Dining Set Transformation Pt 2
**The following blogpost contains Amazon affiliate links. If you use my link to purchase items through Amazon I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps to support me and upcoming blog content!**
Further Disclaimer: I am not a carpenter and any methods used are from my own experiences.
In part 1, I went over how to do basic furniture repairs in preparation for the most notable part of the furniture transformation process...painting and staining!
Pro Tip
If you’re going from a light to darker colour, minimal sanding is required. You should need sand just enough to scuff up or “dull” the surface so the paint has something to stick to.
Sanding
The goal of sanding is to make sure all of the stain and most of the paint is sanded off your project. This is an important step because new stain will not take to the wood if there are any remnants of the old stain. In my case, the navy blue paint had to be sanded down fairly well because I was painting the chairs a lighter colour. You could sand this project entirely by hand but I wouldn’t recommend it. I used a palm sander (https://amzn.to/2T7RSmH) for the majority of this project and hand sanded the areas where the palm sander couldn’t reach.
Grit
Now to discuss grit of sandpaper. The grit basically means how “rough” or “abrasive” the sandpaper is. The lower the number, the more abrasive the paper. For projects that require taking off old stain, 100-grit sandpaper usually does the trick (you can see what I mean using this link https://amzn.to/35V9CEx). Try sanding a small portion of your project first. If it’s taking off too much of the wood (you’ll notice indentations where your sander has been), you’re either holding the sander too long in one spot, or your paper is too abrasive. If the layers of stain are being particularly stubborn to sand out, then it may mean that your grit is too fine and you need to go to a lower number.
In my case, there were multiple layers of stain and multiple layers of top coat on the table top in particular. It took more than eight squares of 80-grit sandpaper, almost my entire body weight on the palm sander, and more weekends than I care to admit to finally get to the natural wood, but boooyyyy was it worth it. As you can see in the pictures above, underneath the yellowed topcoat was beautiful white wood.
The Process
I should mention as my final point: to achieve sanding perfection, you need to use at least three different grits. By using different grits, you ensure that the surface of the wood is extremely smooth. You also remove the scratches created by the previous grit. For example, on my table top, there was a burn mark and several deep scratches. I used 80-grit sandpaper to get the deep scratches, then used 100-grit sandpaper to sand out the scratches created by the 80-grit sandpaper, then used 180-grit sandpaper to make sure the table top was smooth with no visible scratches.
In short, use a minimum of three different grits of sandpaper and use them in order of lowest to highest grit. This takes a long time but, again, it is definitely worth it to get a nice smooth table that is scratch-free.
Anything you miss during this step will be highlighted by the stain (she is very unforgiving).
After the sanding, you have two paths you can take: stain or paint. I really liked that the chairs were painted and stained and I wanted to stick with the same design but switch up the colours. This also avoided extra work for me because it would’ve been next to impossible to sand out all the blue paint in the tighter spots (stain will not penetrate through paint). Let’s address staining first.
Pro Tip
When choosing them, make sure your stain and top coat are compatible with one another. If you use an oil-based stain with a water-based top coat, you have to make ABSOLUTELY sure that your oil stain is 100% dry. As a beginner, consider saving yourself the trouble and using a water-based stain and top coat.
Staining
The world of staining is complicated and can be very controversial depending which forums you visit, so I’ll let you know what I did. If you have a different method or any additional tips, sound off in the comments below!
Make sure you have drop clothes/newspapers under your project at this point. Staining can get really messy.
The Process
Step 1: Make sure your project is dust-free! You can take a damp microfiber cloth and then follow it up with a product like tack cloth. You can find this at most local hardware stores, or you can get it from Amazon using my affiliate link (https://amzn.to/3jkc0N5). I usually use a two-prong approach. I use a damp microfiber cloth to get most of the dust off and then use the tack cloth to get any of the remaining dust.
Step 2: Choose your weapons! You can use almost anything to apply the stain but most people will either use a cotton cloth or a paintbrush. A cotton cloth (anything that doesn’t shed fibers easily) is definitely one of the better ways to reduce the amount of bubbles in the stain but it is more messy. If you prefer the brush, consider watering down your stain (use water if it’s a water-based stain, mineral spirits if it’s an oil-based stain) in order to reduce bubbling during application and using a higher quality paintbrush that has more dense bristles.
Step 3: The application. I used a natural wood stain and a glossy top coat. I like going with the brand Minwax because the top coat will not yellow over time like other brands (https://amzn.to/2SZEAsz). Follow the grain of the wood during application and follow the instructions on the can for how long to leave on the product and when to take off the excess.
Step 4: Once you’re happy with the stain apply a semi-gloss or gloss top coat. I prefer to use Minwax because it doesn’t yellow over time (https://amzn.to/3A46HaK). You will need to sand in between layers using a fine-grit sandpaper especially if there are bubbles present.
I used one coat of stain because I like the natural wood colour, depending on the colour of your stain you may want to do an additional coat. I also used 2-3 coats of top coat because this is a high traffic surface
A Quick PSA About Top Coats
The type of top coat matters! If you are using it on a high-traffic area like a table and chairs, a gloss or semi-gloss is the better choice. It will last longer and better protect your project because the surface is being cleaned more often. More matte top coats should only be considered for low-traffic areas for best results.
Environmental temperature also matters! On the side of the can it will usually tell you the optimal temperature for your stain and top coat to set. If outside is too hot or too cold, your stain/top coat will not set properly. This may cause the top coat to transfer onto whatever you place on the surface or be dented easily because the top layer is too soft. If you have to do your application inside, make sure you are in a well-ventilated area and use a fan or space heater if needed.
Painting
Painting is a bit easier than staining. I sanded off as much of the blue paint as I could (it was not easy). The main goal is to get the surface scuffed up (should look more dull) in order for the new paint to stick. I could not get all of the blue paint off so it took more coats of white paint to cover the old paint. If you are going from a light colour to a dark colour you may not have this issue. Now onto the process!
The Process
Step 1: Make sure you have appropriate paint for furniture! By this point you should also have drop clothes on the floor to prevent the paint from getting onto your floor and any nearby object.
Step 2: Through trial and error I found that if you paint your first coat without dilution it reduces the amount of coats needed to thoroughly cover the project. Paint the first coat (I used a brush for the chairs) being careful to catch any drips.
Step 3: Once dried, take a fine-grit sandpaper and lightly sand to get rid of deep brush marks and drips that you missed earlier.
Step 4: repeat steps 2 and 3 however, dilute your paint (same rules as the same) so it is more watery. Thinner paint is less likely to show paint strokes and it takes less time to dry between coats. Be careful not to add too much water otherwise it will not stick to your project! Repeat these steps until you are satisfied with the paint coverage
Step 5: Once you’re happy with the paint job, use your top coat and paint a minimum of two layers.
Now for the Final Reveal!
Final Thoughts
At the end of this process, the most important thing I learned was not to rush things. Wood can be a fickle mistress because it is a “living” material and every project is going to be different. I rushed the top coat on a drop leaf table (blog post coming soon) and it didn’t set properly so I had to go back and reseal it. I also learned that solid wood projects are flexible. You can always add another top coat, or sand off stain and change the colour. That’s why I think solid wood projects are a great introduction into more difficult DIY projects because they are more forgiving with mistakes.
Hope you all liked my dining room set transformation! It’s been the most difficult DIY yet but I’m really happy with the results and I learned new techniques along the way. What’s been your most difficult DIY project? Sound off in the comments below!
