Painting Furniture White

I love a good DIY, especially one that is quick and easy. Painting furniture white is a fantastic and inexpensive way to give an old piece of furniture a new facelift. Plus, white painted wood furniture will brighten up any space in your home. Painting a table white was finished in one day, and I think this DIY table makeover turned out amazing!

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HOW I FOUND THIS TABLE

This vintage table, which looks like a mini farmhouse table, was discovered in an old antique store over 20 years ago. Gasp! That seems like so long ago, yet it feels like yesterday.

At the time, my now husband and I had built a small basement home. We didn’t have a lot of room, and the living room and kitchen were one big open room. There was a bar that separated them, but no room for a dining table. However, I wanted something besides the bar where we could sit to eat dinner.

I started scouring the antique stores for a small antique-looking table. I eventually found this blue table. At the time, I was really into Mary Engelbright décor which was bold colors, so this table actually worked for the small space we had.

THE TABLE KEEPS FOLLOWING US

When we moved from the small basement home, we upgraded in size significantly. The new home we bought had a finished basement with a small kitchenette area. The blue table fit perfectly!

Fast forward several more years, and we moved to our current home in Normal, Illinois. We really don’t have a space for this table, so it hangs out in the unfinished basement. Also, the blue color doesn’t fit our home décor, because I prefer the farmhouse look of neutral colors, including white painted wood furniture.

Last year when COVID took over the planet, we stayed home. When we were really missing our friends, we started having some outdoor gatherings. I set up several small tables for each couple so we could social distance. One of the tables that worked perfectly was the blue farmhouse table. You can check out my Backyard Dinner Party blog post for more details on how I planned these get-togethers.

PAINTING FURNITURE WHITE GAVE my TABLE A COMPLETE MAKEOVER

Now, moving on to 2021, I decided to incorporate an e-commerce store with my blog- the Living in Normal Shop. As I started taking photos of my products, I realized I needed some kind of background or tabletop to use that was different than what I had.

I kept thinking, “I wish I had a white farmhouse table.” If you’ve seen my blog post about my DIY Farmhouse Dining Table, you know our dining table is stained with Rustoleum’s Weathered Gray and Minwax’s Provincial (which is a dark brown). This makes our farmhouse table on the darker side. However, I love light-colored backgrounds that help make things stand out in a photo.

DIY Table Painting WAS SUPER EASY

Honestly, this has got to be one of the easiest DIY projects I’ve ever done. Basically, all I had to do was strip down the paint that was already on the table and repaint it. I ran to the hardware store and picked the best paint remover I could find, which was Kwik-Strip paint remover, and some sand paper. I had some leftover Benjamin Moore chalkboard white paint from some home updates I have done, and decided it would be perfect for painting furniture white.

Removing paint from wood turned out to be a really simple task. I poured lots of the Kwik-Strip paint remover on the table and used an old rag to put it on the legs of the table. I had to let it sit for about 15 minutes, then I used a paint scraper to scrape it off. Unfortunately, I had to do this several times. I didn’t realize there was red and green paint beneath the blue paint. This paint stripping part actually took the longest.

Once I had the paint mostly stripped off, I set the table in the sun to dry. It was a warm day, so this didn’t take long. Next, I took the sandpaper to any area that seemed rough or maybe where there was some paint left. After the sanding, I rinsed the table off with some water. Back to the sun it went to dry out.

Later that afternoon, I painted the table with my Benjamin Moore chalkboard white paint. It went on a little darker than I liked in some areas, so I just took the sandpaper to those areas and sanded it down a little. I wanted a rustic look, not just a white table.

I LOVE HOW painting a table white TURNED OUT

This DIY table painting was so easy and turned out beautifully! When painting furniture white, it looks so much brighter, yet rustic at the same time. It has a weathered look that is absolutely what I was going for.

I have now styled so many product photos using this table. You can see a lot of them on the Living in Normal Shop page. Painting a table white was so easy, and I think this DIY table makeover turned out perfect!

xoxo,
Molly