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Refurnished Dining Room Set
Now in days, it seems like furniture just keeps getting pricier and the quality poorer. It astonishes me every time I go to HomeGoods and see furniture that are cracked, made out of plywood or plastic, cost $600 or more! I love HomeGoods ,believe me it's my second home. But when it comes to furniture I go the alternate route, find old furniture and refurnish them.
Craigslist is the place to go. I'm always on the lookout for furniture that have good bones, even if they are old or a bit dirty. With a little bit of love and imagination I could make them look stylish and brand new.
I got this entire dining room set for only $200 and it includes two extending leaves.
I chose it because i loved the curves and design of the chairs, and it was the perfect size for me. when I saw it in person, I noticed it needed a lot of work. It was old, dirty, and the cushions were stained and smelly. but it was my diamond in the rough.
Even though it came with the buffet, I ended up not using because of lack of space.
I was going for a french country look. So I knew I wanted my chairs to be white, the table to have a natural look wood top, and the cushions to be made of a light linen fabric.
Here are the materials needed:
Wax Paint- there are various selections of wax paint brands and colors. You could find them at your nearest Wal-mart or craft store. I chose to buy a french white and light gray color. I painted my side chairs white and the two chairs with arms gray.
Wood Stain- I wanted to go with a light natural stain, but the wood top on my table had a really deep ink stain on top so I went with a red chestnut stain.
Polyurethane- which protects the wood and gives it a beautiful shine.
Fabric- for the cushions I bought 3 yards. I chose a linen material which is very stretchable and thin.
Upholstery decorative nails- I got mines at Joann's, click here .
Decorative trim- I chose one that looks like this one. I bought roughly 9 yards.
Paint Stripper
Tools- paint brushes, paint tape, stainless-steel scrapper or joint knife, electric sander, hand sander, hammer, nails, staple gun, staple remover.
THE CHAIRS:
First thing to do, is to remove the old and nasty cushion covers. I chose to keep the original cushion pads because they were in good shape. If you chose not to keep yours or they are unsalvageable, you will need to buy cushion pads and cut them to the shape of the base of the chair.
One you've removed all of the chair cushions you can start the paint process. First, lightly sand all of the chair legs, arms, and backs. Give the chairs one coat of paint, let fully dry, then paint again.
While the paint of your chairs is drying, you can start to re-cover your cushions. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of this process but I'll try my best to explain how to do it. I also had to watch a few Youtube videos to help me out.
I used the shape of the old cushion covers as a template. I cut about half an inch of extra fabric all around so it gave me more room for error. Place the cushion pad on the chair(once the paint on the chairs are is fully dry) and place fabric on top. start to stretch the fabric from the front of the chair to the back of the chair and nail in one nail on each end. Then do the same for the sides of the chair. Stretch the fabric and nail one nail on each end of the sides. What this will do is that i will stretch out the fabric on all sides of the chair so that as you nail, your will know that you aren't putting too much fabric on one end and then it doesn't reach the other side. Then start to nail all around (or staple with staple gun) the cushion cover until it is fully secured and stretch out.
Then measure your decorative trim all around the chair cushion, cut and start to nail with decorative nail-heads.
It should look similar to this once you are done.
THE TABLE:
Insert the table leaves, and spray or paint with brush your paint stripper on the table top. leave it overnight.
The following day, start to scrape off all the paint with the joint knife or scrapper. It should come off easily and smoothly. if you see that it's not coming off smoothly, you may need to do another layer of stripper and wait at least 2-3 hrs to retry. Once you've successfully removed all the paint, it's time for sanding. Use your electric sander for a faster and even sanding. You also need to sand the legs and sides with a hand sander.
Once your table is fully sand and smooth, put tape all around the corner of the top of the table to protect it. Start with painting your legs and sides. (Use the same method as painting the chairs). let paint fully dry overnight.
When your table legs and sides are dry, remove the tape from the top of the table and now tape all the corners of the freshly painted sides.
Use a cloth and dab into the wood stain and start working it all over the table top. (Make sure not to put too much wood stain as it will become a sticky mess and will take forever to dry, also it will most likely not give you a smooth finish, it needs to be a thin layer). Let your stain dry for about 2 hrs. Once it's fully dry, repeat with a second coat, and let fully dry. If you have the desired color, leave it to dry overnight.
Once it is fully dry, add layer of Polyurethane for a beautiful finish gloss. You should be ok with just one layer but if you feel like it needs another one then repeat with a second coat AFTER you've let it fully dry.
This is what it looked like once it was finished.
Here's what it looks like in my dining room now :)
I also ended up refinishing the buffet and reselling it. I sold it for $250.00 on craigslist, making a profit of $50 on one piece alone. (not too shabby!)
