I have this need to reinvent myself with the seasons. There’s something about the world changing outside that makes me want to evolve inside as well. Wardrobe, hobbies, and, at the moment, my apartment. (Although, if anyone has suggestions for learning archery, I’m all ears. It’s one of my spring/summer goals to become Legolas/Katniss haha..). Unfortunately, being on a grad student budget and living in the Midwest in January is counterproductive to my need to throw open the windows and repaint everything in sight.
However, a small project is totally doable. I’ve been wanting to paint my dining room table for a while, it’s a hand me down from my grandparents and while it’s pretty, I want to make it my own. I settled on painted the bottom grey and the top white. But that seemed too boring. This table is used mostly for art projects and our weekly D&D sessions and just repainting was not enough. Chalkboard paint was not an option because of the mess and the fact that I hate chalk. After an hour wishing whiteboard paint existed I realized that you can find anything on Google and whatdya know- it does! Project planned. Lets do this!
I picked up whiteboard paint and high density foam rollers at the home improvement store. There was an option of getting a magnetic primer, but I decided that was not necessary for a table, plus I’m lazy. We started out by removing the legs and putting the table on the balcony on top of an old sheet. (No sanding inside, too much clean up!) We used a coarse sandpaper first and a finer one to finish smoothing the surface.
The boyfriend sanding the table- I have no problems with power tools, but we borrowed the sander from his grandpa. I figured it was better for him to break it than me.
The directions say to prime darker surfaces first, but once again, I’m lazy. I also decided not to waste my time with painters tape since I would be sanding paining the rest of the table later.
Couldn’t find a paint stirrer…cardboard works, right?!
First coat- the high density foam roller allows the paint to be as smooth as possible.
One coat down, four to go! Maybe I should have primed?
Adding the final coat!
Table finished! Also, I have terrible drawing skills.
After 5 coats of the paint (maybe I should have primed?) and 3 days of curing, I have my very own white board table! I’m planning on painting the legs and sides of the table when the weather warms up- I hate the cold, plus the paint would not dry as well. My biggest tip would be to make sure the surface is as smooth as possible. We’re talking about doing a light sanding and another coat in the future for an even smoother surface.
The paint was dry enough to use the table after 24 hours, but the directions said to wait 3 days before writing on the surface. Like a true geek, I had to test this. I would definitely recommend waiting unless you want a slight stain on your surface.
Now if I could only get the BBT guys over to draw on it……
