How to upgrade a coffee table
An originally restored coffee table will add chic to the interior, while no one will be able to guess that the furniture is old. To make your dream come true, it is enough to recharge with creative energy, as well as gain patience and strength.
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Updating a Coffee Table
- Required tools and materials
- Preliminary repair
- Getting rid of the old coating
- Primary processing
- Table tinting and painting
- Decorating
- Video about the coffee table restoration process
- Photo gallery: options for decor and restoration of a coffee table
Advantages and Disadvantages of Updating a Coffee Table
Renovating old furniture is a good idea to renovate your interior. Such a trifle contributes to the creation of comfort and coziness in the house.
List of benefits of restoration:
- Saving money (when choosing a relatively inexpensive material for work).
- The opportunity to give furniture a second life.
- To arrange a table based on your own desires.
- If the interior item is made of expensive wood, then it can be used for a long time.
Along with the advantages, one can highlight the disadvantages of home furniture renovation:
- This activity will take a long time.
- If the cost of materials is significant and exceeds the cost of furniture, then this work will not pay off.
So, the task has been set - to restore the furniture, which means that you should study the order of how to update the coffee table.
Attention! Before making a decision, it is recommended to calculate the economic efficiency of the work.
Required tools and materials
Before restoring the table, you need to prepare the following:
- sandpaper (medium-sized and fine-grained) or sander;
- small roller and brush;
- drills and electric drill;
- plane;
- chisel;
- nail puller;
- nails;
- hammer;
- felt-tip pen or marker;
- hacksaw;
- roulette;
- putty;
- primer, paint and varnish;
- glue;
- means for treating wood from pests.
Do not forget about your own safety while performing operations. For this, it is worth preparing overalls, a respirator, goggles and household gloves.
Preliminary repair
Before you restore the coffee table with your own hands, the furniture should be repaired first.
Work algorithm:
- Assess the general condition of the furniture. Examine the wooden object externally, pay attention to the integrity of all elements, including whether the legs are broken. The structure should not creak and give way under load.
- Disassemble the furniture into the parts it consists of.
- If there are hinge parts, then they must be lubricated with a special agent.
- If rust is found on the metal, the elements must be replaced with new ones.
- If there is insufficient adhesion of structural parts, they must be glued together.
- If there is a need to make the furniture stable, but the legs should be changed to more massive ones.
- Products can be secured to corner braces for rigidity.
Its useful to note! If bubbles are found on the surface of chipboard or plywood, it means that the veneer has begun to gradually exfoliate.
Getting rid of the old coating
If a layer of varnish is applied to the base and it cracks over time, then such a coating should be removed in order to apply a new one. It is convenient to carry out these works with a spatula or chemical means, that is, with washes. Another good option for removing the old layer is to use sandpaper. Medium-grain paper is fine for this.
Important! So that the surface is not damaged by mechanical stress. For this, processing is carried out along the fibers.
When choosing to remove the old coating with chemical compounds, the following is done:
- Apply the product to the base with a brush.
- The active substances enter into a chemical reaction with the coating and after half an hour, the composition can be removed with a soft sponge.
- After removing the paintwork, it is necessary to treat the wood with antiseptics.
It is important to consider! If the furniture is expensive and rare, then these methods of primary processing will not work, it is better to use a wash from a solution of powder or detergent gel. It will be safe on the wood surface.
Primary processing
Restoring furniture should start by removing small cracks, scratches, chips or dents.
For this, the following operations are performed:
- With a broom, sweep away the dust formed in the crevices.
- Apply wood putty to all detected defects.
- Remove excess putty from the surface, while leveling the latter.
- Leave for a while to dry the base.
- Remove any irregularities with sandpaper.
- Repeat filling and sanding if necessary.
The sequence of work before painting:
- Remove old coating.
- Sandpaper in all shells and bumps.
- Glue all parts of the structure and tighten them onto self-tapping screws.
- Place the legs in place.
- Connect the frame to the worktop.
Attention! During the work, large holes or depressions may be found. To eliminate them, you can use epoxy resin or a mixture of sawdust and glue (drying oil is allowed).
Table tinting and painting
Before finishing, the surface should be primed. Apply the composition to the worktop and frame.
Stages of table processing:
- Rinse the surface and apply the composition in a thin layer with a spatula.
- After the first layer has dried, apply the next one.
- When all layers are dry, remove the unevenness with sandpaper.
After priming, you can start painting or toning the surface. Renovation of the substrate can be done by simple painting with a brush and roller, and paint can be applied through a stencil or tulle. Next comes the treatment of furniture with wax or varnish. The first provides excellent protection against adverse environmental factors. Surface tinting is done with stain.
In order for the staining to be of high quality, it is important to apply the paint evenly, and after the first layer dries, walk along the base with sandpaper. Reapply the paint in a perpendicular direction. All layers of dried paint must be sanded to ensure a smooth surface.
It's important to know! When choosing brushes, you should pay attention to their quality, since the pile of a poor-quality brush remains on the surface. If the places are hard to reach, then it is recommended to process them with a thin brush.
Decorating
Decorating the countertop will give it a stunning look. To do this, you can use several options:
- Mosaic. Pieces of colored glass or ceramic tiles are laid out on a previously prepared surface, and different patterns are formed. After that, the seams between the tiles and the perimeter are rubbed with a special compound.
- Decor application. If the countertop is large, then you can use not only small tiles, but also larger ones. The work is carried out according to the algorithm indicated above, but the pattern will be geometric.
- Picture under glass (more suitable for rectangular or square countertops). A frame is nailed along the perimeter, inside which pictures or photographs are glued, you can pour sand or lay out a pattern of shells). Glass is superimposed on top.
Attention! Before choosing a decoration method, you should know the area of the base in order to calculate the required amount of material.
Restoration of a coffee table is a creative and individual work and every owner will be able to realize his ideas. The main thing is to think over everything to the smallest detail.
Video about the coffee table restoration process