Amish Oak Table and Chairs Painted and Stained

Dining Table Before
(without leaves)

 

Dining Table and Chairs
Painted w/Stained Top

This lovely oak table came with two leaves and six chairs. Our customer had wanted a different, updated look so we suggested painting combined with keeping the table top woodgrain, but staining it little darker. 

They had originally envisioned an antique white, but after reviewing their décor choices, settled on latté, which is exactly as it sounds, a coffee color with a generous amount of cream added for that perfect flavor, or in this case, color combination. 

Prepping furniture for paint, especially chairs, takes patience and time. Mainly because it is all done by hand. You can’t use a power sander for chairs (except minimally) and spend hours scuffing up all the surface area to prepare it for first primer then two coats of paint. You also can’t skimp on the prep work as it directly effects the outcome of the project. 

We stripped and stained the table top, which had minor scratches, a rich, dark walnut to bring out the beautiful wood tones. The table’s pedestal base was painted to match the chairs, all done in latté. While some people simply do not like to paint furniture, there are times when painting is a nice choice. But by no means are you limited to using only paint. The combination of using paint and stain marries two distinct styles into a well-blended upgrade to outdated furniture without sacrificing the original integrity. 

The chairs, having many spindles, take a great deal of time to prep for painting. Chairs, period, are one the most time-consuming of all furniture projects, because there's so much surface area on a chair. Plus, the more detail (hence, spindles), the longer it takes to prep them. It’s also why chairs can be costly to refinish (or paint). All those surfaces need the same amount of attention and prep time. Ultimately, you have many colors in both stain and paint to choose from for your perfect furniture project.

Dining Table Top Refinished

Table Top Before

Table Top After

We all know how much we use our tables, therefore the top of them tends to get plenty of use, which is okay, because that's what they're for. This solid oak table was purchased twenty-five years ago and got plenty of use, so the top had some wear on it. Nothing too bad, but enough to justify a refinish, top only. It also had two leaves, so the owner wanted those refinished as well.

This great table was made by the Amish and the quality of the workmanship showed. Amish are known for their precision and attention to details as well as simplicity in structure so their furniture is easy to use and guaranteed to last a long time. The woodgrain of this table was beautiful, which became apparent after I totally stripped the top.

I kept the leaves on the table and stripped them in place (much easier) and made sure the sides of the

Dining Room Table

Duncan Phyfe Dining Table

A large dining room table is one of the most challenging of all furniture restoration jobs, due to the sheer size of the project. Tables are large, heavy and difficult to transport, not to mention all that surface takes a while to strip, sand and refinish. That's why tables are amongst the highest price items when it comes to refinishing cost, but personally, I still prefer a large table to a set of chairs with spindles! Don't get me started on spindles. They're lovely, indeed, but they require a LOT of patience and time.

This lovely mahogany dining room table was quite large to begin with, plus it had two 12" leaves that also needed refinishing. This table had a few surface scratches, luckily they weren't too deep so I was able to sand them away, leaving the table's surface as good as new and ready to accept the stain, for which I chose mahogany, to match the wood. Once restored to its former beauty, this table took its place in the dining room, ready to serve up many family meals for years to come.