Dining Table “Progress”

Do you ever feel like home bloggers only blog about their beautiful projects? I have to admit that I’m guilty of that too. But any serial DIYer knows that more often than not, projects don’t always go smoothly or turn out how you planned. That’s exactly how this table project is going for me.

I should have left it alone after I put the Weathered Oak stain on it. If you remember I told you that I was trying to achieve the same stain as the Ikea Tarva dressers in the living room. I used the Weathered Oak first, then Red Oak to get that look. Here is the table after the weathered oak

And here are the dressers from the living room

And here us the table after the Red Oak

😫 It is soooooo red!! I first tried “fixing” it with mineral spirits. It lightened up slightly. Then, I tried adding another coat of the Weathered Oak to brown it up a little. I dont think it changed much at all.

So, I made a mad dash to Lowes to look for something else to help me. I found this White Pickling Stain and did some quick Pinterest research in the store. I figured I would give it a try.

It’s supposed to give your wood a whitewashed and weathered look. Here it is on half of the table. I think it’s going to work, but who knows at this point.

I do have some good news though. I chalk painted the base and gave it a coat of wax. It was quick and easy and a nice break from the table top. I used the Waverly chalk paint and wax.

I scrubbed the whole thing really well first with some dish soapy water. After it dried I hand sanded it to scuff up the surface. There’s no need to get crazy with the sanding because the chalk paint will adhere well to almost anything.

I applied 2 coats of the paint and once it was dry, I distressed it a bit with a 220 grit sanding block.

I wioedbitndown once again and applied one coat of wax with a paint brush. You can buff it after it has dried for 24 hrs if you would like a glossy finish, but I chose not to. I like the more matte look. Wax is not as good a protectant as Polyurethane or Polycyclic. I will need to reapply every six months to protect the paint, but the base won’t come in contact with any food so it will work.