Round Oak Table

I've been working on an old round oak table with a pedestal bottom and a set of four chairs for a while now, and I'm happy to report that the set is finally finished!

That makes two antique oak tables that I've refinished this year. The second one was done earlier and is currently available at Painted Table Designs.

I bought one of these from the owner of Morgantown Market and the other was from the antique store right next to the shop, Old Mill Property. It's been so long since I did the first one that I can't remember which is which! But regardless, both tables are super solid in their construction and both turned out amazing!

Oh, and those chairs! Do you remember when I scored a ton of furniture off the side of the road back in January from a local bed and breakfast?

It's okay if you don't. I go through a lot of furniture! These dining room chairs were among the finds for the day, and I completed their tear down process a few weeks ago.

I removed everything from those seats, including the jute webbing, until all that was left was the wooden chair frame. The chairs were in great shape, but they were a little wobbly, so I used a product called Tite Chairs to fix the wobbly joints. This stuff is pretty much amazing, and it's sold at Morgantown Market!

Once the chair frames were solid again, I gave them a gentle wet sanding using 150 grit sandpaper and some of Miss Mustard Seed's Hemp Oil. You can learn how to wet sand in this post.

I let the chairs sit for a few days to allow the Hemp Oil to absorb and penetrate the super dry wood. It didn't take very long because the chairs were in such need of hydration that they soaked up the Hemp Oil in no time!

I rebuilt the seats from the bottom up using jute webbing, burlap, cotton padding, and dacron. I went back and forth on the fabric I wanted to use until I settled on these adorable cream colored feedsack skirts I purchased from Decor Steals months ago.

They fit almost perfectly on my chairs and they added a cottage feel.

The oak table itself was refinished using all General Finishes products.

The base was painted in General Finishes Linen Milk Paint and sealed with several coats of High Performance Topcoat in Satin.

You can see how Linen compares to their other neutrals in the photo below. It's the third one in from the left.

And here's where it falls on their color chart.

Linen was the perfect neutral to choose for this table base. I was a bit nervous I was going to get some bleed through because there were stains in the original oak finish. I followed General Finishes' steps for prepping a piece and then sealed the base in two coats of their Stain Blocker.

This stuff is amazing! Stain Blocker is General Finishes's water-based white primer. It can be used to protect your paint from stain, dye and wood tannin bleed-through. You can use it over an existing finish (like paint or stain), raw wood or on MDF as a base coat for other types of paint. Stain Blocker is more expensive than other types of primers that are available at your local hardware store, like Zinsser or Kilz. It's designed for effectiveness, not price point. General Finishes advocates that a successful primer requires a sophisticated resin system and an atypical formulation, which equates to a higher price point. It's an expensive product, but so it's definitely worth it! I've used it twice now, and I'm incredibly happy with its stain-blocking performance. The way I see it, cutting corners with primer will result in more trouble down the road, so I'd rather spend the time and money up front and set myself up for a finish that will be free of stains and won't require going back and applying subsequent coats of primer and paint due to a finish that failed.

The top of the table was sanded down and brought back up to 150 grit using my orbital sander. I applied some Antique Walnut Gel Stain, but it turned a bit orange to my taste, which surprised me. To darken it, I applied Java Gel Stain and wiped it back. Once it was dry, I applied several coats of High Performance Semi Gloss. I used a Semi Gloss on the top as opposed to Satin because it has more clarity. Plus, it's a kitchen table top, so I expect it will be used heavily and will need to stand up to daily wipe downs, so I wanted a finish that would have a bit more gloss to it.

I really like how the sanding didn't get all of the original "dings" and "nicks" out of the surface. They stained up darker and I think the character is beautiful.

Like I said, the clarity is off the hook! You see, as you add more matting agent to a finish and get it closer to a flat shine, you lose clarity in the finish and it can become a bit cloudy. There are ways to prevent that from happening, but I wanted my table top to be crystal clear!

The chairs are the perfect height for the table and you don't bump your legs up against the bottom. It's like they were meant to be! I know the chairs aren't the same wood as the table, but they work, don't you think?

This set is currently set up in my booth at Morgantown Market and is available to be purchased. The chairs are $65 each and the table is $385. The table is 42 inches across in diameter and does not have a leaf. It's 28 inches tall to the top of the table. This piece is incredibly solid and has good weight to it. Marc and I lugged it around quite a bit the last few days taking these photos and then getting it over to Morgantown Market, so trust us...it's heavy! They don't make them like this anymore.

I also spruced up my booth quite a bit and added some great articles to my paint displays that answer FAQ's. Check out my video on my Facebook page to get a tour and see what's new!

You can also shop for all of the products I used on this makeover in my booth space as well if you like the look I created. Here's your shopping list:

Products Used: