DIY Limed Oak Table (+ A Curbside Score)

I've been super ambitious lately.  I made a huge TO DO list a few weeks ago and have been on fire.  Being housebound during the recent New England flooding and now this fantastic balmy weather has only helped matters.  So the past two days have been spent outside tackling my Mom's old oak table.  It was the dining table I grew up with, so it has sentimental value, but it was stained and blah.  Wanting to soften it, I brushed up on my liming skills on Google and found these instructions.  I've limed before with thinned latex white paint.  It works great for small, flat areas.  This table had a lot of carved areas and the dry time of the paint made me nervous so I opted for wax.  FYI, thinned paint will give you a whiter finish.  This didn't exactly come out how I expected,  and I had to make my own technique, but here it is...

Above is the before.
You will need clean, bare wood.  I probably could have gotten away with just sanding the poly off but my hands would have went numb and fallen off.   I opted for nasty chemical stripper.  It did the trick, them I lightly sanded everything.

Then I mixed clear wax with whiting powder.  What a beast!  The wax was so hard, I tried softening it (the microwave crossed my mind, but it is highly flammable stuff), but I really have no patience.  I'm sure this is part of the problem as to why it wasn't as white as I had hoped.  Anyhow, after many wax-ons wax-offs I finally just rubbed whiting powder all over the table.  That did the trick, and I sealed it with a  thin coat of wax.

When all was done it had a soft, worn feel... no longer shiny and Provincial stained.
Oh, and the chairs were another project.  Found these a few weeks ago in my neighborhood.  They had lovely hunter green seats and a pinky maple stain, hello 1992, but the caning was in great shape.  So, some new fabric and a little white spray paint was all they needed.

                                                   Here they are mid transformation...

6 comments:

Nikki said...

Love this! I have some faux bamboo chairs I got off craigslist and a round table similar to yours. I've been trying to figure out what colors to paint the whole lot (after I find fabric to recover the seats with). Instead it sits miss matched in my kitchen. I like the limed look!

Antique Oak Table said...

I like your design, so cute huh…We should bought High quality kitchen table, because if the tables are of poor quality, then you may need to change it again after a few years.

susie callahan said...

Could you tell me where you found the "whiting powder" that you used to lime the oak table? I wanted this finish on my new oak floors and the flooring guy kind of batched it. Now he is going to redo it and I am trying to give him some direction. He tried the "thinned latex paint" technique and the overall effect was two light without the contrast I was looking for.
Thanks

Danika Herrick said...

I got it at my local paint store. It came in a prepackagedh paper bag. You can also add it to oil based glaze which might be easier. Simply brush on and wipe off. I'd try a few tests out. The wax would be a lot of work for floors. Good luck!

dancilhoney said...

This is really wonderful furniture, everyman wish for its, i also have palm furniture in my home, but this is ultimate. antique oak table

Arun Smyth said...

You are showing some really nice furniture here, real sturdy and long lasting unlike some of the commercial rubbish that's around nowadays. Think the Paint Zoom sprayer could help with some of the painting aspects, find a review here.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails