Painting Hudson's Table Part 2: Color, Seal, and Reveal

I cannot explain to you how glad I am to finally be done with Hudson's table and chairs for his playroom. This project took about 3 days longer than I intended to, but I just had to do a little here and there when I had time.

If you haven't read Part 1 yet, you can here. It's just about the sanding and priming, which is what I did on Saturday. Because I didn't start until that evening, I was only able to get the table cleaned, sanded, and primed before I had to quit for the day. Sunday, we weren't home for much of the day so, once again, I was only able to get the first coat of color on the furniture that evening when we got home. Yesterday, I was able to get the final coat on in the morning, then fixed any spots that needed a little more. I wanted to let it have a good while to dry all the way so I waited until this morning to FINALLY seal it with polyurethane. I am happy to say, the job is done and I'm so pleased with the results....and I don't want to see spray paint again for a long time. HA!

Just to remind you what the table looked like before.....

*Keep in mind, this set is over 50 years old.*

And now.....

What a difference!!

I'm going to let it sit like this for a little bit and see how I like it. I might make the top a chalkboard. We'll see. If I don't, I'll add a chalkboard somewhere else in the room....on the wall or something.

SO, the first part of this project was about the cleaning, sanding, and priming. Here's the rest of the steps I took to transform this table.

Supplies:

I picked all of these up from Hobby Lobby when they were 30% off! Awesome! I already had the sanding sponge from other projects. It was just enough to sand the furniture gently, while removing the old grime and finish so the paint would adhere well. I used 1 can of primer(just regular white primer), although 2 would've been much better, about 3.5 cans of paint(Krylon Sun Yellow), and just about the entire can of polyurethane (targeting the most used spots....top of table, chair seats and backs, etc.) I used a drop-cloth we had from painting the room to put the furniture on during painting/drying.

Before I painted the color, I made sure to wipe the furniture down with paper towels to get off any dust, dirt, bugs, etc. (mostly because it was left outside on our covered patio and wanted to make sure it was super clean before I started spraying) Make sure you shake the paint 1-2 minutes, which seems like an eternity but it's a must, trust me. I was really nervous about spray painting but I found a few tutorials and videos online and they helped. I just started at the top of tabletop, holding the can about 6 inches away, working in smooth strokes, left to right, stop, back over it from right to left, stop, overlapping each row of paint a little bit. You'll get in a rhythm fairly quickly and get the hang of it. It turns out much better if you do this technique rather than just holding the nozzle down and spraying in no pattern. Once you get used to it, you can move pretty fast. 

With this particular furniture it was a little tricky to reach all the areas, but a little body contorting made it possible. I'm sure my neighbors are thankful for a fenced yard, right? ;) You are able to go back and apply another coat within 1 hour if you want to, or you have to wait 24 hours. PLEASE make sure you follow this rule. I did not wait a full 24 hours for a few touchups and ended up with a crackled look on some spots. Nothing too noticeable, but for this perfectionist, it drove me insane!! (that's probably another reason it took me longer than expected...I just couldn't get it "perfect" enough!) 

Once I was done with all the painting, I gave it just about 24 hours before I sealed it with the polyurethane spray. I've read that it can sometimes bubble and yellow over time, but I took my chances with it. It went on great and dried quickly. I sprayed over all of the furniture, but really focused on the most used areas, such as the tabletop and chair seats and backs. 

I waited about 4 hours(per directions on can) to put it back in his room and it looks great and he wasted no time at all testing it out. (you may need to wait longer if you apply a few coats)

 Poor thing, he probably thought it was never coming back! ;)

As proud as I am of this project, I am extremely glad to be done with it. I don't think I'm a huge fan of spray paint. Being the perfectionist (wonder where Hudson gets it?!?!) and control-freak I am, I like the control you get with a brush much better. This is definitely a much quicker way to get the job done, though. 

**Tips**

Make sure you read ALL the directions on the can, if you're not familiar with them. Don't just open the can and start spraying. No No No!

TRY to do the project where you don't normally have a lot of bugs flying around. I really didn't have another option, and the bugs were ridiculous! A lot of them met their fates when they landed on my wet furniture!! ;-)

Don't expect to be done in one day. Take your time and do it right.

Don't skip sanding and priming. 

Buy more paint than you think you'll need. I originally bought 2 and quickly ran out. Joseph had to make a quick Walmart run for me to get 2 more. 

I hope this helps you if you're looking to give your old furniture a makeover with paint. It was a lot of work, but I am so proud to know I did it myself!! I hope Hudson can enjoy it for years to come!!

I've got more plans for the playroom in the works so look for more updates soon. ;)