Sunday 3 August 2014

The Hokey Cottage Dining Table is now a Sophisticate's Dream

When my parents said they were going to get rid of the dining room table from the old cottage that my dad built with his own two hands, I thought, what a great opportunity to keep a piece of the family and save some bucks for the new apartment. Little did I know how much work would go into it.



Oh yes, it's wayyyy yellow

After getting sick of the colour quickly, my mom put a tablecloth on top and some of the under-fluff got stuck. So during step 1 of sanding the table down and filling scuff marks, I also had to peel off mini Santa beards.

See my fluff

After sanding with fine grit sandpaper (120 for what it's worth) and filling holes with wood filler (which takes about 30 mins to dry), I primed the whole thing.

All that prime

The reason this dining room table was so misleadingly difficult was because the ENTIRE thing was yellow, under pieces as well. This took 2 hours per coat to get everything done.

I used a regular primer that, and this is the important part so listen up, it adheres. It needs to say it adheres. Why? Shouldn't all primers adhere? Yes, probably, but the nice lady at the hardware store said it was important. So I bought the least expensive kind, just to try and cover up the yellow. There is still debate within my household if primer is necessary, but I was following instructions from another DIY blogger (livelovediy.com), and I wanted to do it by the blog.


Now here's where my heart sank:

Ohhhh nooooo

After my first coat I thought I would need 6 coats before this stupid table looked finished. 

Instead of crying over streaky yellow stripes, I took the rest of the day off.

Don't worry, dear reader, it turned out to only need one more coat all over, and an extra roller of paint on the top surfaces.

Some tips for painting furniture:

1. Long strokes
2. LONG STROKES
3. You can use a brush or a roller, but for the love of all that is holy, literally make strokes that go from one end to the other

The final step, and perhaps an unorthodox one, which caused some more debate in my house, was the top coat I added. I used a thin layer of polyacrylic, the same stuff my dad is using to seal the hardwood floors as a top coat on my dining room table, for a smooth finish and an easy-to-clean surface.

Conversation between me and my dad:

Me: the polyacrylic kinda gets foamy sometimes
Dad:...... you need to go really slowly with that stuff or you'll get lots of bubbles
Me:.... that information could have been brought to my attention AN HOUR AGO! (said like Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer)

And da da da daaaaa, the finished product:

Check out the gams on that table

A model of sophistication

So, for my very first attempt at furniture updating, I'm quite happy with the results. Are there mistakes? Absolutely. But let's just imagine that in the new 600 square foot apartment, you won't be able to notice any.

- Until I get bored

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