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Dining Table Makeover with Chalk Paint

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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!

Kitchen table with stained top and white base.

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 Before

kitchen table makeover, black and coco chalk paint

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.  
  • Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Coco (32 oz).
  • Amy Howard Clear Wax
  • Amy Howard Dark Wax
  • Paint brush.
  • 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:

Before image of dining table prior to painting .

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!

chalk paint on a dining table in white.
White chalk paint on dining table.

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?!

Mismatched kitchen table and chairs.

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

Tape off areas you do not want paint

Taping off chair during painting process.

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

black chalk paint on kitchen table.

Second Coat of Black Chalk Paint:

Second coat of black chalk paint on dining room table.

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:

Applying clear wax to chalk painted chair leg.
Dog tired of watching me paint my dining table.

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.

Clear wax application

Coco chalk paint by Annie Sloan.

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.

clear wax on coco chalk paint.

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.

Dark wax on chalk paint.

Dining table makeover with chalk paint (After):

Before and after furniture transformations with chalk paint: dining room table.
Dining chair makeover with chalk paint using black and coco chalk paint.
After image dining table makeover.
close up of Annie Sloan Coco chalk paint with clear and dark wax.

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?

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21 Comments

  1. Looks so elegant, I can hardly believe you did it yourself (mine wouldn’t look so good!) You do great work! Great job!

  2. Ive considered trying chalk paint for awhile. Your project looks great. My dream is to do what you did to your kitchen table!

    1. It is really easy, Meg! Give it a try on an inexpensive piece of furniture you aren’t attached to first, then jump into something bigger. Your dream can come true 😉. Seriously, if you have any questions just shoot me an email!

  3. This turned out beautifully! I love updating furniture with chalk paint and have attempted a few projects myself. This makes me want to do more. You’re so talented!

  4. I love what you ended up doing! I’m the same way with being impulsive and regretting it sometimes. Totally get that. The end result was perfect! Wish you lived closer so I could commission you to redo my furniture! lol 😉

  5. This turned out beautiful! Where can you buy the Amy Howard One Step paint? Also what kind of paint brush or other application supplies did you use to paint the chairs and table?This has inspired me to refinish my dinning table!!

    1. Thank you, Amanda! Amy Howard One Step Paint can be purchased at Ace Hardware stores. Here is the link to Amy Howard’s website where you can find a location nearest you. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn’t carry many of the colors. I will add links to my favorite paint brushes in my post! Thanks for the reminder 😉

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