Painting a Kitchen Table

My happy yellow table is finished! I love it! My husband rarely thinks projects are a great idea, so when he continually said, “so…. what are you going to do about this table” I knew it was serious. In the spirit of full disclosure I must say that yellow is not my favorite color, but every time I thought of fixing our table it is the only color that came to mind. I tried to shake it, but finally gave in. When a friend was over I asked what she thought of painting a table yellow (because I seek validation ya’know) and she was instantly on board. Whesh, one cool friend thinks it’s a good idea… Her daughter’s room is painted a beautiful “SW 6695 Midday” yellow. Since I get super distracted by paint color names (am I the only one who does that!?) I matched that color but went one paint strip more mustardy and found the perfect yellow Sherwin Williams “Solaria”!

I followed a tutorial on Centsational Girl found here… and will show you some of my pictures, instructions, and what-I-wish-I-would-have-done’s. Let’s start with the steps:

1. Gather materials
2. Prep table for painting. I had to sand because my table looked like this.
3. Prime the table, two coats!
4. Paint, two coats!
5. Apply protective coat (one or two coats)

The pattern really is basically Clean.Paint.Dry.Sand.Repeat. over and over. Child’s play right? And now, the nitty gritty.

Materials:

• Paint brush (Purdy is my favorite!)
• Primer, I like the Zinnser brush on (cheaper)
• Paint: I used a Clark & Kensington paint
• Rags
• Drop cloth
• Protective layer: I used Helsman semi-gloss

Step 1: Sand down and chipping paint, smooth out edges, fill in cracks and get the table smooth… unless of course you don’t want smooth!

Step 2: Clean your table with a tack cloth (also called a cheese cloth) or a lint free rag before adding the primer. Yep, that’s a blue surgical towel that I always use… that’s my benefit from my bff getting back surgery! You need two (sorry, it really is two) coats of primer. Allow at least 8-10 hours in between coats. I always let my project dry overnight before re-coating.

Step 3: Sand down any drips on your primer and make sure your table is covered.

Step 4: Time to paint! Apply a thin coat with your paint brush and allow it to dry (like overnight). Just a note, I am always afraid of curves like on the pedestal, but with a good paintbrush it is honestly easier than a long flat surface like a table top.

Step 5: Sand any bad spots first, then apply your second coat of paint and let it dry (it’s so hard to wait!) I let mine dry for three days.By the way… you can keep your paintbrushes in the fridge overnight wrapped in plastic so you don’t have to clean it all the time:

Step 6: Apply protective layer, allow it to dry. Sand any missteps before continuing. I used the Helsman brand, that also comes in a spray, because a different all-wise-furniture-painting friend swears by it.

Step 7: (This is one that I wish I had skipped!) Apply a second layer if you want to after the first has dried.

Step 8: Enjoy your table FOREVER!

And here is my celebratory treat!

I couldn’t achieve the “no brush strokes” look I was hoping for, but it still looks great. Next time I paint however I am going to buy FLAT paint and achieve a sheen through the protective coat. For a project this size, it could even be a sample size and I could save some big bucks (well, $10). ALSO, I would only do one coat of urethane, unless I was using spray paint and I would do two. Live and learn I guess.

Happy Creating!