The Kitchen Table

Jeff & Carey have been working hard remodeling. They knocked out a couple walls to open up the space between their living room and kitchen. At a Habitat store, Jeff found wood flooring for the kitchen that matched the living room floor boards. He also added trim to the old cupboards and painted them white - don't they look amazing?

From this . . . .

To this!
Way to go Jeff - That's my boy!
Grandpa John will be proud.  

I found this solid oak table on Craig's list for $50. It also included three pressed oak chairs that I will keep for another project.

With one leaf it will comfortably seat 8. With both leaves it seats 10.
For a family of 7, it's just the right size!

I had to strip the top because it had been used for crafts and had some paint, glue - and even a little glitter attached to the top. (I used CitriStrip  Stripping Gel) I scraped and sanded and let it dry thoroughly.

I mixed two parts Annie Sloan Graphite with one part Annie Sloan Antique White, and added some water to create a wash of grey. The hope was that some of the wood grain would show through but would not be pronounced.

From this . . . .

To this!

For the base and legs I used straight Annie Sloan's Graphite - I brushed it on and let it dry. Then I mixed Antibes Green with Florence and a pinch of Graphite. I dry-brushed it over the graphite.

From this . . .

To this

This table will be used by a family of seven, so I opted to skip the wax and applied six coats of acrylic Polyurethane. A few more coats and several days of drying and we'll be ready to take it to their house! I promise to post some pics of the big finale!