This post has been a while in coming. This antique painted Jacobean dining table and chairs set was completed over a year ago for a lovely young couple from Guelph, Ontario. Julie-Anne and her husband had just purchased their new home and were renovating to update their new space. As part of the update, they wanted to have this beautiful walnut antique painted Jacobean dining table refinished and painted to match a painted hutch she had previously purchased.
The first stepped involved refinishing the top surface. As always chemically strip the old sealer and stain followed by a good hand sanding. I find I can control the pressure of the sanding by doing it by hand over the mechanical sander where I’m always worried that I will go through the veneered surfaces in particular. So just a word of caution if you are new to sanding and working with a sander, go slow and don’t put too much pressure on the unit.
Julie-Anne requested that the table be stained in a traditional way so we landed on General Finishes Antique Walnut Gel Stain. I applied two coats and allowed to dry well between coats. As a finishing step, I applied 3 coats of polyurethane to seal and protect the table seeing that this will be used daily by Julie-Anne and her husband.
The next stepped involved taping off the top surface and beginning the painting process. I used my favourite paint Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White. I applied 2 coats and some areas a touch up of a third coat to ensure good coverage. After all, coats were dry I applied Artisan Enhancements Soy (Oil) base finish that goes on like a dream and dries crystal clear and hard. Once dried completely (usually about 30 days in a dry environment) these surfaces will last a very very long time.
The next step is the “magic” step and that involved the application of the gold gilding. Julie-Anne wanted a heavy application of the gold (to match her hutch). So that is exactly what she got. All applied by hand… it’s a tedious process but oh so worth it! It turned out spectacularly!
She also had these wonderful heavy (very comfy) dining chairs that were also painted to match the table. I simply blocked (taped) off the back cushions and the armed chair seats because I wasn’t able to get them off and did the same process for painting.
I hope you are enjoying your new space Julie-Anne and your environment is everything you wished it would and could be.