IKEA Dining Room Table Makeover

Dining rooms are weird. At least in my house, it’s the room we spend the least amount of time in. So, there’s really no reason for us to go out and spend thousands, or even hundreds, of dollars on dining room furniture. That being said, my Ikea table and chairs just wasn’t cutting it anymore. It served its purpose all through my 20s, but now, with my new hardwood floors, and spiffy paint job, it looked… tired… and cheap.

Our dining room doesn’t have enough room for a table that seats 12, or even 8. But, the room is visible from our front door, so we needed an upgrade. I decided to go the economic way and just do a table makeover.

I did some game planning and started by removing the seats of the four chairs and the top of the table. I just unscrewed them all and set aside the hardware.

I used a walnut stain I had laying around the garage to stain the tops of each of the seats and tabletop. I didn’t bother to do the underside, because let’s face it… I’m lazy.

While those were drying, I applied a layer of white primer to the chair and table frames. I didn’t even bother sanding the frames first. I did sand in between coats of primer though.

Once I was done with the primer, I applied a coat of polyurethane to the seats and tabletop over my walnut stain.

Then things got a little crazy…

I decided to use this opportunity to try out a new toy. My Critter Spray Products Siphon Gun. Yup, I bought a paint sprayer. I also purchased an air compressor and the parts I needed. I am not sure why I pictured a paint sprayer as my knight in shining armor, but I did. I actually thought that I was going to pour some paint into a mason jar, hook a hose up to it, and flawlessly finish my paint project in a matter of minutes. WRONG!!! Always wrong!!!

First of all, the instructions that came with the sprayer were insufficient for my purposes. Clearly, spraying paint was not the only thing you could do with this product, and so there were no steps outlining how I would go about creating the perfect paint mist to cover a dining room table and chairs. Ugh!

I had to make two extra trips to the hardware store just to figure out the pieces I needed in order to hook the siphon gun up to the compressor. And if you’ve never used an air compressor before, you will probably have the same reaction I did, which was… “What the *BEEP*, why is it so LOUD!!!!” Yeah. Not my proudest moment. Long story short… the compressor was loud, the paint wasn’t spraying evenly, and the gun kept getting clogged (I didn’t use a strainer).  I managed to finish two layers of paint on the table and chairs in twice the time it would have taken me to just brush it on. But I did learn some valuable lessons about my new toy, and I’ve since been able to make the necessary adjustments. There’s a great YouTube video to watch if you’re considering one of your own. Definitely wish I’d watched this before attempting this project.

After I finished the paint, I applied another layer of polyurethane on the seats and tabletop and let everything dry overnight. The next day I went about putting the top back on the table and the seats back on the chairs. I was SHOCKED by the results. It was a HUGE improvement on the table I had, and it was the same one!

Minus the siphon gun and air compressor fiasco, the supplies to finish this project cost me next to nothing. I completed it with a couple of items I had in my garage. After I bought a rug and put some place settings out, I was completely satisfied with the result. Now I just need a bookcase (check it out!) and a sideboard or buffet table (did that too!).

Materials List:

Table and Chairs (Ikea Jokkmokk)

Primer

Paint

Minwax Dark Walnut Stain

Polyurethane

Paintbrushes (or paint gun and air compressor, if you dare)

Sandpaper

Step Recap:

Remove the tabletop and seats of the chairs.

Stain the seats and tabletop with one layer of your choice of stain (I used Minwax Dark Walnut).

Paint two layers of primer on the chairs and table base, sanding in between coats.

Paint two layers of paint on the chairs and table base, sanding in between coats.

Apply two layers of polyurethane to the seats and tabletop, leaving several hours drying time between coats.

Allow 24 hours drying time after the last coat of polyurethane.

Assemble parts back together.

Decorate and enjoy!

***EDITS: 3 years later and I am still using this table. I moved it into my kitchen and we eat dinner at it daily. My 2 year old abuses it and it has started to show a little wear and tear on the paint. If I could do this project again, I would probably start with a liquid sander on all the surfaces. I would also add a few layers of polycrylic to the painted parts once everything dries. The stained portion of the table and chairs still looks great. Overall, I am still very pleased and pleasantly surprised that the table has survived this long.***

Note: I did sand the top of the table and the seats of the chairs before staining them. The sander I was using actually created marks on the table that couldn’t be covered up. I thought it added age and character to the table, but if you’re trying for a cleaner look, I would suggest hand sanding or not sanding.

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