The Making of a Table

I really enjoyed this project. If I'm being totally honest, it was something to do and I really like working with my hands because at the end you get to enjoy a finished product and say "I did that."

Also we were looking to put a piece in our kitchen but because it needed to sit in front of the window we didn't want something that was visually substantial. And this piece was one of ours from way back and it was a choice between giving the table new life and reusing it or donating it and getting something new. The reuse option seemed greener and cheaper, so away we went.

Step One: (Not Pictured) We (meaning I told my husband and he did it) cut the legs of the table down to the height we wanted.

Step Two: (Not Pictured) Rough up the wood. The piece is from Ikea where everything is modern and the lines are clean so it required some wearing in using a file, hammer, pliers, and nail setter.Step Three: (Pictured) Prep for paint. Wipe down the wood, tape off the clean edges (I wanted to keep the butcher block top).Step Four: (Pictured) Oil based primer. Only one coat needed!Step Five: (Not Pictured)Paint in color of choice. I liked this slate blue because it goes well in our kitchen. I chose to use polycrylic instead of polyurethane because polycrylic is more colorless and better preserved the blue.

Step Six: (Pictured) Add a layer of furniture glaze.In retrospect I would have only glazed part of the piece before moving on to the wiping it off step because it dried fast and then was really hard to get off.Step Seven: (Pictured) Wipe off glaze. Wipe off as much as you want to leave the piece looking as distressed/aged/dirty as you like. I actually had to wet a wipe down and use both a wet and dry piece of scrap because it was very hard to wipe off the dried glaze without re-wetting.
Step Eight: (Not Pictured) The piece got a final coat of poly before we put it in place. The final coat protects the glaze from accidentally transferring to clothing or curtains and makes it easier to wipe-down in the event of an inevitable spill.

In total it took about a week to do and the basic instructions I used were from Blue Cricket Design.