up and added to the living room as well, I'll share those soon.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this furniture makeover post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2018