We recently moved and had NO intention to move our 7 year old, purchased in the as-is section of Ikea dining set. We went out to run errands, and when we came back the movers were loading the table into the truck. Alright then, I guess it will come! I figured we could just hold onto it until we found a new dining set we loved.
Once I had our old, well-loved table sitting in our new dining area, I realized just how rough it really looked. I had contemplated taking some paint to it for a while, but never had the space I needed for the project before. Plus, I was concerned that the whole thing would be destroyed by trying to re-do laminate Ikea furniture. However, I realized I had nothing to lose.
Before
I had asked some other DIY friends what they thought of attempting to sand laminate furniture and everyone recommended against it. But as I had realized before, I had nothing to lose by trying to sand down the swollen pressboard under the white finish. I used very fine sand paper to slowly, and carefully sand away the bumps. I only sanded the bumps and nicks just until they were level with the rest of the table. If you choose to sand laminate furniture, be SUPER careful and be aware that it isn’t recommended. Most DIYers will tell you that priming is all that is needed to re-do laminate. I did not sand the chairs.
Next, I applied a coat of primer to the table and chairs. I used Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 White primer.
After my primer was completely dried, I painted the table with 2 coats of Rust-Oleum Latex Semi-Gloss White paint, and the chairs with 3 coats of Behr River’s Edge in high-gloss from Home Depot.
Last, I finished with 3 coats of Minwx PolyCrylic Protective Finish in clear semi-gloss.
This whole project took about 3 days start to finish because I left lots of time between coats to allow the paint to completely dry.
Here is my end result!
I won’t claim that it turned out perfectly, by any means. But, if you have a piece of furniture that’s destined for the dumpster, why not give it a try? We are really happy with how it turned out, and its dramatically improved.
What do you think? Are you feeling inspired? Do you have furniture you plan to re-do? Have you done it before?
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