I saw potential in these two craftsman style solid wood tables. They where showing their age and the orange finish made them look old but I saw an opportunity to restyle the coffee and sofa tables in Alabaster white and the tops in driftwood gray.
I began by giving the tables a good cleaning with TSP to remove the years of built up dirt. Then using my jigsaw I cut out the vertical trim boards from each end of the tables and replaced them with a single board on the diagonal. I fit the single board into the end of the table and then glued and nailed it in place.
Supplies Used
Sandpaper
TSP
Jigsaw
BIN Primer
General Finishes Alabaster
General Finishes High Perf Satin
Router with V bit
General Finishes Ash Gray Gel stain
I removed both the top and shelf from each of the tables for ease of working. After lightly sanding the surface, both table bases were primed with BIN. When dry they received 2 coats of General Finishes Alabaster Milk paint, allowing dry time in between coats. When thoroughly dry I top coated them with General Finishes High Performance Satin to add extra durability to the finish.
Then it was time to work on the tops. All of the tops had to be sanded to bare wood so they would accept the Ash Gray Gel stain. My idea was to give the tops and lower shelves an updated style by cutting grooves in the wood to simulate planking. Using a V bit in a handheld router and a board clamped onto the table top as a guide I was able to router grooves the length of the wood to simulate individual planks of wood.
The tops and shelves were then stained with GF Ash Gray Gel stain. After the stain had dried 48 hours I top coated them with 3 coats of General Finishes High Performance Satin.
Here they are changed from Craftsman style to a more modern clean look painted in Alabaster with stained natural gray wood. This Restyled Coffee and Sofa Tables project was fairly simple and yet made a dramatic difference.