End table makeover with milk paint and stain

How to update a thrift store find end table with milk paint and stain for a beautiful finish.

Remember last summer when I rearranged our living room?  That meant I needed another end table and I found this one for $15 at my favorite local thrift store!   When I shared it on Instagram stories several of you said you had the same one or a matching set from Ashley Furniture.  It really was in good shape except some wear and scratches on the top.  I had left it as is but it was finally time to give it a makeover. 

It really was in good shape except some wear and scratches on the top.  I had left it as is for quite a while but I really wanted it to have some contrast from our dark floors and fix the top so it was finally time to give it a makeover. 

Every piece of furniture I refinish I follow the same basic steps.  If I am going to restain the top, I sand it down to the bare wood.  I start with a rough grit of either 60 or 80 grit and then move up to a finer grit and finish with a 220 grit to make it super smooth. 

 

I stained the top with Varathane Classic Special Walnut and then did 1 coat of triple thick poly. 

For the base I painted it with Rust-Oleum milk paint in White  – it took 2 coats and once it was dry I distressed it just a little.  Then I did a coat of Rust-Oleum Chalked Matte Clear protective topcoat.

Are you ready to see it?  Here’s the before…

And here’s the after!

Again it really was in decent shape before but now the top is just gorgeous and has a nice thick layer of clear coat on it to protect it from scratches.  And now it has a nice contrast with our dark wood floors and doesn’t just get sort of lost. 

And that top!  I love the way it was designed with the inlay of the wood.  Now with the stain being a little lighter you can really see the design. 

I don’t always distress all my furniture pieces anymore but this one had such pretty lines that I decided to do just very light distressing.  Since our living room is a pretty high traffic area it would have probably seen a bit of distressing overtime anyways so this way I won’t be stressed if that happens. 

Here’s a picture of all the products I used – I love all of these!  I go back and forth between Special Walnut or Dark Walnut depending on the project – for pine wood I will usually use Dark Walnut. And I really can’t decide if I like Rust-Oleum’s chalk paint or milk paint better?  This piece didn’t have as much wood grain but for a piece like this desk that I refinished with the milk paint I love how it lets some of the grain show through with still giving good coverage. 

 

I’ll be sharing our spring living room very soon but here’s a quick shot of how it looks in our living room.  Always love finding an awesome wood furniture piece for cheap at a thrift store or yard sale and giving it a makeover – almost all of our furniture in our house was acquired this way and I love it!

 

If you loved this paint update, you’ll want to go check out these other updates done with paint! 

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