Drop Leaf Table

I love my drop leaf table "after" product. I found this little table at a local thrift store. I had been looking for something small to paint. I had read about chalk paint and wanted to try a homemade chalk paint recipe. I actually found a local supplier of Annie Sloan products and had gone to check it out. My biggest beef was the price. I was just getting started painting furniture and I wanted to try different colors, styles, etc. I didn't want to be stuck w a quart of 1 color and feel like I had to paint everything that 1 color. I loved the idea of chalk paint and cutting back on prep work, i.e. no oil based primer for adhesion. Anyway...I found the somewhat beat up drop leaf table at a local thrift store. 

thrift store drop leaf table

drop leaf table before

One of my boards on Pinterest is called "furniture rehab" and I've pinned lots of pics of painted furniture. I love looking through them and reading the links about how they were painted and seeing the" befores" and "afters". Anyway, I decided to try a homemade chalk paint recipe with this little table. I stripped the top of the table and gave it a good sanding and found the top to be very pretty. I stained it w a light minwax stain for starters. I cleaned the body of the table with tsp and water. Once it was dry I used my homemade chalk paint. I painted a thin coat, let it dry and lightly sanded it because it was pretty gritty. I used a tack cloth to wipe it down and painted a 2nd coat. After it was dry I lightly sanded the gritty surface again, then distressed the edges. I again wiped it w a tack cloth. The paint was dull looking. Not very pretty at all. I applied Fiddes and Sons wax, buffed it up and voila! A very cute table.

The table is smooth and has a nice sheen to it. I love this soft easy-to-use wax. I tried Minwax paste wax on another project and I think there is no comparison. I love Fiddes and Sons, both the ease and the beautiful finished product.