Table Painting

WAAAAAY back in college, I bought a table at a garage sale.  The sellers even came and dropped it off for me at my apartment.  I believe it was around $10.  It's never been my favorite table, but it did the job and it was nice that I never had to worry about marking it all up. 

 

Dino placemat! And an old dingy table

A few months ago, my son started pulling at the veneer on the side when he ate.  Little wood chips with your dinner, anyone?  So I bought a clearance tablecloth and resigned myself to washing it frequently because my toddler eats like a maniac.  It always seemed to be covered in food despite the dinosaur place mat underneath his spot.  Nothing says style like a dinosaur place mat AND a food covered tablecloth.

In early May, the city-wide garage sale came and went, and a neighbor put a table on the curb with a "free" sign after no one bought it.  You can bet I was casually walking by that sucker within minutes.  I even got free delivery with this one, too. I love my neighborhood.

This table needed some work: it had some chips and dings, and the top had obviously been the work surface for some painting projects.  I sanded down the top and wiped the legs with a liquid deglosser.  Because of the chips and paint drips on the legs, I decided to paint the whole thing white rather than try and sand it all down and stain. 

A couple rounds of wood filler and sanding later, the dings were fairly well filled and I was ready to paint!  I used paint that I had on hand and started on the legs, figuring that I'd get the kinks out of my painting system on the less-visible part.  So I started painting.  And polyurethaning.

Now, for reference, in early May I had a 1 month old and a toddler who just turned 2.  So I was able to work for about 15 minutes every other day.  That's barely enough time to do 2 legs and wash the brush. 

I put so many layers on this sucker I got turned around about which layer I was on for each side. It was a royal pain.  And I went through a couple of nice paintbrushes when I rushed cleaning them. Eventually I was able to turn it over and do the top, which was much much easier because it was lovely and FLAT. 

The drips, upside down of course

Although it has some drips in the poly (did I put it on too thick?  Should I have gone back and back brushed it despite the threats that it would create brush marks? Who knows.) I called it finished and brought it in the house.  I love love love it.  Someday I can go back and sand down some drippy areas, but in the meantime, I'm loving its clean look, actual cleanliness because it's easily wiped after meals, and the fact that it can host a larger group without being crowded. Next stop: two new chairs to coordinate with my great-grandmas that are here.  You know, in a few years after the second high chair is moved out of the way.