Dining Table Makeover with Chalk Paint

If you have a tired, old table that needs a little love, this post for my dining table makeover with chalk paint is for you!

My kitchen table got a transformation several months ago. With that table, I used chalk paint on the body of the table and chairs and I stripped the table top and chair seats to apply a darker wood stain.  

The table I'm showing you today isn't nearly the quality of that table.  Honestly, my dining room table should be replaced, but I knew some paint could help me get happy with it for the next several years.

If you have a table that isn't in your budget to replace, read on my friend!  A little bit of paint made all the difference for this dining table.

See other furniture makeovers here.

Dining table makeover with chalk paint Before:

The before picture makes this table look pretty good.  But, I promise in person it was not so great.  It had lots of scratches on the surface and it seemed really orange in direct sunlight.  Plus, it feels like it could fall apart at any moment.

It rarely gets used, so painting was the perfect option to buy me some time as a nice new dining table was not in my budget!  As for it falling apart, I was able to tighten some of the screws to make it feel more solid.

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My supplies for painting the dining table:

• Amy Howard One Step Paint in black (32 oz).  I purchase my chalk paint at an Ace Hardware that's just a few miles from my home.  Amazon doesn't carry this brand in black, but if you click on this link, it will take you to a similar product.
• Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Coco (32 oz).  It can be purchased here.
• Amy Howard Clear Wax
• Amy Howard Dark Wax
• My favorite Purdy paint brush.  Here is a link to a 3-pack.  If you take care of them, they really last for years!
• Drop cloth to protect your floor.
• Blue painter's tape.
• Water to water-down the chalk paint as needed
• Clean up cloths to wipe up small messes (or maybe it's just me that needs these!)
• Lint free cloth for the wax.  OR just grab several clean old socks from your rag bag like I do.  Everyone has a rag bag, don't they?!

These are a lot of supplies.  BUT, chalk paint goes a long way.  I used very little out of each quart and will be able to paint several other pieces of furniture without having to buy more.

Another before shot of the dining table:

I've referred to how impulsive I can be with projects several times in previous blog posts.  This serves me well most of the time as I don't allow myself to get nervous for a project, so I just dive in.  

But, the downside to not giving it enough thought is occasionally hating the end result and having to go back and completely re-do it.

That leads me to the next pictures.  I thought I would love the table all white and the chairs Annie Sloan's Coco chalk paint.  Turns out, I didn't!

As you can see, I didn't finish the other chairs because I knew this wasn't the look I was going for.  My kids told me the chairs looked like "poop" and I felt the white table looked too stark in our dining room.

So, this is how is stayed for a couple of months until I could figure out what I wanted to do...no kidding.

Lovely, isn't it?!

I just couldn't decide what to do with it!  Finally, after searching Pinterest for inspiration, I bit the bullet.

For a moment, I considered reupholstering the chair cushions.  That idea quickly left as I considered my lack of sewing skills.  As I mentioned, I don't love this piece of furniture and wanted to invest as little time/energy as possible.

Taping off the areas where I didn't want black paint was the first task I completed.  It surprisingly took longer than I imagined.  Of course I didn't want to deal with any paint on the fabric, so it was worth the effort.

RELATED: Painted Furniture Before and Afters

Take the time to tape off areas you do not want paint!

The bottom portion of the table and chairs were painted Amy Howard One Step Paint (chalk paint) in Black.  I used two coats which covered it well.  If you use a lighter color (like white or off-white), it often takes at least three and occasionally four coats for good coverage.

First coat of black chalk paint:

Second Coat of Black Chalk Paint:

After the chalk paint dried completely, I used the Amy Howard Clear Wax to give it a protective layer.  In my opinion, this isn't the most durable finish but I knew it would work well on the bottom of the furniture, especially since it was black.

See the difference?  The top portion has clear wax, the bottom portion doesn't:

My puppy got tired of how long it took me to paint this table and chairs!On the table top and chair backs, I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in Coco.  But this is a little hard to find, so I always end up ordering mine.

Coco chalk paint (2 coats); In the process of clear wax application:

The next photo really shows how much depth the clear wax brings to the coco chalk paint.  I applied the clear wax with a white sock, applying the wax in small sections, then wiping the sock lengthwise across the entire table with the grain.

The next photo shows the dark wax application.  I completed this process as soon as I finished the clear wax as I didn't want it to have a chance to cure.  Doing so gives it a bit more of the Restoration Hardware look I was going for, in my opinion.

I used the same process:  apply with white sock in small sections, and ensure final swipe extended the length of the table - with the grain.

Dining table makeover with chalk paint (After):

What do you think of my dining table makeover with chalk paint?  It is so much better!

A few days later, I went back and did a final buffing of the wax.  This smoothed up the finish and gave it a bit of shine.  The wax does take a while to fully harden.  So, I waited about a week before we used it.

For minimal time and money I was able to give my old table a completely new look.  Do you have an old dining table that needs a makeover? If so, give chalk paint a try.  No priming needed!

Looking for other chalk paint inspiration?

• Kitchen Table Transformation Using Chalk Paint and Wood Stain
• Piano Makeover With Chalk Paint 
• How to Update a Mirror with Chalk Paint
• Chalk Paint Recipe with Calcium Carbonate

More painting tips posts.