Farmhouse Pedestal Table: Downsizing for a Smaller Household
Our household is much smaller now since my older sons both got married and my daughter bought a new house last year. My youngest son still lives at home. I love my big farmhouse table but knew we could gain a lot of space if we downsized to a smaller one.
As luck would have it, I found a pedestal table at a thrift store for only $25.
It’s in great shape, but I wanted to refinish the top and paint the base.
I looked online at pedestal tables because I was undecided what color to paint the base. I spotted this one from Wayfair and decided I’d stay with black like our previous table had been.
How I Refinished and Painted a Farmhouse Pedestal Table
*This post contains affiliate links for which I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
What I used:
- Ready Strip
- Stripping Pads
- Mineral Spirits
- Dixie Belle’s Midnight Sky
- Dixie Belle’s Paint Brush
- Chip brush
- Paint scraper
- Sandpaper (100, 120, and 220 grit)
What I Did:
First, I needed to strip the glossy finish off the top. I used Ready Strip. I had never tried this before, but it was supposed to be a more environmentally friendly stripper. So I thought I’d give it a try.
The container said to wait 4-24 hours. I waited about 4 hours.
You have to apply it on thick. Where I applied it too thin, it was a little harder to remove with the paint scraper.
I followed that with mineral spirits on a stripping pad to remove any residual stickiness.
Then I sanded it with several grades of sandpaper (100, 120, 220) to make the top super soft and ready for stain. I forgot to take a photo of sanding and staining it, but you’ll see the result in the end.
I flipped the table on its top to paint the base. I did two coats using Dixie Belle’s Midnight Sky.
TIP – I soak my brushes in Murphy’s Oil Soap for a few hours, then clean them with dish soap and rinse with water. It removes even dried on paint and keeps them like new.
Once the base dried, I turned it back over and stained the top in the color Early American.
I let the stain dry for 24 hours, then applied three coats of Water Based Topcoat
drying for about an hour between coats. Then it was finished!
It was a good deal of work, but not hard. It was well worth the effort, saving me hundreds by refinishing it.
Since I saved a lot of money on the table, I splurged and got a large seagrass area rug and cross back chairs from Amazon that were very reasonably priced.
On the table, I have Pioneer Woman plates and coasters. She has the greatest things for the kitchen.
On the wall behind the table is the DIY Paper Dispenser.
I missed the rustic wood-framed chalkboard that I sold, so I switched out the corrugated metal I had in the Pallet Wood Frame and added thin wood painted with chalkboard paint, then stained the frame.
So, what do you all think of the new look of my farmhouse pedestal table?
Vaya con Dios,
Great job Angie, the table looks fantastic. Love the look of your kitchen, heck girl I love what you have done with the whole house.
Just beautiful and the chairs and rug look terific!
I have that exact same table in my kitchen! You have inspired me, it looks gorgeous!!!
Absolutely gorgeous! What color stain did you use it’s beautiful!
Blessings
Candy
Thanks Candy. It’s called Early American.
Love it. Just right.
Thanks Carol!
Angie I love that table. I always wanted one like that for our kitchen but we don’t have an eat in kitchen, we eat in the dining room. Hopefully our next house will have an eat in kitchen. You did a beautiful job on that table.
Patty, I wish we had a dining room but ours is a very small and old house. It doesn’t even have storage closets!
Angie,
You’ve done a brilliant job of refinishing your table. I have a trestle table I want to refinish. I’ll keep this article so I can perhaps use the same stripper you used and the finishing sealers. Do you like this stripper better than Citristrip? Thanks for sharing your project. It looks great in your kitchen!
It really worked about the same as Citrstrip Barbara. Thanks for your super sweet comment!
Love it – you did a wonderful job! Thank you for the step by step instructions too!
Thanks and you’re welcome Joann!
Beautiful!
Thanks a bunch Rosanne!
Turned out very nice. I like it
Thanks so much!
WOW! That is awesome. I love it and only $25. Your ideas are so nice. Take care and Happy Mother’s Day.
Thanks Tracy and Happy Mother’s Day to you too!
Looks really good in your kitchen! So much better with the upgrade.
Love this! Very nice job!!
Thanks Linda!
That table looks fantastic, love it so much, great job…x
Thanks so much Janette!
It looks really nice, I love your kitchen. I want to do the same but, haven’t found a table yet, you found a really nice one.
Thanks Marlene. I got really lucky finding mine so cheap.
That is beautiful, Angie! I love how it looks in the space!
Thanks so much Linda!
just awesome. what color of stain did you use? all of your hard work is so beautiful. thank you for sharing.
Tina, The color is Early American by Minwax.
Angie, that turned out beautifully. I have a round oak table that I’ve been thinking of painting and your table re-do is inspiring me to actually do it. I hadn’t tho’t to use black for the pedestal and legs, but seeing yours I really like the way it looks. I think it might work even tho’ I’d tho’t I’d use white. I guess I could go with white and if I didn’t like it paint it black.
Your posts are always inspiring, Angie. Thanks for this one.
I thought about doing white too Naomi, but my whole kitchen is white and I love the black contrast. Good luck painting yours!
Love the table and the whole kitchen.
Thanks a lot Gail!
It is beautiful! Great job!
Thanks Jackie!
You did a beautiful job refinishing your table! I love the color you chose too! Your dining room looks so pretty.
Oh WOW. I just gasped when I saw that finished shot. BEAUTIFUL project, Angie.
You provided a clear easy to follow instruction series with a lovely result. Enjoy!
I love the table as I found the same one. I basically did the exact same thing in deep Nay with a wide 3 stripe grain sack stripe in the center of the table top
I bet that is beautiful Jenny!
It’s beautiful! Congratulations on a job well done.
Thanks so much Rosemary!
Hi, I live in Australia and would love to know what you used to stain the table top and the process. Absolutely love the finished piece.
Cheers,
Roz
The complete list of supplies that I used and directions are in the blog post.
Thanks!
Beautiful! I’m planning on doing the same with our large oak 90’s looking table. Did you sand the base before painting? Is the paint holding up well?
Yes, it does, especially if sealed with a top coat.
I like it, Angie! It’s been a long time since we were at your house. I always enjoyed seeing what you were creating! Love Aunt Lillian
Did you sand the pedestal?
Yes, lightly.