stripping the dining room table

Salutations! For the past year or so I’ve been milling over the idea of purchasing a new natural wood table (when I say new, of course I mean an old rustic beauty that’s new to me). One that has history and would warm up our dining room. One with a natural wood tone and a weathered patina worn proudly like a scar that accompanies a manly man’s tale. Something with a bit of soul and character with the warmth of honey is just what our dining room has been buzzing begging for.

So I mentioned to my honey that I was on the hunt for this imaginary table I couldn’t stop thinking about and that it needed to be round to fit our space. And I mentioned the  ping in my heart at the idea of parting with our current painted table that has been so good to us for so many years, the one complete with the kiddos “accidental” scratches and markings. And my Mr. Magical Manly… he came up with this idea of stripping our painted beast back to wood and then staining it whatever color I wanted. And he also added how easy this would all be. Well — sold…sounds like a no brainer to me. Cottage Fix blog - stripping and refinishing our painted pine tableCottage Fix blog - dining room reflectionCottage Fix blog - stripping and refinishing our dining room table

It wasn’t easy guys, it was hard! It took a long time and I’m sure I suggested we throw in the towel a handful of times. But once the hubby is part of a project, it’s getting finished one way or another. So we stripped and sanded weekend after weekend for many weekends. I’m not even sure how many layers of paint this bad boy had accumulated over the years. Yes, that would be thanks to me.

Cottage Fix blog - pine dining tableCottage Fix blog - pink roses

Stripping and refinishing a painted pine table

  • Working in sections use gel stripper to get off the majority of the paint (we did a couple rounds of this using a putty scraper). We worked in the garage and it was messy.
  • Sand off the remaining paint with an electric sander using a fairly low grit (we left some of the white paint on the legs).
  • Sand the entire piece with fine grit sandpaper and wipe down with mineral spirits and allow to dry.
  • Pick out your stain color and apply a thin coat and then wipe clean with a soft cloth (we chose Minwax Early American Penetrating Stain).
  • Repeat the staining application until you get your desired depth of color— we did two coats.
  • Top the entire piece with Tongue Oil — we did two coats of low-luster tung oil.

Cottage Fix blog - stripping and refinishing our old pine table

I’m absolutely in love with how this turned out! No more painting, pinky swear. Let me clarify that — no more painting this table! Grin.Cottage Fix blog - pine dining tableHave a great weekend!

xoxo Sally

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