Old Table Makeover

I worked on an impromptu old table makeover a few weekends ago. This beautiful old table was on Facebook marketplace for only $15.

When I got to the house to pick it up, I realized why they were selling it so cheap. It was in terrible condition. I did love the bones of it so I figured this one was worth saving.

Because of the condition and the very ugly wood top, I planned to paint it.

First I cleaned all the cobwebs of which there were many! My husband had the brilliant idea of using the leaf blower to get those out.

While cleaning the cobwebs, I noticed the legs were missing some hardware underneath. The bolts are unusual, like none I’ve seen before. I’m going to take one to the hardware store and see if I can find a size that will work to repair that.

Next, I had to prep the table for painting. This required the most work. There were so many dings, dents, staples, and thumbtack holes. In addition to all that, there were many pieces of scotch tape stuck all around the table.

Due to the tape and the thumbtack holes, I got the feeling the previous owners probably used this as a party table. I liked that, it gave me good table vibes, lol. But it did cause the prep to take much longer.

I filled all the holes in with wood filler. Once that set, I sanded the entire table down lightly with a simple sanding sponge.

I dusted it off the sanding dust with the leaf blower and next, I got out the petroleum jelly. You might remember this distressed side table I painted a while back. I wanted to give this table the same look.

In the areas along the edges, I applied vaseline very lightly. It was finally time to paint it. I used my paint sprayer on this one. It makes it go much quicker, especially considering the spindle legs. I did two coats of paint letting it dry in between.

I used the paint color called Black Magic from PPG paints, exactly like I used on this black distressed table makeover.

When the paint was fully dry, I went over the vaseline areas with a paper towel to remove the paint and let the wood show through. It works like magic, it’s so cool.

Lastly, I sealed the table with my favorite top coat. It’s the only one I use (unless I’m painting with chalk paint, see my furniture painting guide). I like it because it doesn’t yellow over time and it’s so matte it’s virtually invisible. That was also applied with my paint sprayer.

That’s it for this old table makeover, pretty easy overall. No fancy styled pictures today because I’m not sure what I’m doing with this table yet. It doesn’t work where I had thought about putting it (under the TV) so I will likely resell it on Facebook marketplace.

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