Chalk Painting a Kitchen Table

Chalk Painting kitchen table - a quick and budget friendly update anyone can do!

I took the plunge and painted my kitchen table with chalk paint. 


We bought this table about 6 or 7 years ago at a local department store and it has given us a lot of use over the years. But the color is just something I cannot stand anymore.

I debated for over a year about painting it. Because I have heard the arguments against painting wood furniture. But here's what made me take the leap. This is not solid wood. Its veneer. I don't consider any piece of furniture that has veneer a piece worth preserving. Plus, if I screwed it up?

I had every intention of getting rid of it, for one that worked. So what was I losing by jumping into the Chalk paint pond? Here is the before shot. This is what it looks like just wiped down with a simple cleaner, no furniture oil. The only thing that made this piece bearable, was furniture oil.

Chalk Painting kitchen table


 So off to the craft store I went to find chalk paint. If I was going to do this experiment, I was going for cheap chalk paint not any expensive everyone knows your name types. I'd rather have a $20 dollar fail, then a $100 fail. Here's the table with 2 coats of dark grey chalk paint from JoAnn Fabrics. I even used a cheap sponge brush.

Chalk Painting kitchen table

Oh and for those of you who chat it up with me on Facebook, the styrofoam plate trick, totally worked! Those plates were there for 2 days AFTER I stopped painting, and they didn't stick to the legs. Easy peasy protection for my floors.

Updating a kitchen table using chalk paint

  Here is the top with one coat of white


Updating a kitchen table using chalk paint

Two coats of white

Updating a kitchen table using chalk paint

I started using 120 grit sanding paper to distress and started thinking this isn't turning out good. So I brought out 2 white chairs from my Dining Room, and two black chairs I had in a closet. 

Updating a kitchen table using chalk paint

You can see my Blitz's face, he wasn't liking it either. So I walked away from it and left it for 2 days.

distressing a chalk painted table


I didn't like it. Back to the drawing board! I repainted the top with two coats of grey again. Then I tried my hand at the dry brushing technique, using white chalk paint.

diy chalk painting a table


I still wasn't feeling it! It just wasn't clicking. The white brush technique I did was just too stark in some areas. It felt to stark. So I grabbed the grey again and did light light barely any grey on my brush (not a sponge) swipes over the white. And I started to see some good come through.

diy chalk painting a table



Chalk painted breakfast table

Now it clicked! To protect it from wear and tear I did a lot of research and decided to poly the top, instead of wax. Everyone agreed waxing would have to be a 3 to 6 time a year thing. Polyurethane doesn't require that much maintenance.

I used a WATER BASED poly with a satin finish. I had read a few articles where oil based poly's can have a yellowish hue that really shows up, plus water based is easier clean up. 

After each coat of poly, I lightly sanded it with an extra fine grit sandpaper and used my hand as a guide to tell me when to stop. I would just run my palm across the wood looking for small bumps or ridges until they were gone. This thing is as smooth and silky as a butter!

Chalk painted breakfast table

I am loving it!

In some areas I'm thinking it looks like concrete and in others, it looks like a piece of driftwood

Chalk painting furniture for an easy update


Chalk painting furniture for an easy update

The white chairs are going to stay, so the dining room will need a tweak if people insist on sitting at that table.

And, I am going to need new curtains in this room


Chalk painting furniture for an easy update


Chalk painting furniture for an easy update


The black chairs I had stored in a closet for years got the same paint technique. Dark grey with one light dry brush of white.

Chalk painting furniture for an easy update


Chalk painting furniture for an easy update



Chalk painting furniture for an easy update

Not bad for my first attempt at chalk painting!

I'll keep it!

Chalk painting furniture for an easy update

XO,