This post brought to you by DecoArt.

I am so flippin’ excited to share with you the amazing transformation that is my dining room table. I am so excited, in fact, that I am even showing you pictures of my incomplete dining room! That’s right, we’ve been in the house for almost a week, but I still don’t have curtains or blinds up. And I have essentially no decor in this room, but I love this Chalky Finish Paint Dining Room Table Makeover! It makes me smile.

Americana Decor Chalky Finish Painted Dining Room Table

Let’s take a peek at the before:

Dining Room ChairsDining Room Table prior to painting it a beautiful aqua blue!(I got a little excited and started the chairs before taking a picture! Oops!)

We purchased this table when we bought our first home back in 2004. Since then it has seen many family dinners, homework sessions, craft sessions, game nights, baking nights and more! It’s taking a beating and we weren’t super gentle with it. The result? Lots of blemishes and an uneven finish from wear and tear. I had no desire to place this table in my new house. While at SNAP Conference in April I had been chatting with other bloggers about Chalky Finish paint and they kept telling me about how easy it was to use, so I decided, heck to the wind, I am painting.my.table. Mind you – I hate painting furniture. I hate how time consuming it is. I hate to sand (I cannot STAND the sound of sandpaper… it makes me shudder just thinking about it!). So this was a major decision for me. Since Decoart was at SNAP, I was able to check out their Americana Decor Chalky Finish line and I fell in love with the colors and ease of use. I ended up deciding on Treasure for my table and Everlasting for my chairs. I also went with a Clear Creme Wax as the finishing agent.

Americana Decor Chalky Finish Painted Dining Room Table

So here’s what I learned while painting my dining room table with Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint:

Don’t panic if, after you allow the paint to dry, it flakes off a bit. I sat in my freshly dried chair and my phone knicked the paint and it came right off. I immediatly had crazy thoughts of “OH NO! I messed up my whole set! This paint isn’t going to work and now I don’t have a table!” Take a deep breath. Apply a second coat, allow it to dry and then apply your finish. The finish is what protects it and keeps it from happening! I painted my table right before having to move everything into storage for 1 month and am happy to report that it survived the move to the storage unit, the 1 month storage and the move to the new house with only a 2 minor dings that needed touching up!

Water down the paint. I started with a chair first because I wanted to make sure I was comfortable with the paint before tackling the table top. The first chair I did, I didn’t water down the paint and it was thick and hard to spread. For the second chair, I added a small amount of water, mixed well and tested the application. It was still a little thick, so I added a touch more until I found a consistency that felt good.

For flat surfaces, use a foam roller. It gives an even coat and makes application go quicker.

Use a quality brush. I went with a Purdy 1″ brush for the chairs. It was a tad pricier than other brushes, but worth the money. Definitely no hairs left behind.

Take your time! It took me about an hour per chair. I made sure I got in every crevice and corner. I did about 2-3 coats per piece. Because I know I’m not one to enjoy painting furniture, I budgeted about 1 month for me to complete this project. I did a chair or two a week and finished the table right before our family vacation so that it could cure for 7 days before it got used. If you find painting relaxing, you could bang this out in a day or two, but I still recommend taking your time, making sure you get even coverage and allow the coats to dry completely before applying another.

Use an Americana Decor Varnish versus the Creme Wax if you are looking for a finish that doesn’t require as much upkeep. I didn’t realize the wax needs to be re-applied every few months. I’m OK with this, because we are just trying to squeak out another year or two out of this table before we finally replace it with something that can expand bigger.

How much paint did it take? I used 1 8 oz jar of paint on my table (technically it wasn’t a full jar since I had used it for some other projects prior to my table) and 3 8 oz jars on my chairs and bench.

This is a great, affordable solution to breathing new life into a table or other piece of furniture. Don’t be afraid to give it a try. If I can do it, so can you!