After eight years of kids coloring on, gluing on, and banging into our kitchen table, Tom and I finally came to the realization that something needed to be done. As much as we didn’t want to refinish it, we know that it had to happen.
It didn’t look too bad from a distance…
But up close, it had definitely seen better days.
We considered stripping and restaining it, but I’m really having a black furniture moment right now. So, I decided to use Glidden’s new Diamond™ paint on it. I ran into our area’s Glidden rep at Home Depot not too long ago, and he was so excited to tell me all about the new formula and the extensive testing it went through. It’s supposed to be great on durability and scrubability, so I figured that it would work wonderfully on a piece of furniture that receives a lot of use.
Tom and I hauled the table out to our garage and started sanding off the original finish and evening out all of the scratches and dings. We started with a belt sander and 150-grit sandpaper. This is what it looked like after sanding half of the table down.
After we were finished with the 150-grit pass, we put 220-grit sandpaper on a finish sander to smooth it out. The result was super smooth.
This table has a leaf that flips underneath it, so I separated the sections before painting. I also used a tack cloth to wipe off all of the sanding dust so that my paint finish would remain smooth.
Glidden Diamond™ is a paint + primer formula, so I decided not to use a stand alone primer. I was worried that the paint might soak into the wood, but this is what it looked like after one coat of paint. Outstanding! I used a mohair roller, and the application was very smooth.
I gave it 2 more coats of paint (3 total) thinking that it would have extra durability. Let’s be honest – I don’t know if that’s how it works or not, but I figure I’d rather paint more coats now than have to go through this process again down the road.
I don’t really have any pictures of the painting process, since I try to work quickly to maintain a wet edge with no roller marks. However, I did get a picture to show you how I let the paint lay. Here is a picture of one of the legs right after I rolled it. I try to use a really light hand and don’t worry about smoothing it all out. You can see at the top where the paint itself doesn’t look smooth.
A good quality paint will level (i.e. smooth out and lay flat), and Glidden Diamond met that challenge. Here’s the same leg after it was dry.
Because it is 103432098349 degrees outside right now, I painted the entire table in my kitchen. Glidden Diamond™ is no VOC and low odor, but I would say that there is actually no odor. Tom walked into the house from work and couldn’t even tell that I had been painting. There’s virtually no odor – I honestly stuck my face in the paint can and couldn’t smell the paint.
It’s too soon for me to talk about how wear this paint will wear on our kitchen table, but I am very optimistic about it. Even just two days after painting it, I can put plates and bowls on it without them sticking. That’s a good sign to me, because that rarely happens so soon after I paint a piece of furniture.
I’m really happy with the way my table looks now, and the transformation was really inexpensive (other than the chairs I bought, but I have been coveting these for years).
Obviously, Glidden Diamond™ will perform exceptionally well on your walls. Just think what it could mean in high traffic and kid areas. Durable and scrubable? Yes, please!
Want to try it out yourself? Glidden is giving away 5 gallons of Glidden Diamond™ to one lucky winner! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below (you’ll need to switch over to my blog if you are reading this post via email) to be entered. This sweepstakes is open to U.S. residents, 18 and older.
As a MyColortopia Team member, this post is sponsored by Glidden. All reviews and opinions are my own.
