A Less-Precious Kid Table

KJ is coloring in style these days...

If you are a regular reader (become one over on the right sidebar!), you may remember seeing this little table and chairs in my first 2nd Hand Haul post. I'd had my eye out for a great kids' table for a few months when I found it at the mother of all yard sales.


It's a tad hard to see the color overload with the mid-day sun shining on it, but it was bright. Two coats of primer bright. I'm certain a vivacious little girl adored all the pastels on her table, but unfortunately for my boy (and very fortunately for my uber-manly husband), I just can't handle that many colors in my living room.  

I could have built a table set, but I really wanted something with a story. I can't explain why when it comes to some pieces, I'd rather hunt for something used to work on rather than just make something brand new. I suppose I just loved the idea of KJ playing and creating at a table that has been loved by other children. It is honestly just as enjoyable and rewarding to reincarnate a piece as it is to create something new. Or maybe I have just seen Toy Story too many times and have become irrationally attached to inanimate objects.

Right off the bat, I decided to only keep two of the chairs. I knew I was going to put the set in our living room, and there just wasn't room for the whole set. I plan on fixing up the other two to be sold as a set with another little table I found (which I'll update with some chalkboard paint and fun legs for sale - stay tuned!).

The table top was not attached - the builder had routered notches in the base for locks on the top to slide into. I loved that idea, and seriously considered finishing the underside in chalkboard paint so it could be reversible. In the end, I know my son, and anything temporary usually falls to pieces in time. 

I chose to add pocket holes to the insides of the apron on the base and attach the top permanently. Pocket holes are the easiest way to create an incredibly strong joint, while hiding your screws.

Here you see the top attached to the base.

I bounced around a few ideas for color choices on this project. Everything neutral? Some neutral, some color? A little bit of color blocking? As you can see from the picture above, I initially went with color blocking on the table - I didn't love it. I decided instead to dry-paint over the linen with my favorite teal Martha Stewart for Glidden in Arrowroot color, and dry-paint over the teal in the linen color. 

For the chairs, I started with the linen color and went over it with Arrowroot. A light sanding to smooth it out, and it was ready for wax.

The seats were an unknown, unsealed wood in beautiful condition and with great grains. A little cleaning and wax and they were good as new.

The color is one happy mistake that I'm pretty smitten with. The finish gives the set a little bit of color - it is for a kid, after all - while still in keeping with our fairly neutral living room.

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