Tutorial: Chalkboard Table

I have the ugliest table in the history of forever. That sounds unlikely, but it's true. I have hated my kitchen table for years, so much so that we have ceased eating at it in the last two years. I just can't stand looking at it. To be fair, it is insanely old and at one time was probably a very nice piece of furniture...it's just that the years haven't been kind to it. Hot pans of gingerbread, nail polish, markers - you name it, the table has been subjected to it. So after owning it for eight years, and it being a hand-me-down when I got a hold of it, here's what it looked like:

Chipped, scuffed, dirty and out of date. I finally couldn't take it anymore, and made arrangements to buy a new one from a local home builder showroom - white, clean lines, gorgeous, with matching chairs - I was so excited! And then, as things do, it fell through. The home builders decided to put my new table in a model home, thus rendering it unavailable for purchase. Because I didn't have a trillion dollars to buy a nice, new table (seriously, have you seen what dining sets go for these days?), I decided to take matters into my own hands and refinish the one I had.

First things first: getting rid of the nastiness. There was who knows what caked on the table and into the decorative routed edge. I gouged it out with a plastic knife and some sandpaper, and then took my brand new orbital sander to the tabletop, making short work of layer upon layer of yellowed lacquer. I cannot tell you how impressed I am with my sander. Paired with some quality sandpaper, I can now take over the world! Well, I can take over poorly finished furniture, so look forward to more of that in the coming months.

Ta Da! Remember, always wear a mask when sanding old furniture. The amount of dust kicked up during this project was incredible - there were layers upon layers of lacquer or varnish on this table, and while my sander ate through them like a hot knife through butter, inhaling all of those particles could be really bad for your health. Don't say I didn't warn you.


Now, I really hate painting wood furniture. I truly believe that wood grain is beautiful, and you should always seek to preserve it by using stains and sealers instead of paint. However, I'm more than willing to sacrifice my morals for this table, because I just couldn't save the top. It was a veneer that had just been pushed past its own limits, and I really didn't think it would take the stain all that well. So painting was my only real option. But if you're going to ruin a piece of wood furniture by painting it, let's at least be creative. Thus, I could be found Sunday night in the paint aisle poring over chalkboard paint options.

For those who don't know, chalk board paint is a black matte infused with small particles that allow chalk to abrade onto the surface, thus turning virtually any item painted with this special mixture into a chalk board. Super cool! And it comes in pretty much any color of the rainbow and a wide variety of brands. It is available at your local blue store, orange store, and even the big box store on the corner for about $10/qt. Not bad, in my opinion.

So the first step, as always, was to prime. I used a spray on primer in gray, because I chose black chalk board paint for my table.

I am not a particularly good spray painter. I could never be a graffiti artist or anything, because I can't get the stupid paint to spray evenly to save my soul. Thus the spotty, streaky paint job on the top of this table. Good thing four coats of black paint are going on top! You'll notice that I left the legs and apron as they were - my mom thinks this wasn't very creative of me; I think the two-tone look is cool. Plus, the chairs were actually in pretty good condition and I didn't want to have to sand them down and paint them, too. This way, everything matches and goes together and I didn't have to hand sand four ornate wooden chairs. Everybody wins.

Now to paint! I moved the table inside for this step to prevent leaves and bugs from falling onto my fresh paint job and ruining it. I used a small tray and a foam roller to apply the paint, working in thin layers. I applied one, let it dry 3-4 hours and then applied the next, let that dry over night and then applied two more layers the next day. By late Sunday night, my table looked like this:

SO MUCH BETTER! You'll notice I pulled the leaves apart and painted down into the cracks a bit, so that they wouldn't stick together and the paint would fully cover anything that showed. Oh, and don't forget to put down a tarp - I did have a few drips doing the edges and this paint dries really fast. Doesn't it look great? Here's the hard part, though: don't draw on it for three days.

So finally, your paint is dry and it's time to test it out. It has cured the three days (well, two...I just couldn't wait any longer!) and you have bought chalk - NOT DUST FREE, it'll scratch your paint job - and you are ready to get artsy!

But first, you have to cover the whole surface in chalk to prime it. This is way more fun than it sounds. Or less. Depending on how much fun you think it sounds, I guess.

It took about a piece and a half of chalk to cover this table, and I really do wish I had waited the last day, because I think I caused a tiny chip by doing it early. My kids were insanely jealous of me getting to draw on the table first. The worst part of this step is wiping all the chalk off when you're done. Don't use a chalkboard eraser - first of all, they're not intended for this kind of paint. Second of all, they would just get chalk dust EVERYWHERE. Instead, fill a squirt bottle with water and a few drops of dish soap and spray your table down, then wipe it off with a paper towel. Presto!

We have been having SO MUCH FUN drawing on this table - the possibilities are endless! Throwing a party? Label the food on the table so people know what's what. Draw pumpkins for Halloween, eggs for Easter. Leave notes for each other, designate seats, keep score on game night, or if you're super nerdy like us, draw your games right onto the table!

This is probably one of my favorite projects so far - it's useful and fun and unique. I don't know anyone else who has a chalk board dining table! Plus, the entire project cost me less than $20. A brand new table for that? Couldn't be happier!