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2020 has been quite the year we can all agree. Even though it’s been nuts…I try to find the good in all hard situations. For me, having LOTS of time on my hands this spring brought me to find a new hobby I’ve grown to LOVE! Before my blog was my creative outlet…which I LOVE don’t get me wrong. But now I have another one creating life again for old, or ugly furniture. Enter my new hobby of Furniture Rehab, aka Makeovers!
Since I started in Feb., I’ve learned a lot. I’ve spent hours in my garage experimenting and will continue to do so. I find inspiration on facebook groups and pinterest. I LOVE LOVE making furniture look updated and unique!
I got started on rehabbing Vintage Oak Tables and Pressed Back Chairs when I ran across a set on the facebook marketplace early in April. I fell in LOVE with them…the hand carved detail. The solid wood. The creative claw feet! Overall…I just fell in love with this style of table.
So I decided let’s make ALL Of them over…lol. JK…but really, I did makeover a lot of tables this summer. Each with a new color, twist or something unique about them.
Here’s a few examples of a table and chair sets I worked on this year in the before stage:
BEFORE:
I look for the OAK Pressed back chair dining room sets on Facebook Market place or at thrift stores!
I try to look for details in the wood, as well as details in the table like below.
PREPPING TO PAINT:
Prepping each table consists of cleaning really well and letting it dry. I use dixie belle products and they sell a great cleaning additive. (Not a Dixie Belle affiliate, I just love the products).
Next I sand down everything that needs it.
I use this sander 
Notice how clean my workspace is lol. IT’S A MESS! I need the home edit ladies to come help.
Once you are cleaned and sanded, I fix any areas that need wood filler. I use Plastic Wood Filler because it’s easy, works amazing and dries fast.
RESULTS: AFTER
The after results speak for themselves with little room for explanation. This was my first set. I LOVE chippy white. So once I painted, I used the sander and used it in areas that would have natural wear and tear. This creates a natural chippy look, and not so forced. The top of the table was stained with grey stain. Then sealed with polyurethane .
The LION HEADS are SO rare! I never find them! And look at those claws! Amazing details in this set! This set was actually a MESS when I first got it. The family had smokers in the home so I had to strip this table to get the nicotine off the wood. It was a TON of work but look how pretty it looks now!
This beauty sold fast and now is living it’s 2nd life as an updated, farmhouse table! 
Next up: Black and White table:
This set was found in someone’s backyard, worn after years of neglect. I fell in love with the details in the wood, and made her pretty again!
I did a chalkboard finish on the chair backs. This took a few steps. First paint the area you want to highlight white. Let it dry a day. Then paint the black and sand down the black after a few hours of dry time. This will expose the white. Use a hand sander, not an electric or you will go down to the wood!
Here’s a close up!
These chairs were by FAR my favorite that I’ve done. This set I made my own chalk paint for. I’ll post my secret recipe in another post! Comment if you’d like it and I’ll email it to you! 🙂
GREEN AND BROWN
This next set I didn’t need to sand down at all. I used Rethunk Junk Stain to make the top POP again. The wood needed to be updated. Not stripped completely.
I also used Vintage Duck from Dixie Belle on the base and chairs! PERFECT Together!
The antique milk pail was found on the marketplace as well. It has natural patina on it! I LOVE IT!
Here is a close up of the side of the table. I used dark wax to create that effect in the wood you see below!
The same dark wax effect was used on the chairs in the hand carved area. First use clear wax, then dark wax and wipe off.
Last up on my Oak Pressed back table set tour is my unique white washed table with a pretty green base. This paint was also homemade chalk paint as I fell in LOVE with this paint color from Sherwin Williams and HAD to use it on a set. So I did 🙂
The Top of the table was sanded down to start. Then scrape painted with white dixie belle cotton chalk paint. Then distressed “where needed” to show the wood grain. The sides were also distressed. with my homemade chalk paint color. 
The chairs were painted with cotton dixie bell chalk paint. 
Here’s another shot of my favorite milk pail ever! lol.
Thanks for following along! If you’d like to see more project that I do, you can follow my facebook page for my furniture! I sell everything locally in Colorado but am looking into Etsy….someday. www.facebook.com/RusticTreasureRenovations
Comment below if you have any questions! I’ll be sure to answer them! 🙂 Which set is your favorite?
