The Breakfast Nook

Months before we signed the papers on our little farmhouse, I had been scouting out furniture and lighting. I purchased a few things prior to moving in and this cute little table is one of the pieces I completed first. The table I purchased for a great price from a friend when she posted it on Facebook. It was her Mom's table. After purchasing this gem, my husband and I worked on bringing it back to life. We had to do a lot of sanding and prepping prior to painting it. I loved the shape of the table and that it was solid wood. It is also small and our breakfast nook is a small area so I was hoping it would fit just right. The bonus is that is is old! Bringing old furniture back is something I really enjoy doing. I just often do not have the time to do it. The table had awesome chippy paint on it to begin with but it was not the color that I wanted so I had to strip it all off to begin the makeover.

Here are some pictures of the table before we started to work on it. The top picture is the actual picture my friend posted on her Facebook when she was selling the table. So photo cred goes to my friend Lashawna Whitsitt.

As you can see there were layers of paint on the table base so I stripped all of it off down to the raw wood. I used a common paint stripper from Lowe's. After stripping the base I sanded the base. I use a sander tool called The Mouse by Black and Decker. I LOVE that tool! It is light weight and perfect for furniture because it is portable.

Here is a link to The Mouse on Amazon:

Click here for The Mouse

After lots of sweat and sanding I was ready to paint the base of the table. I knew I wanted a farmhouse white and I wanted it to use chalk paint. I live in a rural area so I made a trip to War-Mart in the closest town over. They had Kilz Chalk Paint! Guys I did not know chalk paint could be this affordable. If you have ever priced chalk paint you will understand my excitement. A quart of white was $20! SOLD! The chalk paint was so easy to use and gave me the look I wanted. You can still see the beauty of the wood through the paint but I only put on one coat of the paint because I wanted a white washed look. You could paint additional coats of the chalk paint if you want a more solid look.

Click here for more info about the Kilz Chalk Paint

Next we started working on the top of the table. We had to wood glue some places together and also do more sanding. I decided on staining the top because I wanted to seal it. I thought it would make it more durable and easier to clean. Chalk paint I do not feel would have been a good choice for the table top because it is not as durable. I chose a MinWax stain in the color Classic Gray. I used one coat of stain then after it dried I used polyurethane over the stain to seal it.