Refinishing A German Dining Table

Preserving a Bit of Family History, One Piece at a Time

For this post, I’m circling back a little bit to a previous project. Life has well, been life. And I’ve had a bit of a health journey. I’m feeling more like myself again and that means more energy for the blog and for my creative side! In this post I’ll take you through the journey of refinishing a family table to preserve it. This table was my mother in law’s and it is full of cherished memories.

We gladly took the table when we moved into our new house, but didn’t have the basement finished. So it sat and sat for about three years. This past year we finished the basement and it was time to begin working on refinishing this table. My first step was cleaning it and unpacking it.

Why Refinish the German Dining Table?

I mentioned before that this table is full of memories for my husband and his family. The table is from Germany. Whenever they moved, the table moved. So, this table has crossed the Atlantic more times than I have. Being that its German, this table is solid. Its really well built. The design is beautiful, and it’s functional! And now we have loads of family memories around this table too!

You won’t believe how many pieces this table comes apart in. It consists of a corner bench seat with drawers underneath, and a pedestal table. The pedestal has a drawer, and the top slides to reveal more storage! This table is so unique! I have never seen anything like it on this side of the Atlantic.

Why We’re Touching the Table:

The table’s main problems: It was getting dry and cracking. Then there is the shape of the table. It’s not perfectly square. The corners are decoratively cut so there isn’t a good way to glue and then clamp these cracks together.

Also, the surface of the table is corrugated or rippled in a way. This second issue means that I cannot sand the table and glue it like you would fix another table. Lastly, we have a lot of antique wooden pieces in this house, including ones from my husband’s family. But this piece was lighter wood than any other piece in my house.

Table Redux: How We Saved the Table

First, I unpacked all of the pieces and moved them to where I could access them. This meant they were split between the basement and garage. They needed to be cleaned and wiped down before we could do anything to them. This was a process, because the table comes a part in so many pieces.

Next, I started picking a paint color. This was tough. We hadn’t yet picked the wall color for the basement. I did however, have a mood board started.

The only pieces that weren’t separated were the upholstered seats from the benches. So that was my next step. I wasn’t prepared for this to be emotional. Some of our soul dog’s fur was trapped between the two pieces and it brought the pain right back to the surface. The table pieces were totally taking up our garage and basement, and we had contractors working in the basement so I had to soldier on.

Painting

I chose shade green from Wise Owl Paint. We ordered it through The Perfect Piece in Zelienople. The staff were so helpful in walking me through using furniture paint. They assured me it wouldn’t cover the texture of the table and the wood grain of the pieces. The Perfect Piece even helped me narrow down my selection and pick the perfect color! The associates assured me I’d only need one quart of paint, which I had a hard time believing. They were right! I even had some to spare! It took two coats. The paint went on super easy.

Painting a piece with so much sentimental value and emotional energy was nerve wracking. It worked out with the guidance of the professionals, and support of my husband! Almost done! Next it was time for reupholstering the cushions!

Reupholstering the German Table Cushions

I haven’t done this in a very long time. My mom and dad had taught me how back when I was little. Picking the fabric was a bit of a challenge. About 8 samples later, we picked the one. Folio Fabrics made it really easy to order. They had a great selection of affordable fabric in prints that we liked.

There were so, many, staples. It took me longer to remove the old staples than to put on the new fabric. But I ended up using just as many so I hope future me isn’t too annoyed!

The very last step, it was time to put it all back together. We got really lucky that my father in law had labeled all of the parts and pieces. He saved all of the hardware. Everything was perfectly organized. Together they assembled the table, and then we just had to wait for our contractors to finish and have the carpet installed!

Now we’re one step closer to achieving our little slice of Deutschland here at home. Still to come is hanging some of our vintage pieces including a cuckoo clock as old as me!