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Cottage, DIY

A new old-looking tabletop

November 1, 2013

I’m not sure I’ve ever done a project in which I had no real expectations for the outcome. That’s just not the way I roll. So going into refinished the kitchen table with no real idea of what it would look like at the end was not something I undertook lightly.

You may recall that we purchased our kitchen table from the Restoration Hardware outlet. It was a pretty good deal because it had pretty bad damage on the corner. Turns out that was fine with me because I knew it was too big for our space and that we’d be cutting that part off.here.
You can read all about how we customized the table for our space

Originally I painted the entire thing, and you can read more about that process here. I finished it with Polycrylic, which is a water-based coating. I chose that after testing several products on scrap piece of wood. It was the only finish coat I could find that didn’t make the paint crackle or yellow. Or so I thought. Within days of applying it, it turned yellow. It bugged me then, but then it got even worse. It yellowed even worse with age. It had to go.

My original intention was to just paint it white again. And then a couple weeks ago I saw this table online (for the life of me I can’t find the link now but I’ll keep looking) and my interest was piqued. But the big question was, could I make my maple veneer table that was currently white look anything like that.

Banquette eating area, vintage school charts  -- The Impatient Gardener
The kitchen with the white table.

The only difference in terms of a starting point between trying to do a weathered finish and repainting the table was that I’d have to strip it first. So I did a little tester of stripper to see what was hiding underneath (for instance, did I leave a bunch of swirl marks from sanding it originally?). And when the stripper did its thing, it looked fantastic. This had potential.

So here’s where it ended up. What do you think?

Banquette eating area -- The Impatient Gardener
Refinished table.

While I liked the white table before, I’m loving this new look as well. More and more, I’m discovering that juxtaposition is my thing. I love a little bit of shiny and new mixed with vintage or weathered. It just works for me. So I like the fresh white table base with the weathered wood top, even if it doesn’t really make sense.

Click here for a tutorial on how I did it.

You might notice the black furry thing under the table in those last pictures. That’s Rita. There’s a good chance she was stuck. Whatever the reason, it was clear to me she had no intention of moving.

DIY dogs kitchen newfoundlands refinishing table
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
4 Comments

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previous post: How to get FREE nautical charts
next post: How to create a weathered wood finish

Comments

  1. Steph@TheGraniteGurus says: November 1, 2013 at 5:03 pm

    I love it! It looks great!

    Reply
  2. Stacey {steward of design} says: November 1, 2013 at 8:04 pm

    I love this eating area! Your table looks great and I love those prints.

    Reply
  3. Amy C says: November 4, 2013 at 4:34 pm

    I love your new table top and your prints. I also love your dog – what kind is she?

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: November 4, 2013 at 4:40 pm

      Rita is one of two Newfoundlands that pretty much run the house.

      Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Pen These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Penhill Watermelon (first picture) and Penhill Dark Monarch are the best two HUGE dahlias that I grow. They share slightly twisty petals (Watermelon more so) and, when you look closely, subtle striations that add a beautiful depth of color. Watermelon grows taller than Dark Monarch (7 feet tall or more sometimes) and they both need serious staking, but it’s worth it because they produce a lot of flowers for a large-flowering dahlia. 

I like them both but if I was forced to choose (and who would make me do that?) I’d give the edge to Dark Monarch because it’s a little easier to manage size-wise, produces more flowers and has a bigger variation in flower color so it’s always interesting. 

Which do you like better?
I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But w I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But when there’s only one tool that does that one thing really well, I’m here for it. This pottery/container knife from Sneeboer makes it possible to actually get plants out of pots without breaking or damaging the pot. It’s also really expensive. 😀
A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zi A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zinnias, pycnanthemum muticum and bronze fennel shown here.
My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love tryi My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love trying out new varieties and I feel like they just work so well in my garden from both a design standpoint and a cultural standpoint (they are happy here). Because I grow so many, the ones that self sow can be surprises. 

All of these self-sown Nicotiana are probably at least partly the children of the F1 hybrid Perfume series, which grow to be about 24” tall or so. Last year I grew purple, pink, white and lime versions and these are likely new variations on those. 

Picture 3 is, in my opinion, a good example of how these self sown second-year hybrids can go wrong. I’ll probably rip that one out. 😀

And the last photo is of my favorite colorway, lime, popping up amongst the Zinnias. I find these self-sown Nicotiana popping up all summer, so there’s always a fresh-blooming supply. 

Are you as enamored with Nicotinana as I am?
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