A woman from Queensland shared how she managed to save thousands of dollars by improving an old dining room table using $250 worth of products from Bunnings.

Katie Johnston recently renovated her Hamptons-style home in Brisbane, and she was looking for a new dining table to match. However, she found that it would cost her around $2000-$2500 for a new set.

So instead of buying, the 42-year-old decided to put her DIY skills to the test by reworking a 20-year-old wooden table, which was a hand-me-down from her mother-in-law.

Katie’s old dining table didn’t fit the colour palette of her new home. Photo retrieved from news.com.au. ​

“I started off by doing a small coffee table — I thought I’d see how I go with that before I did the dining table,” said the mum.

“And I was impressed. It turned out pretty good. I did so much research on the different techniques you can use, but I opted to go with using an undercoat primer.”

Katie and her husband began working on the dining set by unscrewing the tabletop and chair seats.

Then, she used an electric sander to remove the old varnish and reveal the colour underneath.

“I just kept sanding it using sanding pads and paper too and was like ‘oh damn, this is exactly the colour I wanted’,” she said.

She proceeded to add a few coats of the Monocel (clear wood) varnish before focusing her attention on the furniture’s legs.

She sanded them lightly using 250 grit sanding paper, then applied two coats of Bulls Eye undercoat and primer and two coats of the Taubmans Easy Coat in white.

Katie finished it off with varnish after the paint dried.

She explained her process, “I purposely used the primer and undercoat because it stops the yellow varnish from seeping through.”

Katie was ‘blown away’ by how good-looking it turned out. “It’s the perfect outcome I wanted to achieve,” she said.

The newly restored dining table matches the Hamptons look. Photo retrieved from news.com.au.​

Katie took it to Facebook to share the whole process and the before and after snaps of her dining table’s transformation.

“Fantastic restoration – looks like a completely different dining setting,” one person wrote in the comments section.

“Huge transformation to your dining area,” another added, while a third applauded her DIY skills: “Love it, looks great. You did a fantastic job.”

Katie’s work inspired fellow Bunnings shoppers to upcycle their old dining tables.

“Looks unreal. I’ve virtually got that exact table and chairs, and I’m so sick of it. You’ve given me some inspiration,” one mum said.

Katie used three products from Bunnings to transform the table, as well as sanding pads and sheets, and a wooden brush specifically for varnishing. All materials only cost her $250. Photo retrieved from news.com.au.​

 

[Goodbloke]

Queensland mum ‘saved thousands of dollars’ by transforming her 20-year-old dining table​

A woman from Queensland shared how she managed to save thousands of dollars by improving an old dining room table using $250 worth of products from Bunnings.

Katie Johnston recently renovated her Hamptons-style home in Brisbane, and she was looking for a new dining table to match. However, she found that it would cost her around $2000-$2500 for a new set.

So instead of buying, the 42-year-old decided to put her DIY skills to the test by reworking a 20-year-old wooden table, which was a hand-me-down from her mother-in-law.

Katie’s old dining table didn’t fit the colour palette of her new home. Photo retrieved from news.com.au. ​

“I started off by doing a small coffee table — I thought I’d see how I go with that before I did the dining table,” said the mum.

“And I was impressed. It turned out pretty good. I did so much research on the different techniques you can use, but I opted to go with using an undercoat primer.”

Katie and her husband began working on the dining set by unscrewing the tabletop and chair seats.

Then, she used an electric sander to remove the old varnish and reveal the colour underneath.

“I just kept sanding it using sanding pads and paper too and was like ‘oh damn, this is exactly the colour I wanted’,” she said.

She proceeded to add a few coats of the Monocel (clear wood) varnish before focusing her attention on the furniture’s legs.

She sanded them lightly using 250 grit sanding paper, then applied two coats of Bulls Eye undercoat and primer and two coats of the Taubmans Easy Coat in white.

Katie finished it off with varnish after the paint dried.

She explained her process, “I purposely used the primer and undercoat because it stops the yellow varnish from seeping through.”

Katie was ‘blown away’ by how good-looking it turned out. “It’s the perfect outcome I wanted to achieve,” she said.

The newly restored dining table matches the Hamptons look. Photo retrieved from news.com.au.​

Katie took it to Facebook to share the whole process and the before and after snaps of her dining table’s transformation.

“Fantastic restoration – looks like a completely different dining setting,” one person wrote in the comments section.

“Huge transformation to your dining area,” another added, while a third applauded her DIY skills: “Love it, looks great. You did a fantastic job.”

Katie’s work inspired fellow Bunnings shoppers to upcycle their old dining tables.

“Looks unreal. I’ve virtually got that exact table and chairs, and I’m so sick of it. You’ve given me some inspiration,” one mum said.

Katie used three products from Bunnings to transform the table, as well as sanding pads and sheets, and a wooden brush specifically for varnishing. All materials only cost her $250. Photo retrieved from news.com.au.​

Just add 200 hours of hard yakka to the bill, and a few blisters

 

[Xe]

I actually really liked it before

 

[Glendon]

Just add 200 hours of hard yakka to the bill, and a few blisters

Beautiful old table dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century

 

[MotherGoose]

I liked the "before" version better. It's changed rather than improved.

 

[Rabbit]

Queensland mum ‘saved thousands of dollars’ by transforming her 20-year-old dining table​

A woman from Queensland shared how she managed to save thousands of dollars by improving an old dining room table using $250 worth of products from Bunnings.

Katie Johnston recently renovated her Hamptons-style home in Brisbane, and she was looking for a new dining table to match. However, she found that it would cost her around $2000-$2500 for a new set.

So instead of buying, the 42-year-old decided to put her DIY skills to the test by reworking a 20-year-old wooden table, which was a hand-me-down from her mother-in-law.

Katie’s old dining table didn’t fit the colour palette of her new home. Photo retrieved from news.com.au. ​

“I started off by doing a small coffee table — I thought I’d see how I go with that before I did the dining table,” said the mum.

“And I was impressed. It turned out pretty good. I did so much research on the different techniques you can use, but I opted to go with using an undercoat primer.”

Katie and her husband began working on the dining set by unscrewing the tabletop and chair seats.

Then, she used an electric sander to remove the old varnish and reveal the colour underneath.

“I just kept sanding it using sanding pads and paper too and was like ‘oh damn, this is exactly the colour I wanted’,” she said.

She proceeded to add a few coats of the Monocel (clear wood) varnish before focusing her attention on the furniture’s legs.

She sanded them lightly using 250 grit sanding paper, then applied two coats of Bulls Eye undercoat and primer and two coats of the Taubmans Easy Coat in white.

Katie finished it off with varnish after the paint dried.

She explained her process, “I purposely used the primer and undercoat because it stops the yellow varnish from seeping through.”

Katie was ‘blown away’ by how good-looking it turned out. “It’s the perfect outcome I wanted to achieve,” she said.

The newly restored dining table matches the Hamptons look. Photo retrieved from news.com.au.​

Katie took it to Facebook to share the whole process and the before and after snaps of her dining table’s transformation.

“Fantastic restoration – looks like a completely different dining setting,” one person wrote in the comments section.

“Huge transformation to your dining area,” another added, while a third applauded her DIY skills: “Love it, looks great. You did a fantastic job.”

Katie’s work inspired fellow Bunnings shoppers to upcycle their old dining tables.

“Looks unreal. I’ve virtually got that exact table and chairs, and I’m so sick of it. You’ve given me some inspiration,” one mum said.

Katie used three products from Bunnings to transform the table, as well as sanding pads and sheets, and a wooden brush specifically for varnishing. All materials only cost her $250. Photo retrieved from news.com.au.​

Really like the new look, goes better with the flooring.

 

[FBee]

Beautiful old table dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century

It's not actually an "old" table - it's a mass produced dining setting that was available from Fantastic Furniture for a few hundred dollars when new, and it would have been easy to dismantle for "up-cycling" because of it's modern flat pack type of construction. I have the exact same setting - cost me $180 off Gumtree. It is a good quality setting though (better than a lot of its kind), and the chairs are extremely comfortable and a lot stronger also than many of their kind. Now if it had been a lovely old cedar or mahogany table I might have had some words to say about that...........

Unfortunately for the person who's done all the work - because it's a pine setting the unpainted parts of it it will not stay that light colour, it will darken back to a red/brown colour fairly quickly because that's what pine does.

 

[Goodbloke]

It's not actually an "old" table - it's a mass produced dining setting that was available from Fantastic Furniture for a few hundred dollars when new, and it would have been easy to dismantle for "up-cycling" because of it's modern flat pack type of construction. I have the exact same setting - cost me $180 off Gumtree. It is a good quality setting though (better than a lot of its kind), and the chairs are extremely comfortable and a lot stronger also than many of their kind. Now if it had been a lovely old cedar or mahogany table I might have had some words to say about that...........

Unfortunately for the person who's done all the work - because it's a pine setting the unpainted parts of it it will not stay that light colour, it will darken back to a red/brown colour fairly quickly because that's what pine does.

another 200 hours of labour coming in the future

 

[Vinylted]

Full credit for the work done, lasting? well only time will tell, but I bet she (& hubby) got a great deal of personal satisfaction out the the makeover. Personally I'm against painting over timber finishes, but they seem to have covered most future problems with the special varnish coating over the paint.

 

[WendyP]

Looks absolutely beautiful, well done.