Last year I scored this wooden kids play table at a yard sale for $5.
I knew it needed a fresh coat of paint and after a year I've finally done it.
Like a lot of my DIY projects, things aren't as easy as they should be. This project was no exception.
First off, I had this paint that I loved. It was a muted orange-red color that matched my curtains and a few other things in my living room perfectly. So when I decided to paint the table an accent color instead of the white which was blending into the walls and carpet, I knew I wanted that color.
Here is the table painted in my lovey muted orange-red color. See how it matches the stripes in the love seat and the red magazine holder to the right?
First off, I had this paint that I loved. It was a muted orange-red color that matched my curtains and a few other things in my living room perfectly. So when I decided to paint the table an accent color instead of the white which was blending into the walls and carpet, I knew I wanted that color.
Here is the table painted in my lovey muted orange-red color. See how it matches the stripes in the love seat and the red magazine holder to the right?
The problem was that after using several coats to paint it and waiting several days for it to dry, it was still tacky. Ugh.
I read up on what I could do and thought putting baby powder on it to dry it out might work.
It sort of did, although it also left some white residue. But I didn't mind too much.
So I thought I'd move onto the chairs. This time I thought I'd be sure to avoid the tackiness by doing a light coat and waiting for that to dry completely before adding the next coat. Below you can see my painting station. I set it up out front so I could watch the kids play. I made it easy on my back by raising the chair up on a table so I wouldn't have to bend over too much. I also hammered a nail into each of the chair legs so I could paint the entire leg without it sticking to anything.
Well, after two days, the first coat was still tacky. So, it was onto plan B: spray paint.
The store didn't have the same muted orange-red color as my paint, so I ended up getting more of a dark brick red color.
I started with the chairs. Luckily spray painting worked, no more tackiness. In the picture below you can see how the color differs from the table. It's much more obvious in person.
I started with the chairs. Luckily spray painting worked, no more tackiness. In the picture below you can see how the color differs from the table. It's much more obvious in person.
Since the chairs turned out, I went ahead and painted the table. You'd think since I was in the home stretch now, it would be smooth sailing, but no. I painted the table top in the early evening and it seems some bugs got stuck to it while it was drying. Oh, well, I was undeterred at this point. I would have my red painted table at last. So the next day I sanded off the bugs with the finest grit sandpaper we had and spray painted it again.
And at long last my kids play table was finally painted. I love how it add some color to that part of our living room.
And my 3 year old loves to play on it. It is great for coloring and building.
