Reimagining the Simple Ikea Table

Ikea, you either love them or hate them. Personally, I find a lot to love about their simple designs and their affordability.

My son and his wife purchased this dining table seven or eight years ago when they were setting up their first home together. Recently, they upgraded to a lovely dining set that complemented their current home better and asked if I wanted the table.

I did. I liked everything about the table except the color of the wood.  Since my kitchen doesn’t have room for a table my living room serves as both dining and lounging.  We eat at this table, craft here and play games so it gets a lot of use.

To protect the table my daughter-in-law had put a protective coat of polycrylic on it which first needed to be sanded off.

My vision for this table was to make it look as if it had been a part of my home for many years.  To do this I distressed the table after sanding it.

I used these tools to distress the table. The hammer I used both the claw and the head to make “dings” on the surface. Using the phillips-head screw driver to add indentations and the flat-head to add irregular scratches. You can use just about anything. For this table the wood is very soft so a soft touch was needed. I have a friend who beats wood furniture with chains, drops cans on them and more. This is the fun part where you can just use your imagination.

I knew I wanted a dark stain to give this table weight. I chose Dark Walnut by Minwax.

This was taken while the first coat of stain was still damp. You can see the scratches and the different sized dings added to the surface.

The original plan was to stain the entire table (top and bottom) with the walnut, but once the top was done I realized I didn’t like the way the table would blend in with the cherry flooring.

I briefly, very briefly, considered leaving the bottom of the table the original pine color, but I still disliked that shade in my living room.  Not having any other colors of stain on hand I knew I would have to use paint. I ran through the various colors I had on hand and only one felt right.

Black. I had to consider the possibility that one day I may need to move again. If that happens it is likely that the furniture I have would be combined together in rooms where they are in different rooms today.

The only black paint I had was chalkboard paint, not to be confused with chalk paint.  I loved the distressed look of the table top and wanted to continue that look of age on the rest of the table. To accomplish this I used a dry brush effect on some areas.  To dry brush you dip your brush in the paint then wipe off as much as you can before touching brush to furniture.

I applied only one coat of paint to the table as a second coat would have given it better coverage and robbed me of that illusion of age and lots of hard use I was after.

My daughter-in-law was the first to see the table completed. She loved it so much I thought for a while she was going to ask for it back.

I purchased two new chairs for the table a few weeks ago. It was deciding on chairs that held me off from touching the table sooner. I went with a metal and wood chair that is extremely sturdy and tip resistant because of the children and my limited mobility. The rubber under the legs keeps the chair firmly in place which works for me as a chair slipping on bare floors is dangerous when I am trying to transfer from one seat to another.

Together the chairs look like they were made for this table.

The total cost of the table redo was $4.98 the cost of an 8 ounce can of stain.

Do you love or hate Ikea furniture?