FINALLY BACK TO WORK!!!! AN ANTIQUE PEDESTAL TABLE MAKEOVER

I know that it has been over a month since I have posted anything, but for those of you who follow me, you know that we were moving. Well I won't bore you with the details (at least not in this post) but it couldn't have gone (and this is putting it mildly) WORSE!! So from the time that we moved from our last house to the house we are in, I had to put all of my treasures in storage, UGH!!! I couldn't do any work.....and it drove me CRAZY!!

Well, we moved into our house a couple of weeks ago, and before I could start on any fun work, I painted our bedroom, and gave the kitchen cabinets a makeover (I'll post on that soon...along with the ups and downs of that project). Yesterday I felt alive again, doing what I love....redoing furniture!!

I found this amazing pedestal table a few months back for $30. We were still in the process of packing but I couldn't pass it up. It had a terrible paint job, white paint slapped on and maybe a little glaze....but not good.

I know it doesn't look bad, but up close it was rough

LOVE THE CLAW FEET!

I didn't manage to take any pictures of the process, but I'll explain what I did step by step and bore you with some after pics ;-)

The first thing I did was stripped the top of the table using Klean-strip Stripper. It works great! You brush it on, wait about 20 minutes or so and it sort of bubbles up. Then you scrape it off. It's kind of messy, but much easier than sanding off the old finish. It took me a couple of times using the stripper to get of the paint and the old finish, but once that was done I sanded it smooth with my circular sander.

I stained the top with 2 coats of Minwax Dark Walnut (which is my fav!) sanding in between coat with steel wool. I used Minwax wipe on Poly for the top coat. I did 2 coats also sanding with steel wool.

Then for the base of the table, I couldn't wait to try the DIY chalk paint that I read about on Sherry's blog from No Minimalist Here (post seen here). I used a sample pot of Behr Ultra Spartan Stone in flat, and like Sherry's instructions, used 2/3 paint and mixed in 1/3 Plaster of Paris. The consistency was thick so I just added a little water. Shook it up and was ready to paint! It went on kinda gritty, but went on very evenly and the were no brush marks ;-). Oh, before I painted, I gave the table a good cleaning and the paint I used has primer mixed in, so I think it will hold up well. I used 2 coats of paint sanding between coats and it sanded SO smooth! The Plaster of Paris did change the color a bit once I sanded it, but luckily I liked it either way. I read that for some people it lightened the color, but in my case it darkened the color a little.

I didn't distress much, but just as read in some of her comments that said the paint can come off chippy.....it can, so be careful when sanding.

I waxed the entire table with Minwax finishing paste wax, and love the sheen and the feel of it! I'm not really sure if you are supposed to wax over wipe on poly but I did anyway, and it turned out great. I know know for sure that you don't have to.

I haven't use ASCP, and I am sure that the DIY chalk paint doesn't compare, but I have to say....I LOVE how the DIY chalk paint turned out compared to plain paint. I seems much smoother and was so easy to work with. I would say that if you are going to finish pieces that are waxed or have a polyurethane finish you should continue to take the necessary prep steps to ensure a long lasting finish.

I still can't wait to try ASCP....but a BIG thanks to Sherry @ No Minimalist Here for coming up with a secondary chalk paint technique!!

So after WEEKS of not blogging or taking pictures I went a bit crazy with the after pictures. I hope you enjoy!

One of my favorite things on the table is the picture of my Grandmother when she was young. It's a beautiful picture, and I miss her

linking up with these awesome Friday parties:

Miss Mustard Seed

French Country Cottage 

At The Picket Fence