Refinishing Kitchen Table with Chalk Paint and Stain - Farmhouse Table Video Tutorial

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Hi friends! A lot has happened since I last posted on here. First things firsts, the Muscaris are now Tennesseans! We sold our house in Illinois in June and moved to Franklin, Tenn. Needless to say, things have been a bit crazy for me unpacking and settling into a new home. 

I finally had a little down time and was able to wrap up a video tutorial of the last project I did in our old house. My husband scored this amazing dumpster dive find back in April, a Pottery Barn table! I gave it a farmhouse spin, and it's now our new kitchen table.

I'll give you a few details down below, but check out the my video to see how to create this look for yourself.

Paris Grey Hutch Makeover

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It's been a while since I shared a client piece on here, but I had to share the latest client piece I finished. This thing is massive and was in such rough shape when I got it. I just love the way it turned out!

This hutch had been in a storage unit for some time and smelled pretty funky, so I started off by sealing the entire piece in Zinsser Shellac. This product along with neutralizing smells helps seal water stains and bleed through. It is always a great idea to coat a piece in Shellac if you don't know its history. I took an old sock and applied it over the entire piece before painting.

Pauly D Foundation Auction Winner

Hi friends! It's been awhile since I have blogged about it, but I have been busy painting this spring. Today, I've popped in to share a reveal with you from earlier this year. This table is one of the most dramatic makeovers I've done in a while, and it was my first time working with the much raved about General Finishes Java Gel Stain.

Last fall, I donated a service to a fundraiser for our dear friends' foundation, the Pauly D Foundation. After tragically losing their son in an accidental drowning, the Pauly D Foundation was established to advocate for water safety and drowning prevention. Their vision is to make a difference by raising the bar on water safety education and awareness. I was happy to donate to such a wonderful cause. The lucky winner contacted me early in 2017, and we went right to work bringing life back to her much used dining table.

The top was in rough shape from years of use and the grandkids had given it their own special touch by carving their names in the apron with a pencil. It was definitely time to show this table some love. My client settled on a two tone look with a dark espresso top and white distressed apron. I have been intrigued by General Finishes Gel Stain for a while now. The way it works is that you can stain right over an existing finish, but this top had a lot of peeling and cracking. I decided to sand down the entire top and work with staining the raw wood for an even, clean finish.

My New Obsession: Annie Sloan® Graphite

I have a new color obsession to share with you- Annie Sloan®'s Graphite. Any fans of PrettyDistressed™ know I love me some Old White, Paris Grey, French Linen and an occasional Duck Egg Blue in her Chalk Paint™ line. In the past, I have shied away from using Graphite. It is the darkest color in the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® pallet, and I had heard it can be tricky to work with. But let me tell you now that I have used it, I am dying to paint something in my house with this color. It's so rich and unique. Then once you put the wax on, it comes to life!

I am so grateful for my clients, and the way they push me out of my comfort zone. She selected Graphite for this dresser I was refinishing for her son's room. She has an amazing old century home and has a lot of antique brass throughout the home, so we knew we wanted to do a brass cup pull on the dresser. I selected the Martha Stewart Bedford Brass Canopy Cup Pull from HomeDepot.com. Graphite is really the ultimate complement to the antique brass. The cool thing about it is it's not a true black but more of a slate like a chalkboard.

Off to Market

Spring is in the air, and this is my favorite time of the year to paint. Drawing up the garage door and taking in the fresh air while sipping on an iced coffee from my Keurig was the place where Pretty Distressed was born. It soothes my soul. It is also a great time of year for moving and garage sales, and I just scored two beautiful pieces from such a sale. Today, I will be sharing the first reveal from my haul. And the most exciting news is she is looking for a new home.

The Making of a Farmhouse Table

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I have wanted to make over my kitchen table into a farmhouse table for a while now, but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it. Then when I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Blue Egg Brown Nest, I fell in love with her kitchen table transformation. I knew I wanted something very similar, so I set to work.

My inspiration courtesy of Christen Bensten at Blue Egg Brown Nest.

Here is what I was starting with. We bought this table from the previous owners of our home in Indiana. They were downsizing, so we were able to purchase a lot of their furniture at a great price. This table was in really good shape, but I was never a fan of the table top's finish. It was too orange for my taste, and the varnish was very dull which means it did not wipe up well. The chairs were pretty oversized and looked a little out of place in our small dining space. 

And here she is now- light and bright. I just love the worn, farmhouse look of the table with the white metal chairs. It totally fits with my white kitchen, and I love the contrast it creates with my dark stained island.

I would love to tell you how easy this project was, but I am into telling the truth on this blog and not whitewashing (pun intended) the details. I decided I wanted to try to strip off the black paint on the apron and legs of the table, stain it a weathered oak color, and then do a coat of white paint on top. I wanted natural wood coming through versus the black. This turned into a big mess that I will save for another post where I will talk about using chemical paint stripper. To be honest, I am still scarred from this process, and it is just too soon to talk about it without getting red in the face or breaking out in tears.

Goodwill Dresser Video Tutorial Part 2

The second part of my Goodwill dresser video tutorial is here. Last time, I covered painting the piece and hardware. Today, I will show you how to distress and clear wax the piece using sandpaper and Annie Sloan Clear Wax.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Tutorial - Heavy Distressing (Part 2)

If you need a little more help on either distressing or clear waxing check out my other video tutorials. I have one for distressing and one for clear waxing.

Here are links to all the products used in this tutorial:

Wax brush

Tack Cloth 

Sand Paper 

Sanding Block

Purdy Clearcut Glide brush

Annie Sloan Clear Wax

Originally, I thought I could break this tutorial into two parts, but I wanted to make sure they are thorough enough for the novice to average painter. Part three will come next week and will cover the most daunting part in my opinion- dark wax. But seriously, it isn't that scary. Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel to be one of the first to see the final video once it goes live.

DIY Distressed Sliding Barn Door

So sliding barn doors are everywhere these days. It used to be the case that if you wanted one you had to shell out some serious bucks. Even if you opted to make your own door, you still had to drop a lot of money on the hardware. Not anymore, there are actually a lot of affordable options for sliding hardware now and a lot of big box places even carry them in store. Lucky for me, this helped me get this idea off my Pinterest board and into our master!

I am blessed to have an ensuite bathroom in our master, and it is a decent size but it is fairly narrow. The door opened into the bathroom right up against the shower which made it very crowded. It was also difficult to keep the door open to keep an ear out for my kids anytime I was in the shower. And the door would always shut while I was trying to get ready at the sink. I first saw a project like this on I Hate my Bath on HGTV a couple of years ago. I knew it would clear up a lot of these problems and make our narrow bathroom seem much larger. After enough begging, my husband finally gave in and helped me build the door.

Walmart Kitchen Table Makeover

I am so pregnant, but I managed to sneak in one more client job before we welcome this baby to the fold. Today, we will be looking at a makeover I did for a client who just bought her first home. She is looking to make it her own without breaking the bank and wanted to start with this table and benches she got from Walmart.com. I know some of you might be skeptical about buying furniture from Walmart, but this set is really well made and all wood at an affordable price. Honestly, it is a great set as is, but she wanted to give it a little more character, so we decided to lighten and distress it up. The result is a cozy, little farmhouse table.

The Goods on Mother Earth Paints

I recently shared my Girly Girl Dresser makeover for my daughter's room, and I owe you a review of the paint I used, Mother Earth Paints. The owner, Robin, contacted me and asked if I would be interested in trying out her paints and offering my honest opinion on them. Here is the Pretty Distressed low down on Mother Earth Paints.

Mother Earth Paints is based in Kansas City and was created by a former vintage store owner and avid furniture painter who had used her fair share of chalk enhanced/furniture paint. Her dream was to take her favorite properties from each paint she had come across and put them into one "does it all" paint.

This water-based, low VOC paint has a sweet smell that is not irritating at all, so you can paint in your home without a problem. I had to do three coats of each color to get the coverage I wanted. Normally, I like to only have to do two coats, but I am still saving time by not having to prime or sand the piece. I also think coverage will depend on what your are painting and your purpose, so one or two coats could work for some. I was impressed by how smooth the paint went on and how little brush strokes I saw. This paint would be perfect for those who are interested in getting a smoother, more polished finish versus a rustic thick look. 

Girly Girl Dresser Reveal

I am trying out a new paint today for the reveal of my girly girl dresser for my daughter's room. Robin over at Mother Earth Paints gave me an opportunity to try out her paints, and I was really impressed with the results. Check out the transformation of this Bassett dresser.

I will be following up this post with a full review of Mother Earth Paints later this week for anyone interested in hearing what I think about them. In the meantime, feel free to check them out for yourself.

Painting Fabric with Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan

By now, most of you know about my obsession with Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan. You can paint almost anything with this wonder paint, and the best part there is no sanding or stripping involved. For my latest project, I was lucky enough to partner with the folks over at Annie Sloan Unfolded to makeover an amazing antique settee with my favorite paint.

This beauty came my way when Angel from Angel Michelle Photography contacted me to breathe some new life into this piece as she was wanting to use it as a photo prop. The shape and detail of this piece was gorgeous, but the current upholstery choice- not so much. Upholstery work and fabric costs can skyrocket pretty quickly, so I decided to give painting this bad boy a try. I had read about this technique in Annie Sloan's book Color Recipes for Painted Furniture and More. I am pretty impressed with the results.

A Look Back at My First Piece

It is hard to believe at this time last year I was living in a completely different house in another state. This past year has brought a lot of change including, a new home, a new school for my son, a new church, new friends, renewed relationships, and everything else that goes along with uprooting your family. Even though it has been tough at times, I thank God for this opportunity and the ways He has blessed our family that I couldn't have even dreamed up including this little blog, Pretty Distressed.

Last November, I decided to buy my first can of Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan, and my life has never been the same. I started creating all over my home and sharing it with others as I found my passion for writing again. Then, I ventured out to selling pieces and even taking on clients. I can't thank you all enough for bringing this dream to life. I am so encouraged and inspired by your comments and messages I receive daily. 

Last week, I was contacted by Annie Sloan Unfolded, the sole distributor for Chalk Paint® in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. They like my work so much, they are offering me an opportunity to do a product review post right here on Pretty Distressed. It was honestly one of the most exciting emails I have ever gotten. I have been brainstorming like crazy and hope to be giving you more details as my project and post take shape.

Today, I wanted to share with you the first piece I ever refinished. It isn't anything special, but I dressed her all up to show you that dreams can start small. 

Using a Polycrylic Sealer with Chalk Paint®

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Update: I recently filmed a video comparing wax and General Finishes High Performance Top Coat that is comparable to Polycrylic. Check it out. 

I have another client reveal to share with you today. This is the second job I have completed for her, and again she brought me a gorgeous family heirloom. She grew up eating at this table. Now, she gets to gather around it with her own little ones and make some new memories.

Like I mentioned, this table has already lived a long life. So, the top was pretty beat up, and its finish was peeling in spots. Normally, I don't sand before painting, but I wanted the paint to go on smoothly since I was using white and it is a table top. I got my orbital sander out and used a medium sandpaper, 80 grit, to smooth it out.

The client selected Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® in Old White which I know you see a lot of on my site, but it truly goes with anything. It has so much more depth than your average pure white, and also really helps dark wood shine through when you are distressing.

Pin-spired: Antiqued Flower Pots Just in Time for Summer

Pinterest strikes again. I was Pin-spired last week to give my old flower pots a makeover just in time for some summer flowers. I learned about using petroleum jelly to distress with spray paint from Holly over at Down to Earth Style. I followed her instructions exactly, so head over to see how it is done. Her project is with a frame but the process is the same no matter what you are painting.

Grandma's Tables Upcycled

These beautiful end tables were dropped off to me by a client several weeks ago. They belonged to her late grandmother who she spoke very fondly of and remembered her always loving the way she decorated. She wanted to pay homage to her by having these tables in her home, but their current finish wasn't meshing well with the rest of her decor. 

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® Video Tutorial #5 - Dark Wax

Today is the final installment of my Chalk Paint vlog series, and we are talking about dark wax. For those of you who haven't worked with it before, this stuff is amazing. It gives your piece a antique look in no time. If you love that lived in, shabby look, you will love dark wax.

Cottage Inspired Dining Hutch - Before & After

I know I owe you one more video tutorial on dark wax to complete our dresser makeover we have been working on for a couple of weeks now, but I have lots of other things I have been painting that I have been dying to share with you. So today, I am excited to reveal my cottage inspired dining hutch.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® Video Tutorial #3 - Distressing

In today's video, I am talking all about distressing. This step is one of my favorites, so much so I named my blog after it. Distressing really brings out the character of a piece. Instead of looking like something that was sprayed or dipped with some paint, it gives it depth and texture. Check out my tips on how to make your piece pretty distressed.