A Queen Anne Table Rescue

Since the whole reason for starting this blog was so I could talk about painting furniture, I guess it’s about time for me to post another restoration project.

I’m kicking myself because I accidentally deleted the before pictures I took of this table. So, in a picture of words . . . When I first laid eyes on this little Queen Anne table, it was sitting forlorn in a corner of the garage. It’s color was a deep, dark walnut, with a hint of blood-red undertones that seeped eerily to the surface. As I rubbed my hand across the dusty top, the dry feel of the wood sent shivers up my spine and a musty smell arose to fill my nostrils. There was no hint of protective sheen left on the table’s dingy wood, only a dull sadness. Two deep cigarette burns on top were an indication of neglect and abuse. As lost as this table appeared at first glance, there yet remained a hint of it’s former elegance in the shape of it’s lovely legs. Hope stirred within my heart . . .

What this table needed was a good cheering up! The paint color I used was Valspar’s Twilight Meadow, mixed according to my Homemade Chalk Paint Recipe #3 (from a previous post). I loved the color but felt like the table needed something more than paint alone. Fortunately, I came across a design I loved at: Jones Design Company.  Emily, of Jones Design created a template to “wallpaper” an entire room in her house (Whew, that is a lot of work!), and she shares this free downloadable template, and DIY instructions on her website. Since this table is so small I decided not to do the “double” design. Here are some step-by-step pictures of my project:

This is the template that I printed and shrunk to the size I needed on my printer. I cut it out and traced it onto heavy cardboard. Then I started tracing it in pencil on the table top. I traced one side of the shape first, then moved the template over about 1/4″ and traced again, to create the outline I would paint within. Then, I repeated the same procedure with the other side of the template and kept repeating across the entire table.

When the tracing was complete I filled in the outline with Annie Sloan’s Graphite chalk paint. My lines aren’t perfect but that just adds a bit of character! After the paint was dry I took out my sanding block and did some distressing. This is how it looks up to that point.

Painting a piece of furniture with chalk paint is a fairly quick and easy process. It is the finishing of each individual piece that consumes the most time. On this particular piece, I felt that the graphite lines were still too “fresh” looking. Since I wanted my table to look like it had aged gracefully over time I thinned some plain white paint with water and brushed it over the entire piece, then wiped most of it off with paper towels. Next, I thinned down some light grey paint I had on hand and repeated the procedure. When I was finally happy with the look, and after a short dry time, I did a bit more sanding, and covered the entire table with a mixture of Annie Sloan’s dark and clear waxes to seal.

What do you think? I’m happy with the illusion of layers of color coming to the surface. I feel like I’m looking into a pool of water.

These photos show how the piece glows after buffing.

And here she is, staged to show off her full potential. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my sweet little Queen Anne table.

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