Upcycled Wooden Table

UPCYCLED WOODEN TABLE

 

'For the love of wood' don't throw away that old wooden furniture! Give it new life instead!

Classic wooden furniture is always gorgeous as it is beautifully styled to begin with. So if you have something old and worn lying around, give it a make-over and use it to add colour or a new feature to a room!

A friend of mine had an old jarrah coffee table lying around - she knew that I upcylced furniture and happily dropped it off at my place one day.

I couldn't believe how lovely it was! Sure it had scratches all over it - but it was jarrah! (A strong, dark and hard wood found in Australia.) The table had no dents in it, no pieces/legs missing and no parts of it were loose. It was a fantastic piece!

Here is the before photo:

 

Before photo - original table :)

Close up of the table top - as you can see it was severely scratched.

Now this particular table I decided to paint and decoupage - I upcycled it for another friend and gave it to her as a birthday present so the colour  and style
chosen was based on the person it was being made for. So feel free to use any colours, pictures, style or design you prefer.

Below are the steps to upcycling this wooden table: 

My orbital sander.

1.) SAND THE TABLE

You need to remove the shiny top-coat of lacquer on the wood before you can repaint it - if you do not remove it the paint will not stick properly to the wood and will peal off easily.

I can't stand sanding by hand it takes far to long - so I used an orbital sander (you can find them at your local hardware store - a bit pricey between $100 - $200 - but well worth the investment!).
I have a Bosch orbital sander (pictured here) - don't forget to also use a pair of safety glasses, safety gloves and a small face mask/disposable respirator for protection against dust.


The orbital sander only lets you sand flat surfaces, so for the legs and crevices you need to either sand by hand using sand paper OR purchase a sander that has small attachments for reaching corners and small places.

HANDY HINT: After you have sanded wipe the surface of the table down with a wet cloth to remove all the dust - that way you will have a clean surface to paint on :)

2.) PAINT THE LEGS, SIDES AND BOTTOM

I decided to not only repaint this table - but to decoupage the top of the table as well - to add colour, style and character. So I DID NOT paint the table top as I wanted to decoupage that later.

HANDY HINT: Painting tends to be messy- so always paint first before you decoupage. Try not to paint the surface that you are going to decoupage as the decoupage glue sticks best to a bare wooden surface. However if you do get some paint on the surface (like I did in the table top edges) don't worry too much the glue will stick to a painted surface as well.

I decided to paint my table white - partially because that was the paint I had available and because it was the most suitable colour for the style I had in mind.

You need to use an undercoat of paint or primer first - my undercoat was white and 1 layer of it is sufficient. I painted this using a normal thick paint brush. Make sure you cover all areas of the table that you wish to be painted. So in this case it was the legs and slats underneath. Turn the table upside down to paint underneath it as
well. Then give the undercoat at least 24 hours to dry.

Then you can start painting the top coat on - personally I find it easier and quicker to sponge on the paint than to paint it with a paint brush - so I just used a kitchen sponge to dab on my paint. This particular table required about 3-4 coats of paint. Make sure you let each layer of paint dry for at least 24 hours before adding another coat.

Painted and ready for step 3!

HANDY HINT: No idea which paint is what? Same here! No need to stress, to find the best paint for your wooden furniture upcycling DIY projects just head to your local hardware store and ask the friendly staff there to help you find some paint for your project - all you need to tell them is 1.) What furniture your upcylcing (so they know how much paint you will need) 2.) the colour you wish to paint it (so they can help you find the right one) & 3.) just remind them that you will need both primer and a topcoat (so that they can help you find both) :)

This is what your table will look like when the painting is complete and the table top is ready for decoupaging.

Mod Podge - decoupage glue

3.) DECOUPAGE

To decoupage your table top you will need some Modpodge (best decoupage glue around), some foam brushes (by Mont Marte) (or a paint brush) to apply the glue and the pictures that you want to apply.

You can choose any pictures you like! You can print out pictures of princesses if you are decoupaging furniture for your little princess, pictures of your pets, or magazine pictures, or just pages from an old book?

 

Foam brushes

I went on facebook and found a set of memes that were specific to the person I was making the table for - I printed these pictures out in colour and cut them out so that they were ready to go. I also covered the painted parts of the table in scrap paper to protect them from getting mod podge on them - there is no need to do this, I just have a bad habit of getting mod podge everywhere! :P

Table legs covered up with scrap paper to protect them from Mod Podge!

I then covered my table top in with the pictures - I arranged them to face all different ways to that no matter which side of the table you are on you can read a meme. I covered the table in 2-4 coats of mod podge - ALWAYS let the layers of mod podge dry for at least 45 minutes before applying another coat, this will reduce any bubbling. Then I let the table top dry out properly for about 2-3 days. Finally I covered it in a decoupage varnish (this can be purchased from your local craft store or online).

HANDY HINT: Never decoupaged before and want to know how? No problem! Hop on youtube and check out some how-to videos.
Here is one I like: How to Decoupage 1
And this one: How to Decoupage 2
 This is the finished table!

Ta da! All done!

Close-up of the table top :)

All wrapped up and ready to go!

If you have any questions or would like to know where to buy any of the products or equipment I used, then please leave a question in the comments section below!

Happy Crafting all!