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Before & After:  Children’s Table Makeover

Before & After: Children’s Table Makeover

Giving a child a space of their own is so important.  Not only does it give them a sense of ownership, but it gives them a place just their size where they can tackle those art projects and puzzles.  Take a look at this makeover of a child’s table and chairs set for inspiration for your own child’s space…

I found this fabulous little Peter Rabbit table with 2 rush-seat chairs at my local thrift store.  Although I love Beatrix Potter as much as the next mom, this furniture had seen {much} better days.  Unfortunately, only a coat of paint could cure this mess.  {Notice the green grass in this photo…I tackled this project last fall, and I’m posting it now so I can enjoy the thought of green grass.  *sigh*  It’s going to be a long winter.}

child table chairs

child table before

To start this furniture makeover, I disassembled the chairs by removing the screws holding the seats in place.  The seats were in great shape, thankfully, so I set them aside.

child chair makeover

While the chairs were in good structural condition overall, they did need a small bit of reinforcement at the joints.  I pulled the chair frames apart as much as possible, and added a bit of wood glue to the dowels before pushing everything back together.  I let the glue dry overnight.

child chair repair

Next, I gave everything a quick sanding with my Mouse sander. {Have I mentioned recently how much I love this thing?}.  After sanding, I used a damp cloth to clean off the dust and any residue from stickers, etc.  Make sure your surface is clean, oil-free and smooth before moving on to the painting portion of the project {aka: the fun part!}

child table refinish

Now for the paint…I first coated the chair frames and table with a coat of primer, to ensure the paint sticks perfectly to the surface of the furniture.  I like Zinsser 123, but any good primer will do the trick.  Follow the directions for your primer to allow for the proper amount of drying time before painting with your chosen color.

child chair table paint

After priming, I painted the table base and chair frames with several coats of orange oil-based paint.  {A note about red and orange paint:  if you choose a very bright, primary red or orange paint, you may find it to be very transparent.  This happened to me, and it took several coats of paint to get a solid color on each piece of furniture.  To avoid this problem, choose a red or orange with a more brown or gray base – not something bright and primary.  This will give you the same effect with much less work and fewer headaches.  Or paint it blue.  😉 }

In my experience, oil-based paint is more durable than most latex paints, which I like for furniture that needs to take a beating {not that my kids would would ever do that to furniture}.  I then painted the table top with 2 coats of black chalkboard paint to create a fun, write-on surface.  After drying overnight, I reassembled the chairs and primed the chalkboard surface according to the directions on my paint (which usually involves rubbing chalk on the entire surface and wiping it off with a dry cloth).  I love the finished table and chair set!  It’s all ready for some lucky kiddo to belly up and start an intense coloring project.

child table makeover

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