Shabby Chic Dining Room Table

It is no secret that I really, really dislike anything honey oak. Can you believe I moved into a home that was nothing but honey oak? I had two choices, cry or get inspired. I may have done both but never at the same time. Oak is my least favorite wood but I can learn to like it if it is any color but honey.

With that being said I talked myself into yet another project in our house after seeing this beautiful dining table for sale. As I was trying to decide if it was worth the asking price a light bulb went off. Uhm, Amanda, you have a table just like this in honey oak that you are using as a sewing table. This was a table that was left behind in our home when we moved in. We already had a dining room set that we loved so there was no need to keep it & my husband suggested multiple times that we should sell it. Sell it? This table was huge with very convenient stow away leaves. It was the perfect size table for sewing & collecting all sorts of junk. It mostly collected junk. Ha! I never agreed to sell it because I knew I couldn't replace the table as a "sewing" table for the few hundred dollars we may have sold it for. I didn't disagree with selling because the table was growing on me. Honey oak never grows on me.

With my husband gone on a long business trip & rain in the forecast I decided to tackle this project in hopes of having it done before family arrived for the weekend of Halloween. I invited these guys to the party along with a couple paint brushes & some 220 grit sand paper.This project cost less than $100 with the most expensive purchases being the paint & wax.

 Let me introduce you to the star of this show. This is the honey oak dining table a.k.a my sewing table.  Ignore the dust on top of this table. It's a good indication on how often I actually sew. Also ignore the purple room. It was a wine bottle label inspired color & I have a beautiful vision for this room. A vision only I can see, a common problem of mine.

 I applied the Citristrip Stripping Gel in a thick coat on the top of the table only. I waited 30 minutes & scraped the gel off using a plastic putty knife. This product makes varnish & stain stripping super simple. Wipe the table clean & let the wood dry before applying any stain.

No need to strip the clear coat off of the base. That's the wonderful thing about using chalk paint, no sanding or stripping needed.

I couldn't find the color of stain I had envisioned in my head nor could I describe it to the guy at Lowe's. It was in my head. It would be convenient if my visions included printable pictures as I have yet to talk to a man that totally understands what I'm thinking. After our kitchen cabinet revamp my husband trusts my visions & no longer asks questions. Works great for both of us. I stood in the aisle looking at these two colors & thought, what if I used both of these in layers? Would that fulfill the vision in my head? Can stain even be layered? I had not a clue but I was willing to try. The outcome was completely what I pictured after I did the following. To answer that question, yes stain can be layered.

 I applied one coat of the wheat. Wiped if off. Applied one coat of weathered gray. Wiped it off. It was a little too gray so applied one more coat of the wheat & wiped if off. I then sealed it with two coats of the clear furniture wax. Look at the perfect weathered, reclaimed wood like I achieved. I love it. 

 After a few coats of the Funky Junk Sisters Chalk Paint the base of this table is ready to be distressed. I rubbed one coat of clear furniture wax into the base before distressing. This not only decreases the amount of paint dust but also helps ease the antiquing glaze process. The paint is very porous prior to waxing & I don't want the glaze to absorb into the paint. 

Distressing is very simple. I recommend using 220 grit sand paper. Start sanding areas of the furniture that may normally show wear. Sand until you are through the coats of paint & roughed up the original clear coat on the furniture. You want the distressed areas of wood to absorb some of the antiquing glaze.











My favorite product is Lowe's Antiquing Glaze. It comes in a small bottle for around $8. This little bottle lasts forever! Apply it to the piece of furniture as you would any type of furniture stain. It is very forgiving with basically a brush on, wipe off technique. Work in small sections so that the glaze doesn't dry before you have time to wipe it off. After wiping it off if it seems heavier than you prefer, dampen a rag & lightly wipe the glaze off of those areas until the desired look is achieved.

After you have achieved the desired weathered look apply one more coat of the clear furniture wax to protect the glaze & the project is done! 

 

I had to drop two of the table leaves down order to fit this large table into the "after" picture. This table is the perfect addition to our large blended family as it seats 8. I'm so glad we didn't sell this table. I would have never dreamed it would be back in the dining room but it is now the perfect fit for the decor in our home.

Up next is painting & distressing the 6 honey oak chairs. I'm not looking forward to that project at all but I am anxious to have the entire project complete. I'm also in search of the perfect upholstered high back "king & queen" chairs for the head of the table. I will post an update when I have accomplished my entire vision. :)