This table deserves better…

by | Sep 6, 2009 | Before and Afters, Furniture Makeovers, Hand Painted Furniture | 3 comments

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First of all, I want to apologize to all of the people out there who like this table in school bus yellow, ketchup red, and I’m not sure what shade of blue. What was the person who painted this thinking? This table has beautiful lines and it deserves soooo much better. I had to rescue it from it’s current fate of looking like an example of the primary color wheel for a kindergarten class.

I sanded it down with my handy Porter Cable palm sander to rough up the glossy finish, but also to smooth out the brush marks left by the previous painter. I do not enjoy sanding, especially table legs and such, so I hand sanded only the areas where there were old drip marks or brush strokes. I then used Krud Kutter Gloss Off to provide a clean surface with “tooth”, so the primer would have good adhesion. One note about this product…wipe it off before you paint over it. Ms. Smartie-Pants (myself) didn’t feel there was a need to read the directions thoroughly the first time I used it and my primer coat wouldn’t stick. I think it’s a positive thing to be a person who looks at something and says, “I can do that”, but the down side is we don’t always read directions before we dive in. 🙂 Can I get an “Amen” from anyone else who’s been there?


One more note…I like to use old onesies for rags. Who wants to buy your baby’s stained onesies at a yard sale, so I keep them and use them for rags. Just cut the snaps off.
Once the surface was prepped, I sprayed on a coat of Sherwin Williams water based bonding primer. After painting dozens of pieces of furniture with a brush & roller, I finally splurged and purchased a Graco HVLP (high volume low pressure) paint sprayer. I realize most DIYers are not going to have one of these wonderful machines, but I paint LOTS of furniture and I have 2 toddlers, so don’t be too jealous. If you do paint a lot, it’s totally worth the big bucks. I love this thing.

Here’s what it looks like now….much better already. Don’t worry, my lovely little table. You’ll be beautiful in no time. Stay tuned for the “After” picture. It’ll be up in a few days.

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    3 Comments

    1. KimW

      Can't wait to see the finished product!

    2. Caro

      Oh my!!

      But you know what? When I see a piece of furniture or any item that obviously the previous owner had tried to makeover/customize to fit her needs/style… Even when it doesnt appeal to me (like that yellow, ick!), I tend to think that the piece has been loved in its previous life and the owner tried to make the most of it. Their style and ours might clash, but at least it got the love it deserves! 😉

    3. Miss Mustard Seed

      Haha, good point! Wood lovers in my family gasped when I painted the wood trim in my 1940's home and were ready to chain themselves to my maple cabinets at the mention mention of painting them. To each his own.

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