This is the story of a simple and outdated kitchen table. You know, the typical piece of furniture you find in your grandma’s kitchen or in any good thrift store. The table’s design was very simple. The legs were made of real beautiful wood but unfortunately the top was covered with a kind of laminate. If you’ve already been reading my blog for a while, you certainly know Chrystele likes pop colours. So stay tuned to discover how Chrystele gave it a fresh new look with chalk paint !
Table of Contents
Supplies for the Painted Kitchen Table Makeover
Step 1 – Cleaning and Sanding the Kitchen Table
Here is how the table looked before makeover. Way too simple to Chrystele’s taste… Keep reading to find out how she painted this kitchen table.
Chrystele first cleaned the table carefully and sanded the entire piece. She sanded the table legs by hand down to bare wood. The idea was to bring the original color of the wood back to life. I recommend to starting to sand with a 80-grit to remove the old varnish easily and then successively using a 120-grit, 150-grit and 180-grit or 220-grit to get a smooth wood surface.
She lightly sanded the top. The goal was to rough up the surface enough so that the paint will stick to it.
Step 2 – Painting and Sealing the Table with Striped Legs
Chrystele first primed the table top with a primer paint. Priming before painting laminate furniture is important. Priming will help you create a long-lasting durable finish. So don’t skip this additional step and prime. If you do not already have your favorite primer, you can try Zinsser primer paint which is good quality base coat to give top-of-the-line adhesion to laminate surface. This is an oil primer. I do prefer using water-based paints and primers mostly because oil-based paints and primers smell and are difficult to clean. However I have to admit oil-based primer is a good product when it comes to paint on laminate surface.
Once the table top was painted with primer, Chrystele had the bright idea to paint the table legs with colored stripes. She explained the most difficult part was to apply masking tape horizontally at the same height on the four legs.
She then chose four pop colors to paint the strips: a vibrant indie pink, a bright green, a turquoise blue and a deep night blue. Chrystele chose to paint the table legs with the same dark blue color as the upper thinner strip. Two coats of paint are usually required to get a uniform, smooth finish.
Here is the final result! This is now the perfect table to add a touch of originality and boldness to a boring kitchen. I really like the fact that Chrystele did not paint the whole table and chose to highlight the beautiful wooden legs of this simple kitchen table. About the old laminate table top, no regret… I do prefer the new dark blue painted table top and I guess I’m not the only one.
Lastly, Chrystele sealed the entire table with two coats matte polyacrylic. She lightly sanded between the two coats of poly to get a smooth finish. Polyacrylic finish is more resistant and easier to clean than wax so it is particularly suitable for high-traffic pieces like kitchen tables.
The old boring kitchen table got a modern new look! It would be the perfect piece for a rental kitchen. This small colorful table will definitely bring character to any neutral and boring kitchen. It will make you smile during your morning coffee even if you’re not a morning person.
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For more dining tables makeover ideas, you can check out this Two Tone Table Makeover and this Dining Table Makeover: Painted White.
Happy Makeover!