My Kitchen Table

I seem to have gone renovation crazy and anyone who follows me on Twitter will no doubt have read my moans about all the painting I was doing in the autumn. 

Well I am pleased to say that the majority of the painting is done (just the girls rooms left) and after I completed my chalkboard wall I was feeling brave and eager to start my next project. Thanks to Pintrest (who I am blaming entirely), I have discovered that I love, love, love the French Country look and everywhere I seemed to turn there were the renovated kitchen tables. Again (as I do) I assumed it can't be that hard to sand and paint a table, can it??

I wanted a table that extends but I also wanted something really cheap (in case I did bugger it up and then I hadn't really lost out). Luckily I found a real bargain on eBay, extending solid wood table only 10 miles from where I live and I won it for a tenner! Bargain! (unfortunately though I cannot find the before picture I took, gutted)

So we set to work on it immediately. My fabulous husband very kindly stripped it all down, cleaned it, oiled the mechanisms and he even sanded it for me. 

I then varnished the top in Ronseal Diamond Hard Varnish in mahogany, it needed three coats and the reason I went with varnish instead of wax was that I thought it would give a tougher surface but in reality it seems to scratch easily so I am going to have to wax it as well.

The legs I then painted in Farrow and Ball, I don't know what I was expecting from the paint but my first initial thoughts were slightly disappointed, it needed three coats and then seemed to mark when touched but now I have to say I love it, it looks great.

The table itself won't be staying long term as its not quite chunky enough but as a temporary measure and also as my first attempt at anything like this I am delighted with the results.

The chairs are next on my list and Amelia has requested that hers be done in pink and not white, as girls like pink apparently.