Brighten up your drab kitchen with a bright, beautiful kitchen table makeover! The great part about updating your old furniture is that not only is it a lot a less expensive than buying new furniture, it’s also a great way to express your own personal style.
So if you want to experiment beyond the traditional kitchen table makeover, repainting your kitchen table with actual art gives it a wonderfully fresh update!
As my current kitchen is rather small and dark, even with a picture window, I was able to brighten up the entire room by just painting the top of my kitchen table in bright and sunny colors. Keep reading to see the transformation and to learn more about my process!
The Story Behind the Table
So basically I was starting with my husband’s hand-me-down kitchen table. It’s a basic black dinette table with a set of four chairs that barely squeezes into our eat-in kitchen. When we got married in May and I moved back to Roanoke and into my husband’s house, the finish on the table was already damaged. It no longer shined like the chairs and the rest of table and the finish looked “patchy.”
Having it in my head that I was going to paint the table top at some point anyway, I took advantage of the kitchen table as a craft table. Between one rather somewhat therapeutic craft night with my friend Bambi in which the start of repainting the top somehow turned into it looking like it was covered in mud, and then the spilling of fragrance oils and nail polish base on others, I ended up leaving it more wrecked than it started out. (You can see a somewhat frightening retelling of part of that saga here.)
So last Wednesday afternoon, being somewhat burnt out with bath and body projects, I dug out my collection of craft paints I keep on hand for DIY craft nights and went to town. In retrospect, I probably should have primed the table first. But once I had started I wasn’t going back. Luckily the paint seems to have stuck rather well. Following is a photo retelling of my kitchen table makeover.
My Kitchen Table Makeover
Before the Makeover.
During the Makeover.
After the Kitchen Table Makeover.
Once I finished painting my table, I sealed it with multiple thin coats of a Devine Color by Valspar Clear Sealer Topcoat that I picked up at Target. (They do also sell a paint and primer that bonds to wood, metal, glass, plastic and other surfaces.) Its luxe glossy finish both seals and protects and I felt it also gave my finished kitchen table that extra pop.
Incidentally, the colors for my kitchen table makeover were inspired by a wax painting titled, Wanderer 2, that I purchased from my friend Hillary Hardison. Previously employed by our local art museum, the Taubman Museum of Art, Hillary has since ventured into self employment as a full time artist.
Additionally, she has plans for a once monthly paint night in the works for about half the price of established paint nights. The focus is less on structure and more about interacting and having fun while creating. (Kind of like my DIY crafts nights!) She will also be teaching structured three-hour art workshops on weekends if you’d like to learn a new skill.
If you like Hillary’s artwork you can discover more via her booth at the Aurora Studio Center on Campbell Avenue in downtown Roanoke, VA. Alternately, you can view and sign up for Hillary’s workshops here.
Anyhow, if you’re thinking of repainting some of furniture in your home, be sure to check out this tutorial on how to paint furniture (the right way and not how Rebecca did it) at Centsational Style blog here before getting started. Not only does it cover proper priming, but there’s also information on sanding, filling holes and gouges, and choosing the right paint brush for the job.
And, if you do decide to makeover a piece of furniture in your home, I’d LOVE to see it! Simply share it with the hashtag #soapdelishowoff on instagram so I don’t miss it!
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