Painting our Kitchen Table

Today we're sharing a fun update to the kitchen! One of my fall "house projects" was to paint the kitchen table. Our kitchen table was MIA for a few months but now it's back in action and prettier than ever. It brightens the kitchen and brings in some nice, clean lines with the newly painted white color. Check it out:

This post is just focusing on the update rather than the how-to. This DIY project needed a "third time's the charm" approach and I thought it might end up as a DIY Fail disaster. I'm still not completely satisfied with it but, until you examine it with a magnifying glass, it looks good!

The existing table was a hand-me-down from my grandmother and for obvious sentimental reasons I wanted to keep it. It had a very orange-y natural wood tone with lots of curvy detail throughout the legs and spindles. I planned two things for the DIY update to the kitchen table - it would get painted white and then we would swap in our dining chairs and paint them to match. This gives us a unified, modern set. Patrick and I are both very pleased with the outcome. Here's a before and after: 

I ended up using a furniture paint on it but if I were to do it again I'd use chalk paint. We used chalk paint last year for the kitchen hutch and that seemed to work really well. I don't believe this furniture paint is going to hold up very well. There are already some very light scratches on the surface where keys were thrown on to the table. The major DIY fail was using spray paint, not letting it completely dry and "cure", then having the finishing sealant crackle. So there were two to three coats of spray paint, sealing it, realizing it needed to be done over again, sanding it back down, then a final two coats of the furniture paint. This kitchen table lived in the garage for at least two months. We're just happy it's functioning again and with a few placemats looks great. We've also been making more effort to keep the table free of mail and not the place for the evening drop off of all-the-things so we can enjoy quick breakfasts and weekend lunches in the space. 

Any pro tips for DIY furniture updating?? I may not have any pro tips but I definitely say it's worthwhile to jump in and tackle the project. Chances are if you're considering a DIY update then you're not happy with the current state of the furniture.