How to restore an old coffee table with your own hands. Step-by-step restoration of an old table

Question about how to update old table with their own hands, ask the owners of high-quality furniture, the appearance of which has lost its presentability. You can do the work yourself, because the table, located in good condition, does not require complex repairs, and there are a lot of materials available for updating it.

Similar articles:

Decorating the tabletop

There are many ways to update your table. To change its design, just decorate the tabletop. It is the first detail of the table that catches the eye, and the overall impression of the interior of the room largely depends on its appearance.

The easiest way to decorate is to repaint it. More difficult option– surface painting. You can imitate it by using the decoupage technique. Inexperienced craftsmen can also use this method of finishing the countertop.

Ways to transform a table

Before starting the restoration of the table, it is better to study the methods of restoring it and choose the least expensive and most simple technology. Methods for updating a wooden table and furniture made from wood-based materials are not always the same. General rule For all types of tabletop decoration, it is necessary to prepare the surface for finishing. Any coating must be in reliable contact with it.

Self-adhesive film - the laziest way

You can remake an old table with your own hands using self-adhesive film. She imitates mosaic covering, stone, wood grain, etc. The film can be used to change the design of a recently purchased countertop. Applying the material to the prepared surface takes several minutes.

The base for the film should be as smooth as possible. This decoration method is best used when finishing varnished surfaces and tabletops made of laminated chipboard. It is desirable that they do not have chips, cracks or swelling. To veneer the tabletop, you need to do the following:

  1. Glue the film onto a clean, grease-free, dry surface, gradually removing the protective layer and spreading it over the plane. soft cloth. It is important to avoid the formation of wrinkles and air bubbles.
  2. Remove small blisters by piercing the film with a thin needle.

The material is easy to cut, because it back side Marking lines are applied. The size of the film coating is made slightly larger than the dimensions of the tabletop. In this case, the film can be tucked under it. The ends of the decorated slab are often covered edge tape made of melamine, PVC or ABS plastic.

The damaged base requires repair before gluing the film. Irregularities must be filled and cleaned sandpaper and primed, but the surface is uniform after similar work not easy to achieve. Additional application of paint will help level it out.

Decoupage: a new look from napkins

An original tabletop will be created if its design is changed using the decoupage technique. Decoupage napkins are used in table restoration. Today a wide range of similar products is available.

Before updating the table, the top and side surfaces The countertops are freed from the old coating. Varnish, paint, drawings, etc. can be removed with a sander. Then the base is cleaned with fine-grained sandpaper. When creating a background for the selected picture, use acrylic primer and acrylic paints. The coating must be applied in 2-3 layers to level the surface as best as possible. After drying, each layer is sanded. Then they do this:

  • the napkin is freed from the protective layer;
  • the front side is applied to plastic film or file, level and moisten with water from a spray bottle.
  • the pattern is pressed to the base and leveled, moving the roller along the film, avoiding the formation of bubbles and folds;
  • it is carefully removed, and the tabletop with the images is covered with decoupage glue or PVA;
  • Varnish is applied to the dried surface.

In decoration, the blend is often combined with craquelure. This technique allows you to give the table an antique look. A simple finishing method looks like this:

  1. The prepared tabletop is evenly coated with a layer of water-based (acrylic) paint. It is applied with a flat brush.
  2. A layer of PVA glue is also applied and dried.
  3. Apply paint that contrasts with the first layer and dry it with a hairdryer. Hot air will cause cracks in the coating.
  4. Decoupage napkins are placed on the surface. The tabletop is varnished at least twice with clear varnish. Each subsequent layer is applied after the varnish in the previous one has dried.

Decorating with tiles

Restoring an old table with your own hands in the kitchen can be done with ceramic tiles, mosaics or porcelain stoneware. The surface of the tabletop will become waterproof, but a heavier table will need a strong support. Base from Chipboard is better replace or cover with a sheet of OSB or plywood.

A reinforcing mesh is applied to the primed surface. An adhesive composition is applied to it. After laying the tiles, the seams are rubbed down. The decoration is completed by finishing the ends with plastic or wooden planks.

painting

Not only artists do painting. It is permissible to apply drawings to the tabletop using stencils and a spray gun. You can paint both unpainted wood and coated wood. paint and varnish material surface. It is better to use acrylic paints for painting.

Painting in different colors

In this method of decoration, you can use paint, fragments of self-adhesive film and decorative tape. They create a multi-colored surface from thin parallel stripes.

When painting, it is recommended to use masking tape. Tape can be used to mark the boundaries of areas of a particular color or to protect them from unwanted paint of a different shade. The final leveling of the surface is achieved with colorless acrylic varnish.

An old table in the house is more than just a piece of furniture. In a sense, this is history, the memory of our ancestors, a symbol of the long-term stability of our home.

You can restore an old table, giving it a second life, and saving yourself a lot of money on buying a new table.

The ideal balance between careful attention to the history of one's family and the needs of everyday comfort is provided by restoring a table with one's own hands. Indeed, you shouldn’t rush to throw away an antique table found in the attic - good repair is able to breathe a second life into a dilapidated object, saving cash its owner, intended for the purchase of new furniture.

Perhaps such a renovation will also give new aesthetic sensations when looking at unusual shapes and silhouettes, and will delight you with a pleasant warm texture solid wood, cleaned of dirt and layers of outdated finishing.

But before moving on to the description of the move restoration work, let's see what can be used to perform them most efficiently.

Materials and tools necessary for restoration

For work on restoring and updating an old table with your own hands, it is recommended to stock up on tools and materials from the following list:

Hand tools for restoration.

  • electric drill, wood drills;
  • set of chisels;
  • end plane;
  • hammer;
  • nail puller;
  • screwdrivers (flat and Phillips);
  • clamps;
  • jigsaw (manual or electric);
  • pliers and round nose pliers;
  • hacksaws (for wood and metal);
  • assembly knife;
  • set of files;
  • measuring devices (ruler, square, tape measure);
  • felt polishing;
  • set of brushes;
  • wood glue;
  • acrylic varnish, stain.

Restoring a wooden table: the order of operations performed

Restoration begins with the removal of old varnish and paint.

Before proceeding with this plan, it is necessary to carefully examine the entire table and its most hidden nooks and crannies. This is done in order to correctly assess the overall technical condition subject and plan the total amount of work.

Almost any major restoration of a table begins with its disassembly. As a rule, the older the item, the more of its parts require serious instrumental intervention. In some cases (if, for example, the tabletop has become very warped due to very long use), it is simply pointless to restore certain parts - it will be too expensive and ineffective.

Then it is better to either independently manufacture a product that has completely failed, or order the part from outside specialists. If damage from time and improper storage turned out to be not so destructive, then the old structure should be carefully strengthened. This means, in particular, that the existing ones are not very strong connections should be tightened, and severely loose joints should be disassembled, then cleaned and re-twisted or glued.

It has been noticed that in furniture one of the most damaged components over time is the paint and varnish coating.

The varnish is removed from the table to the very base.

Therefore, often when they start updating an old wooden table, they have to tear off old paint(which may be laid in several layers) from the surfaces of the table.

If there are too thick coatings or large areas of damaged surface, it is recommended to use a drill with a nozzle in the form of metal brush or grinder. After complete removal of the old paint, next stage preparation.

It consists of degreasing the cleaned surface. This can be done by thoroughly wiping wooden parts soft rags soaked in special solvents suitable for this coating, alcohol or acetone. At the same time, obvious defects are sanded with sandpaper or a grinder.

However, old damage (potholes, scratches, chips, etc.) cannot always be removed by grinding. High-quality restoration involves mandatory puttying of the surfaces of the old table. At the same time, we must not forget that after the putty has completely dried, all treated surfaces must be sanded well again.

If possible, it is advisable to process old wooden parts separately, after carefully separating the tabletop and underframe. The tabletop is sanded again, after which it is painted with a paint suitable for furniture and covered with 2-3 layers of colorless varnish. This operation is performed without haste, allowing each layer of paint and varnish to dry until it is completely dry.

if there are breaks, these places are glued and pressed tightly against each other with a clamp.

Another part of the table - the underframe - often requires more more attention than a table top. After many years of use, it may have cracks in parts and serious breaks. If the owner of such a rarity nevertheless decides to restore it, then he should first, using the appropriate tools, disconnect the legs from the base.

The fracture sites must be glued to further connect the separated parts. Then, using clamps, these parts are pressed tightly against each other. Sometimes, to better tighten the dried parts together, you can use self-tapping screws, which are very useful in inconvenient places where it is difficult or impossible to install a clamp.

After the glue has dried (about 12-15 hours), the screws are removed from wooden elements table. The tabletop and underframe are connected to each other either with glue, or by providing a removable connection, which will be very useful in small apartments.

The restoration of the table ends with varnishing of the wood parts. But before that they need to be opened with stain. To avoid drips, it is better to do this with a piece of soft foam rubber. After the stain has dried, the wooden surfaces of the table are primed with transparent varnish (primer) and lightly sanded with fine sandpaper.

How can you restore “specialized” tables?

When updating tables, you should always take into account their purpose and the place where they will be located in the future:

A children's table can be decorated with photographs and drawings.

  1. Children's table. It is recommended that after stripping the tabletop of old paint and sanding, paste clippings from bright glossy magazines or children's pictures onto its surface. Then the whole thing is covered with 4 layers of acrylic varnish.
  2. Restoration of a dressing table. An original solution Repurposing an old vanity table into a sink stand might be a good idea. A hole is cut in the middle of the table of such a size that a sink can fit into it, but without significant protrusions above the surface of the table. Ceramic tiles can be glued to the remaining space on the countertop.
  3. Kitchen table. You can paint an old piece of furniture with some bright paint. A film is glued to the painted tabletop, which, for example, imitates beautiful lace. At the same time, the film can not be glued to the tabletop, but attached from below with special brackets.
  4. Update desk. You can cover the old tabletop with some wallpaper with a spectacular print. To give furniture freshness and solidity, wallpaper that imitates the texture of some kind of wood is well suited. valuable breed. To give the composition a feeling of integrity and completeness, the table legs can be varnished in wood tones.
  5. Coffee table. A bright pattern with geometric elements will harmonize well with this option. As a background, it is better to choose some kind of dull paint, which is recommended to be applied to the tabletop with a spray gun. The geometric pattern is applied to the dried painted surface with a brush or special masking tape. The fragments between the stripes can be filled with brightly colored paints.

The kitchen table can be decorated using decoupage technique.

If the table legs will be detached from the underframe, it is worth marking in advance where exactly the particular leg was located. Each leg should be installed in the place where it was before repair.

When covering a table with a white primer, you must be prepared for the fact that almost all defects will become visible on its surfaces.

To provide furniture surfaces with maximum strength, varnish coating must consist of at least 3 layers made with a paint roller, 5 layers with a spray gun and 10 layers with a cotton swab.

Grind wooden table top follows the wood grain. If you do this across the grain, noticeable small marks will remain on the countertop.

When taking on the restoration of old furniture with your own hands, it is worth thinking about the fact that this process is not only an opportunity to save your money, but also an excellent chance to reveal your talent as a home design master.

Many people have it stored at home or somewhere in the country. old furniture. And most often these are not expensive antiques from tsarist times, but the most ordinary cabinets, chests of drawers, tables and chairs. At first glance, it may seem that most of these things are high time to throw away, but take a closer look - often these are high-quality products made of solid wood or maybe even forged metal, which will last for many more years if they are beautifully restored. In this article we will talk about ways to decorate tables - kitchen, dining, coffee, work - of different sizes and shapes.

However, many of the presented options are equally suitable for other interior items. Perhaps these examples will inspire you to turn nondescript, shabby furniture into a real work of art, because it’s so nice to contemplate the beauty made by yourself!

12 ways to give new life to an old table

1. Painting

The best way to update a worn-out table is to paint it, but first you need to prepare the surface. A paint remover will help remove the previous finish from the product.

If there is rust on metal legs or fittings, it should be soaked generously with vinegar, Coca-Cola or special means, and after 15-20 minutes wipe with a hard scraper.

The wood is sanded with sandpaper, dust is removed, then impregnated with an antiseptic and a primer is applied. All chips, cracks and irregularities are rubbed over with acrylic wood putty.

For painting, you can use alkyd enamel, acrylic or epoxy paints, varnishes, and aerosol compositions for metal. Will also be required painting tools- brush, roller, sponge, sprayer.

To give the table a more impressive look, you can paint it not entirely, but only individual parts. For this you will need masking tape or stencils.

2. Artistic painting

If a plain cover seems too boring, try decorating an old table with patterns. Drawings can be applied with a brush and acrylic paints - manually, through a stencil or according to outlines made using tracing paper.

A table with artistic painting will perfectly complement the interior in ethnic or rustic style, and children will like images of animals, fairy-tale and cartoon characters.

3. Decoupage

For this decor you will need a brush, paper napkins with a pattern, PVA glue and transparent furniture varnish.

The pictures are carefully torn off or cut out with scissors, the bottom layers of paper are removed, then the resulting thin appliqués are placed in the designated place and coated with glue on top, trying to avoid folds and tears.

If any element cannot be attached the first time, it must be immediately wiped with a sponge dampened warm water, and try again with a similar fragment.

Dried decoupage is coated with transparent furniture varnish in several layers, otherwise the paper decor will quickly be erased.

4. Craquelure

Craquelure is a cracking varnish that is used to deliberately give a product a look that imitates the texture of antique paintings. It can be one-step (the composition is applied in one layer and cracks as it dries) and two-step (two mixtures are used - one based on epoxy resins, the second on water based, they interact and a characteristic texture is obtained). The color of the veins is determined by the bottom layer acrylic paint, as well as the shade of the grout. Most often, powdered golden pigment or pastel is used for this purpose.

Two-step craquelure is usually used to complement decoupage or hand painting to achieve the effect of an aged painting. One-step is more suitable for products without patterns.

5. Tiles

It happens that after repair there is a small supply left ceramic tiles. It can be used to decorate an old table - just tile it wooden base. The installation technology in this case is practically no different from finishing walls or floors.

The ceramic surface is ideal for a table in the kitchen, terrace, veranda, gazebo or even outside.

To give the table an attractive look, in addition to plain tiles, you should use patterned borders, decorative panels(possibly even with some plots) or a stylish patchwork.

6. Mosaic

Paintings from small fragments decorate many galleries, temples and palaces. They will look just as elegant in the home, for example, on the surface of coffee tables.

Mosaic elements can be ceramic (even broken tiles will do), glass or acrylic.

From available materials, small round cuts of wood, cut CDs, and colored pebbles are suitable. You just need to come up with an interesting pattern and attach the pieces to the table using glue or liquid nails.

7. Self-adhesive film

The simplest and nice option decor of an old table that does not require fiddling with paints - gluing film.

This available material can imitate any coating - from rare wood to marble, it can have any designs, patterns and textures.

Self-adhesive film is sold in rolls, and it is easy and pleasant to use.

8. Decorative tape

In stationery and creative supply stores in Lately There is a wide selection of decorative self-adhesive tapes. It will take you no more than 30-40 minutes to decorate an old table with multi-colored tape and a new bright thing will appear in the interior.

If you want to change the finish, the adhesive strips can be removed just as quickly, and if there is any glue left somewhere, acetone will easily dissolve it.

9. Epoxy resin

Epoxy resin is a liquid substance that hardens quickly on outdoors, turning into hard transparent plastic.

Cracks in wood filled in this way look very unusual, and if luminescent powder is added to the liquid phase, they will glow brightly in the dark.

also in epoxy resin You can place dried flowers, leaves, shells, coins, and thanks to the transparency of the substance, you get the effect of ice or amber.

Has old furniture lost its former luster? Tired of it, but would you mind throwing it away? All this can be fixed: you can appearance improve it so that no one will think that the furniture is many years old. Do-it-yourself furniture restoration is painstaking work. But you don’t have to do anything super complicated. Some methods are so simple that anyone can do it (we're not talking about antiques, of course).

Restoration of wooden surfaces

No matter how carefully you handle the furniture, abrasions, scratches, and stains still appear. They are easy to eliminate. The main thing is to know how and with what.

Restoring polishing

Restoring a layer of varnish is a complicated matter. Any furniture restoration begins with cleaning and degreasing, and repairing the varnish coating too. We use detergent for dishes, diluted in water: safe and reliable. After drying, we proceed to refinishing the polish.


You can simply refresh the faded polish on furniture using mixtures you prepare yourself:

  1. In two parts linseed oil and turpentine and part of vinegar. Mix everything, apply with a swab, wait until it is absorbed and polish.
  2. Mix in equal parts oil and beer and wipe the furniture with this mixture. After it has been absorbed, rub.
  3. The surface will be more shiny if you boil beer with a piece of wax, cool it and apply it slightly warm to the furniture. When the composition is absorbed, the surface is rubbed until shiny.

A few more recipes in the video.

How to remove polish from furniture

Quite often you have to remove the polishing: it is not the most fashionable finish. Modern furniture Most often it is painted with opaque or tinting paints, and the surface is matte. In any case, the polish must be removed. There are several ways. Since varnishes come in different compositions, you have to select them experimentally. But one of the methods should work.


How to paint polished furniture

If old furniture was prepared for painting, it must be cleaned of dust, wiped with a damp cloth and allowed to dry. Then level everything with putty, smooth out all the unevenness, wait until it dries. Take sandpaper and sand again, first with medium, then with fine grain. Next, apply a layer of primer and wait for it to dry.

You buy a primer for the paint you are going to use, or you can dilute the paint with a compatible solvent and coat it instead of primer. After drying, you can paint.

You can paint with a roller or brush. Usually several layers are needed: do not try to apply a lot of paint at once, as drips may appear. It is better to apply several thin layers. This way the surface will be smooth and uniform. Another trick: for uniform coloring, layers are applied in different directions - along, then across. This also applies to applying varnish.

Some types of varnish are easier to work with when they are warm. They are heated a little and then applied with a spray gun or brush. When heating, you need to be careful: vapors may flare up.

In order of painting: first paint the internal surfaces, edges and joints, then move on to the external ones. With this sequence, there is less chance of getting dirty or touching an already painted surface, ruining it.

If the varnish coating is smooth, without defects, and it needs to be painted over, you can do without removing this layer. There are special primers for complex surfaces. Apply them to the surface and paint after drying. They have components that penetrate even the varnish layer. Therefore, the paint will apply well and last a long time. But such soils have a disadvantage: they are expensive. But they save significant time.

Some secrets of painting wood (including brushing and painting in two colors) are in the article ““. Watch the video for a few secrets to applying acrylic paint evenly.

If restoration does not bring the expected result, maybe you need to change your appearance? How

How to restore veneer

Veneered furniture requires a special approach. The means are basically the same, the methods are different. For example, if after getting hit the veneer is swollen, fill a disposable syringe with PVA glue, pierce the bubble, and inject glue into the cavity. Place a piece on top thick fabric and place the load. If the surface is uneven (convex or concave), use a thick fabric bag with heated sand as a load.

If the veneer is glued with alcohol glue, you can return the swollen part to its place by ironing it through a rag with a hot iron. But do not overheat the iron: the veneer may stretch. Heating level is medium.

If ironing with a dry cloth does not help, try repeating the operation with a damp cloth (wet it and wring it out well). There is a chance that the wood will swell and become more elastic. To reliably fix the swelling, you can introduce PVA there and then heat it with an iron.

If the swelling is cracked, you can also try to seal it with heating (through a rag). If it doesn’t work, tear off the peeled piece. You don’t cut it, but rather break it off: on veneer, breaks after restoration are less noticeable than cuts. Therefore, you break off the lagging piece. Remove the piece of veneer from the damaged area old glue(sandpaper or nail files - depending on the size). Next, the repair of veneer on furniture is standard: spread it with PVA glue, lay it down, aligning the fault lines, lay a thick fabric on top and place a weight until it dries.

Scratches and traces of restoration on veneer are removed in the same way as on wood: they are painted over with a furniture marker of a suitable shade. If the scratch is deep, a little melted furniture restoration wax is applied to it (with a spatula). After drying, the wax is ground, and if necessary, fine-grain sandpaper is used, but after this treatment, the restored piece is covered with a layer of varnish.

Do-it-yourself furniture restoration requires patience and accuracy. You have to act gradually and methodically: smear it, wait for it to dry, level it, smear it again, etc. Sometimes you have to try several methods: damage varies, as do the materials used in production (glue, varnish, etc.). But as a result, the furniture will look much better.

Old furniture should not be scrapped if it is damaged or has minor defects. It would be better to undergo restoration, which will allow it to serve for a very long time. long years. Let's look at how to restore an old table at home without much expense and effort. Naturally, the types of restoration work will depend on the original quality of the product, its design and your designer's imagination, therefore it is impossible to foresee absolutely all the details of future activities. Therefore, we will limit ourselves to a description of the most common restoration techniques.

To cover the table you will need a solvent-based enamel of two different colors and clear varnish.

Required materials and tools

To hold everyone necessary procedures you may need:

  • sandpaper of different types;
  • paint brushes;
  • furniture varnish;
  • polish or furniture mastic;
  • stain or stain;
  • impregnation for wood;
  • felt;
  • wood putty;
  • rubber spatula;
  • wood glue;
  • jigsaw;
  • veneer.

It should be recalled that restoration implies bringing the product to a condition as close as possible to the original version. This is where it comes from main principle restoration, prohibiting changes in design and color scheme products.

Before starting restoration work, the old table must be disassembled (although many restorers do not resort to such an operation, citing the fact that reassembly will lead to a violation of the integrity of the table and will certainly harm its strength). Each part must be cleaned of the old coating (veneered products are cleaned only of varnish application). Cleaning is done with regular sandpaper using circular movements along the surface of the part. Rough processing made with paper with coarse abrasive. Fine cleaning is done with a “zero” (paper with the finest abrasive layer). Next, you need to thoroughly clean all elements of the table from wood dust and thoroughly ventilate the room. This measure is necessary because the dust settles gradually and during further actions may fall on the varnish that has not yet hardened, which is extremely undesirable. Restoration does not tolerate a superficial attitude to work, so the little things cannot be neglected.

Return to contents

You might be interested in: How to make a folding table?

Preliminary work, primary impregnation

The prepared parts must be impregnated with a special solution, which will significantly extend the service life of the entire product and protect it from wood pests and fungal diseases. The impregnation should dry in a darkened and well-ventilated area for at least 24 hours.

Impregnation will protect the surface of the wooden table from rotting and various types mold.

After this, the parts are carefully visual inspection to detect damage to wood or veneer. Cracks up to 3 mm are sealed with a special putty. If damage is found large sizes they need to be sealed with veneer. To do this, apply around the damage thin layer any watercolor paint and a sheet of paper is applied on top. That part of the sheet that remains unpainted will be the ideal stencil for the “patch”. It will have to be glued to a sheet of veneer and cut along the resulting contour using a jigsaw.

We carry out a control measurement to determine the compatibility of the resulting veneer part and the location of the damage. If they match, then you can start gluing the part using wood glue. It is better not to use modern adhesives, as this will ruin the effect of real antiquity. We remind you that the parts should be pressed tightly against each other and left in this position for gluing for 10-12 hours. After gluing, you will have to sand the joints of the parts with the same fine sandpaper. Using the method described above, you can even restore a table that has veneer inlay on the surface.

We will assume that small redecorating All details have been completed, but the restoration is not yet complete. The table must be assembled in its original state and the strength of its position on a horizontal surface must be checked. For this we use the old grandfather’s method: threads are pulled onto the opposite legs of an inverted table. For the stability of the table, it is necessary that these threads touch each other (but do not have deflections at the points of contact!).

The varnish should be applied only after the previous layer has completely dried.

By aligning the table legs into one plane, you can continue to restore the product. Restoring an old table involves varnishing it. But first you need to cover all the parts and the entire surface with stain.

You might be interested in: Connecting a gas stove

You will have to tinker with the choice of color, since you want to achieve the original color, but the range of coloring pigments is not so wide as to satisfy the desires of all consumers. There is an opinion that you first need to experiment with different shades on any wooden surface. Through trial and error, you can achieve a color close to what you want, although it will take a lot of time. For this reason, restoring an old table is a lengthy process.