How to Update Your Coffee Table to Farmhouse Style with Confidence

Learn how to update an old coffee table into modern farmhouse style. If you have an outdated coffee table, read this before you throw it out! Updating a coffee table is easier than you thin and you might be surprised at the results! You can easily add a modern farmhouse look to it with some chalk paint and stain.

This chalk paint coffee table makeover helped me gain some new skills. If you have ever seen a really beautiful diy project and wanted to do it? But then you kinda get stuck because it involves something you have never done before. You might question whether or not you would be able to do it.

Well that was me with today’s coffee table makeover. This one was a furniture freebie from my friend Sarah’s sister.

My friend called me during the time we were moving into our first home. Her sister was downsizing from a home into an apartment and had a couple of things she was wanting to get rid of.

One of the items was this old coffee table. I knew the table was sturdy because my friend had it previously in her apartment.

I really liked how wide the table was and the fact that it had two drawers. With two small children extra drawers for storing coloring books and crayons would always be a plus. But it definitely needed an update.

Although I had a lot of different visions of how the coffee table would look best. I knew I wanted something that was farmhouse style. I had seen some really nice farmhouse pieces with the tops stained and the bottom painted. But I didn’t have much experience with stain.

I was a little intimidated by it. The last time I had used stain was on the floor in my childhood home. When my aunt had sanded my entire floor with a hand sander! All I remembered about stain was it was a bit touchy.

When I finally had the time to sit down and look at the table more closely. I discovered that the front of the table was actually particle board. I had been assuming the piece was all wood.

I then thought of painting the entire table. It would definitely be easier because I knew I wouldn’t have to sand anything. Also the top was really a trouble area with all the water spots.

But for some reason I kept thinking the stain would be best on the top.

I decided I needed to give stain one more shot. I went with Annie Sloan Coco chalk paint with clear wax on the sides and drawers. And then stained the top with Miniwax’s Red Mahogany with a polycrylic matte finish.

So with the very small bit of experience I had with stain, I dove right into this new project. Maybe a little too fast. Because I didn’t even pause long enough to read the directions on the stain!

Oops! For someone who was nervous about starting you think I would have at least read the directions. Well…then I started to have problems. What I was hoping would be a quick project turned into a two week ordeal.

But in the end I was still glad that I wasn’t intimidated and just jumped right in. Because I learned a ton in the process and feel like I got more of the farmhouse feel with the stain. To learn more about staining with confidence and some things to avoid go here.

I was so pleased with the final look of the table. Doesn’t it look perfectly farmhouse? And plus now I am a staining machine. Look out old 1990’s orangey kitchen table you are next!

Have a good weekend! Happy DIYing!

Let me know what helps you gain confidence with a new type of project.

Elizabeth