From Drab to Drama - Table Refinish DIY

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I have really enjoyed using my artistic flair in the past, to refinish furniture for my home. I'm in the process of redecorating my master bedroom and have wanted to find matching nightstands but didn't want to spend a ton for the Hollywood glam look I have been trying to achieve.

I came across a couple of old sewing tables on a Facebook Garage Sale post. Both were the same size but one had fluting on the leg, and the other was a simple leg with a bit more design on the front.

Inspiration Table $69.99 

Perfect for his and hers matching tables! My inspiration piece for the look I tried to replicate was from an end table I saw at Target. I think I nailed it!

These tables had already a layer of paint on them so I decided I would try stripping them before I paint them again as they are marred and scratched and needed some repair. I didn't want to take the chance that even with sanding I wouldn't be able to achieve a smooth surface on my super glossy finish.

I did a bit of research and after price comparing. I decided to go with the Citristrip. Great because of the low odor, it's not extremely toxic smelling, and easy to apply and (said) easy for removing paint.  I painted it on and let it sit for about 3-4 hours.

The bottle says you can start scraping in as little as 30 minutes, but they may be referring to just removing a thin layer of poly.

(Citri-Strip QCG73801T Paint and Varnish Stripping Gel, 1-Quart)

The 3 hours I waited did fine for the layer of chalk paint that was on my piece, but I did end up reapplying a second coat in areas where the poly and paint were not coming off.

I do not have official "stripping tools", (see the one that's on my wish list above), so I used narrow metal putty knives, and a steel scrubber from my kitchen. Honestly the steel scrubber dipped in the Citristrip was the best for getting stubborn detail areas and getting the dried Citristrip off the finish. This is where some heavy duty rubber gloves, or latex gloves are imperative to this process. The Citristrip will eat your skin if it gets on you. I pretty much can say that my kitchen gloves are toast.  I can't say I was super impressed with the Citristrip product, in fact I had a moment of terror when I thought of all the people who will someday be stripping the paint that everyone is using on all of these beautiful antique pieces, and how they will loathe the day they ever painted furniture when they try to remove said paint from an antique piece of furniture. (Yes there will be a day when this trend will pass!)

After scraping and a second coat, I then used the mineral spirits on a rag to clean off any left over product and to see where I missed. The detail areas, like the fluting on the legs were not fun, and I started to feel as though it was only turning to goo and no actual paint was going to come off. After lots and lots of scrubbing with the steel wool, and some scraping with tooth picks in the small areas I finally got far enough to let it dry so I could begin sanding.
I sanded by hand over the entire piece with a 220 grit sand paper. I sanded until I saw enough bare wood to feel satisfied. If I had been planning to re-stain the piece I would have sanded deeper to get every last bit of stain out from the grain of the wood to get an even finish.  I finished off the top with my electric sander and gave it a good dusting.

During the stripping -
messy messy messy

I then applied a light coat of spray paint Primer by Rustoleum. And then covered the piece in a darker blue spray paint by Valspar in a Gloss finish. We are going for an almost Laquer finish so I wanted it as glossy as possible. I used an entire can on one piece and got it on heavy. You can use a sponge brush if you get any drip marks. Or let the paint dry and sand it down and repaint over that area. I got a little sloppy and didn't fix all my drips, but for my own personal piece I am not picky.
Once the coats of paint had dried, I then decided that the color was just a bit brighter than I was hoping for. So I grabbed a half-used can of Poly-Shades by Minwax in Antique Walnut and used a sponge brush on top of the spray paint. The finish on the poly-stain was a "satin" but it pulled off to be plenty glossy on top of glossy spray paint. The stain in the poly gave just enough of a "grain look" and deepened the blue just perfectly for my room. I am delighted with the results. The Poly also helped any spray marks where the spray paint went on uneven to even out and made the paint look smooth and rich!  Now I am after the perfect set of handles and to start the other table!

Doing my own refinishing and painting made this table only cost me about $20 per table!

After Poly-Shades

Finished and in my space!