Are you tired of your table, but not in a spot to spend money on a new one? Do what I did and cover your worn out kitchen table with reclaimed wood from pallets, fences and whatever scraps you have on hand. This project was fast, easy, cheap, and I am in love with the new look. I used milk paint for the legs, a first for me. I finished with CeCe Caldwell wax and aging wax. Read on for the full scoop from planning to finish!
I told you about this table/chair set I got at Habitat Restore for $6 and revamped a couple of years back. I spray painted the table top black and the legs silver, the chairs blue and green and this has been our kitchen table since 2010.
I measured the table’s length and width and cut 1×2 pieces I had on hand to frame the it.
I connected the sides to each other with wood glue, a Kreg pockethole and 1 1/4 inch Kreg screws and held them together with corner clamps while the glue dried.. I glued the frame to the table sides with wood glue and 2 inch brad nails, holding in place with clamps until glue set.
For the boards on the top, I just placed them and marked where I needed to cut the ones that stuck over the edge. I cut them, glued the boards in place, and used my nailer to nail some down for added security. I let that dry overnight, planed and sanded the top, stained with weathered wood from Minwax.
I used this milk paint, which comes in a powder that you mix with equal parts warm water.
This is after one coat.
This is after the second coat with 1 hour dry time between.
I love where this chippiness happened! I wanted the look everywhere, but it happend where it wanted.
I painted a few of the boards with the leftover milk paint. I distressed the legs with my hand sander in some spots. To finish, I sealed with a coat of CeCe Caldwell clear wax, followed by aging wax all over.
Did you sand the legs down before you painted them with the milk paint or were they new legs that you added to the project? Awesome project!! Thanks for sharing!
Good question, Jan. They were spray painted silver from a couple of years ago, so I sanded them with my power sander. I was totally messy about it since I knew I was painting over them. I wanted the wood to show through when I distressed the milk paint, instead of silver. Thanks for asking!
Love the table!! When are we doing mine?
What a transformation! I love this, Johnnie! You did a fantastic job!! How do you like that milk paint?
xoxo Becca
Your table is gorgeous! I love how you have given it two makeovers now. So smart to use what you have 🙂
xo, Tanya
What did you use to plane the top? A hand planer? What brand/model do you use?
Hi Andrew. I just used a cheap old Stanley hand planer. Hope that is helpful!
Where do all you artistic folks find scraps/reclaimed wood?My local Home Depot won’t let me take their leftover pallets sitting outside the gasrden section, I don’t know where to look:(
Polly, look on Craiglist!
the table looks great!How lucky that you were able to get/gather enough wood to cover the whole table top!