In the last post I left you hanging with the whole room reveal.  I feel like this dining room has been a bit of a menace ever since we moved in.  I have struggled with it for so long.  Part of the reason being that this whole room is just so long and narrow, and in the dining room I have 3 solid walls with nothing to break them up!  Usually there are windows, or a door, or something so you don’t have 3 white walls, but not here.

And although we bought our dining table new when we got married, I just didn’t like the look quite as well in this house.

bummer.

So, I asked the hubbs one day if I could refinish our table. He said we’ll talk about it later. I waited a couple of months and figured since he didn’t say no…that it was okay:)

I must tell you first that this was just a veneer table and the top was already showing major signs of wear. A lot of the veneer was starting to come off and flake in places, so even though I wanted a new look, it also would extend the life of the table. That was my justification at least!

Not even lying:)

So, one day when I was bored…(sarcasm) I pulled out the power sander and went to town…

Now here’s a bit of advice that is more common sense than advice, but I’d recommend doing this outside. Allie did not, because I couldn’t move the table outside by myself. And in turn I ended up adding another job of dusting my WHOLE house when the project was done. On top of vacuuming about 20 during the process. But, it was worth it!

I started getting giddy when I saw the natural color that was coming through. You never know what you are going to get when working with a veneer…

and after a couple of hours of sanding, tingly hands from the shaking, sore arms from the pushing, and sneezing from all the dust, this is what I was left with.

i.was.in.love.

I was loving the beachy natural color of the wood, and didn’t want to compromise that. I tried a bit of a gray stain on the leg but it immediately turn an orange color, so I scrapped that idea. I really wanted to keep this look, so I decided to try to give it a white wash look, one that wouldn’t turn orangey.

so I started out with an expensive:) styrofoam cup, and filled it a quarter of the way full with my white paint. Then I added the same amount of water and stirred.

I then used this mixture like a stain. I’d brush it on..

and then rub it off with a rag.

I tried it on the legs first to make sure I would like it..and I did! So to the top I went.

Brush it on and wipe it off. I only did about 1 foot wide sections at a time..

When I was done with the whole table it looked like this..

Just what I wanted. But, I wasn’t quite done yet.

Lately I’ve been loving color blocking on furniture. I will share some inspiration photos with you later, but basically what it means is a random chunk of color on a piece of furniture. Since my favorite color seems to be white, that’s what I chose:)

I taped off my section..

and started painting..

It’s almost like a permanent runner.

Seeing as though I like to change things so frequently, you may be surprised that I did this. But, it’s just a power sander away from back to normal:)

Nothing is every permanent around here!

Since I had finished the table I also found these chairs..

I have been wanting to get rid of the black for quite some time, but didn’t know what I wanted yet. These I found on an online auction and ended up paying only $25 for 4 of them. Of course I wasn’t in love with the color, so 5 cans of spray paint later and they were..

White!!!! Huge surprise, I know. If you follow me on instagram at @prvbsthirtyonegirl you got a sneak peek of them.

So, for the final after picture of the dining room reveal…

and just because I love showing the progression, here’s the order it went..

to this..

to this..

and now this..

I even was able to use it for hosting a bible study dinner the other night. I had fun dressing it up!

I had to add the leaf in to make it fit ten people, we had a little problem…

nothing a table cloth couldn’t fix!

It’s our little secret:) Someday I’ll get to painting that!