My first instinct with the table was to sand it down with an electric sander, but it was extremely messy and after 3 hours I felt like I hadn't even touched the grain yet. Hopeless I went to Home Depot where a paint specialist asked me why I didn't just strip the wood off... Strip? I thought you could only sand... What he showed me changed everything! He told me to buy a varnish remover (I can't remember the name). I also purchased a scraper, some gloves, a mask and a tarp just incase any of the remover fell or got on my skin. I used a paintbrush and painted the top of the table. (Make sure to open all windows because the remover is very strong). After 5-10 minutes it began to bubble, I then used the scraper and voila! The paint literally just scraped off to the woodgrain! 3 hours of sanding just took minutes of scraping! This stuff was awesome!!
HELPFUL TIP: Always make sure to scrape WITH the grain of the wood
Make sure all of the varnish is off the surface and allow it to dry. After it is dry just lightly sand the surface to make sure there isn't any "bumps" or left overs from the scraping... Then wash it off with a lightly damp towel and dry. Now the reason why I chose to stain my table brown rather than paint it is well, it was going to be my family kitchen table, and I envisioned scratches galore on the surface. With a stain it leaves you with a great color that brings out the grains too and less scratch/paint tear to deal with. After I stained it I added an oiled base polyurethane coat to help make it shiny. (Never shake the bottle, it will create bubbles, instead pour the product into a bowl and mix with a wooden paint stick.) I had to wait 2 days to do the 2nd coat and then the next day the table was ready!
We decided to just sand and paint the kitchen cabinets because they were already the original light wooden grain with a slight finish and wear. We only had to sand lightly to get the surface paint ready. We purchased a dark brown semi-gloss paint (I think it was called raisin actually). After removing all of the cabinet doors and placing them in the garage it was sanding and paint time! I remember it took my mom and I about 2-4 days to complete the task. You need to make sure each paint coat sits at least 24 hours before applying the new one. The end result of the kitchen and table turned out great and it really updated the look of the kitchen!
Here Are the Before & After Pictures
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| BEFORE |
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| AFTER I also purchased 4 new chairs from Overstock.com and the white chair coverings from Bed Bath & Beyond |
Taylor
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