{DIY} Orange is the New Black

So you may have already seen this table in my Happy 1st Birthday Condo post but the process from getting it from black to orange deserves its own post.  Tune in tomorrow to see the before photos of our dining room…yes, I've already revealed what it looks like now & you can see it 3 sentences up, BUT I wanted to show what the room looked like prior. So I'll just reveal things a bit backwards. It's all part of the chaos, what can I say?!

Now, on to the table. I was sitting on my couch this summer & it occurred to me, my black table needed to become orange. I don't really know where this thought came from, I just knew it NEEDED to happen.  I've had this table for 7 years & after moving 4 times (including once across the country) & surviving Duke's puppy years (yes, he liked to chew on my wood chairs) this table needed a face lift & it needed it bad. I've seen lots of DIY on Pinterest for painting tables & furniture, how hard could it possibly be? Famous. Last. Words.

There were 3 questions I needed answers to before I could begin:

1. Would J be OK with me doing this?
2. What color should I paint the chairs?
3. How the hell do you paint furniture?

Truthfully, I knew the answer to #1 wouldn't really matter, but luckily J is ALL about  color & was in support of this decision.  I do wonder while I was swearing/crying during this process if he regretted his decision to support my idea.   The 2nd question, however, was much more difficult to answer.  What color would look best with orange? White would make my table look like a creamsicle. Leaving the chairs black made it look like Halloween. Maybe purple? After polling my friends/Googling, blue was the winner.  I was pretty uncertain, but decided to go with it.  Now, on to #3.  My dear friend Lauren has painted many pieces of her furniture, so luckily she was on board to help me through this pain in the ass process.  She also turned me on to the blog, Centsational Girl for some tips & tricks to painting my table.

First things first, we needed supplies & paint (see below for a complete list of products used). After securing brushes, primer, sealant & sand wedges at Lowes, we headed to Sherwin Williams as Lauren has had success with their paint before.  I picked out the orange I wanted, but now came for the blue.  After looking at multiple shades, I just wasn't feeling any of them.

Then, Lauren came up with the brilliant idea of painting the chairs pink. I love the look of orange & pink, but wasn't sure if J would go for it.  After a heated internal debate, I said F it & bought the pink paint thinking it'd be a fun surprise for J.  Now lets get to it.

I didn't have any drop cloths at home, so I thought putting garbage bags down would suffice. Let's just say mid-way through this process, J bought me a drop cloth. Use a drop cloth.

First, my table folds down, so the easiest thing to do was take the leaves off & paint them separately. Thank you J for your help with this!

Using a sand wedge, Lauren & I gently sanded the chairs & table to get them ready for the primer. 

Once the table was sanded, using a lightly damp rag, wipe off the dust from sanding. 

Time to prime. I used one can for my entire table & chairs.

Also a word of advice, spend a little more & get nicer brushes. The cheap brushes will constantly lose bristles while you're painting & it is a pain in the ass. Yes, speaking from experience here.

Brush on your primer & keep as even as possible, BUT it's ok if it's thicker in some areas than others.

I only did one coat of primer, but when going from black furniture to something lighter, I'd recommend doing a 2nd coat.  The primer needs to dry for at least 4 hours before applying your first coat of paint. I let the primer dry overnight.

Once the primer is dry, using a sand wedge, gently run the wedge back over the primer smoothing out any areas that are thicker than the other.  Using a semi-damp rag, gently wipe away all the dust from sanding.

Now it is finally time to paint! If your furniture has lots of flat surfaces, I recommend using a roller brush for the large spaces. It is faster & your paint spreads more evenly.  Still use the angled brush for the edges.

After the first coat, let it dry for 8 hours before applying the next coat.

I ended up using 3-4 coats.  It was a long process.

Yep, that happened. Moving on…

After I painted 3 coats of orange to my table, taking me 3 separate days, I wanted to find a way to really tie in the orange chairs.  I decided to do just a simple pink stripe on the middle shelf.  After taping off the selected area, I added the pink & was THRILLED with how it looked...

Then I took the tape off…and saw how much the paint bled under the crappy tape. Fantastic. Insert a lot of four letter words & some tears.

My perfectionist side was beyond frustrated & refused to leave it as is, so I ended up just panting the entire shelf.

My apologies for the crappy photo, it was taken with my phone.

2 coats later, the middle shelf was done. 

After the chairs & table were dry, it was time to seal.  Using an angled brush, lightly brush on your protectant making sure to keep your strokes even & all going in the same direction. It is incredibly important to seal your furniture.

Let your sealant dry for a solid 48 hours before using your furniture. But then you should be good to go! Here's a closer look at my final product.

It wouldn't be a condo photo without a dog toy sneaking in

Supplies Used:

Medium (80-120 grit) sanding wedge

Primer - I used Zinnser Cover Stain Primer

Latex paint color of choice - I used Sherwin-Williams ProClassic

2” angled quality paintbrush - I used 4 different brushes

Water based polyurethane protectant - I used Minwax Polycrylic Protectant Finish