How To Distress Furniture (My New White Dining Table!)

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Well, it finally happened you guys! I have a white table in my dining room! Don't get me wrong, I loved my old brown table. Loved it a ton, but the top veneer was peeling off oh so bad, beyond repair. I couldn't bring myself to paint that table...although it got discussed often over dinner! It was getting to a point where it was either find a new table, or paint that one. I know it's so weird, but I really couldn't bring myself to paint it. The legs were just so pretty and I was afraid I would lose that character. And I actually liked the brown. It has been an inner battle for the past few years on what to do...in the mean time, the top was only getting worse.

One day I was scrolling through marketplace to actually find an old chair, even typed in the search "vintage chair" and guess what came up...this table. Well, it didn't look like this. It was white and a little awful, but the best thing was that it was $50 and big. Even though I talked often enough about getting a new table, I wasn't actively searching. So, I made a quick decision, and bought the table. Really, who can say no to a $50 table? 

I decided I would pretty it up quickly, and it can at least give me an idea if I even really liked having a white table in my dining room. If I liked it, I could easily sell it and paint my old one. That was the plan.

The lady I bought it from painted the top part of the table white, and left the legs. I bought some chalk paint thinking this would be a quick flip. I was soooo wrong.

The table had some pretty lines in it, and I wanted to remove some of the paint from the lines to make them more defined before I put my coats of paint on it. The paint started peeling off the table. The lady who painted the top before didn't sand it nor add any primer. It was awful. Also, it surprised me that underneath the paint was a brown table! Nothing at all like the legs.

So, I knew I had to take that layer of paint off so my paint would last longer and look nicer. Holy crud. Have you ever stripped paint off of something?? It's not fun. At first I was just pulling hand size pieces of paint off, then I realized I needed to use something else. I bought some spray foaming paint stripper, that worked well, but it was messy. 

Once I got all the paint I needed to come off, I set it up in my dining room. I knew this would be the easiest way to paint and not have it get nicked trying to bring it in. I was actually super surprised how how much the top of this resembled my old table. 

The legs and apron were painted, stained and destressed by the manufacturer, so I chose not to strip those since I knew the chalk paint would adhere well....and I wasn't concerned about crazing paint peeling.

I chose to use Rust-oleum's Chalked in Linen White. I ended up doing two coats of the paint over the entire table and legs.

Before each layer was fully dry, I went through with a skewer and made those lines more defined, along with find the little "holes" that made this table have more character. 

Once the table was fully dry, I went through and did a small sanding using finishing sandpaper on areas I wanted to have a little more wear. This included the sides and corners, along with where plates would often be. I put some 'wear' on the outer sides of the legs, and on the apron. 

Since the color underneath the tabletop was dark, I didn't have to add anything else to achieve the look. But, the legs had that lighter color, so I went through with a q-tip and dark walnut sand, and carefully applied what I thought was the perfect amount of darkness to the legs. 

I then sealed the entire table with the matte clear topcoat from Rust-oleum also. I used two coats to get the needed durability for the abuse that would inevitably happen to this table. 

I've had this table now for about a month, and love it! It has been so nice not having to look at my dingy nasty tabletop anymore! ha! It's nice having it so bright in here also. I know I'm going to love having my tablescapes pop off of it more also. Only regret? Now I have to use placemats at every meal. I'm so concerned about something spilling and staining the table. Also, I moved my kids play doe fun to the floor :)

Will I ever bring back my other table? The short answer is yes, on Thanksgiving :) Only because we are hosting it this year and need more seating! I'll be rearranging our living room and fit the kids on that table. I haven't had this table in here long enough to know if I would prefer my old one or not. I really loved the character of that one, but I love the brightness of this one. I imagine one day, I just end up painting my old one and selling this one. 

My oldest often asks why I like to have everything white... It's true in a way, but it's actually only true in the sense that white makes the other colors pop that much more. I love wood tones, and wood against white is just perfect. Same with greens and other colors. Even pink! Birthdays on this table are going to be fun because I'll no longer need a tablecloth to make the decor stand out more :) 

What are your thoughts? Do you like my white table or brown table more?

This may be the last that you see of all my fall decor! This weekend Christmas will be visiting my house :) It'll be a serious Christmas tree farm. I bought like 5 trees, differing sizes, on clearance last year. I meant to look through them and return some but never did. So, yeah. It will be a serious amount of trees going on if I choose to use all of them along with my others! 

I have so many projects happening right now....can't wait to share them all with you! To follow all that is going on behind the scenes, be sure to follow my social media :) 

 

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