Worn & Weathered Brown Antique Side Table

This relove was a big surprise once completed, let me share the process.

A kind neighbor gave me this sweet little table she hauled from home to home through her life having gotten it from her Grandmother. She always intended to refinish it but never got around to it. I was honored to be chosen to give it new life.

Under all the years of dust and cobwebs was a gorgeous solid wood beauty waiting to shine. As always the first step to the makeover was a deep scrub in every nook and cranny with warm soapy water with a bit of TSP.

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Once it was dry it was time to sand. There was a week of fair winter weather here in western Canada so I hauled it outside to power sand. This removed all the loose old finish and smoothed the wood.

Hand sanding was next to get in all the small areas the orbital sander could not reach.

To sand around the curvy legs I used Surfprep's orbital foam sanding pad that forms around the leg as it sands.

Here it is all sanded and ready for the next step.

All surfaces were wiped clean of sanding dust.

It is very rare an antique piece does not need some repair, this one just needed the base of one of the side holders glued. I like to use my handy offset spatula to let in between the layers.

Then a board was clamped to secure and dry.

Finally the fun part, the painting. My aunt called this piece as soon as she saw the dusty dirty before photo above. She pondered a mustard color but then asked if I had a charcoal brown.

When I paint pieces brown is never a color I use often seeing they are usually brown wood but it is her choice.

I did not have a charcoal brown but one of the great things about milk paint is you can mix custom colors easily. I mixed Homestead House milk paint colors sherwood brown and coal black. You can see the new custom color above on the bottom 2 shelves and spindles, what do you think?

video of the milk paint going on

Here it is all painted and wet. Here are many more milk paint projects I have done.

And above it is drying which goes lighter.

The entire table was sanded with a sanding sponge and the edges distressed to show wear. Then it was sealed with Fusion Hemp Oil. This is perfect for this antique piece as the hemp oil not only absorbs into the milk paint but the dry wood fibers.

It also deepens the color.

I wanted to add interest and depth so while the hemp oil was wet I used a sanding pad to wear more areas.

I LOVE the wood grain still shows and that the piece has imperfections that give it character .

The hemp oil is reapplied till saturated then wiped back and let dry. In the future more can be added as needed as well.

To add even a bit more dimension and depth Fusion Furniture Wax in black was brushed on with a chip brush and wiped back with a blue shop towel.

I am totally loving the new worn and weathered brown finish.

I now will add brown to my color options going forward.

It is truly beautiful and very authentic to this antique cutie.

Check out Homestead House Paint Co .; this is my affiliate link but prices are not increased using it. It does give a small commission so I can continue to share these free tutorials with you to help on your milk paint learning journey.

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