DIY Antique Wicker Table Restoration Tutorial
This DIY Antique Wicker Table Restoration project has a tremendous sentimental value to me. I first saw this old, beat up table made of wood and wicker at my great aunt’s house collecting dust in her basement. I made a comment on how beautiful the table was, and she told me I could have it if I wanted. It turns out that it belonged to my great-great grandfather, and is more than a hundred years old. I knew instantly that I needed to do something special to breathe life back into this table.
The top of the table and the shelf were solid wood, that had been painted first a mint green, and then on top of that, a bright yellow. I wanted to preserve the wood, as the wood and painted wicker combination is really beautiful. Given the age of this table, I didn’t want to use a sander, as it could risk damaging the wood. I opted to use a paint stripper instead, so I chose one of the ‘friendlier’ brands, that wouldn’t burn through my skin or destroy anything. I had to buy some tools, such as scrapers and scrubbers, but the dollar store had everything I needed in order to remove the paint.
I washed the table first, as it had collected dirt and dust over the years, then I made sure to change into my painting clothes. I also used rubber gloves, just in case. The paint stripper I used was really smelly, so I had to open all of the windows to make sure there was proper ventilation. The product I used was goopy and messy, so I laid out a tarp under the table.
What I did, was put a layer of the paint stripper (about a quarter of an inch thick) all over the wooden surfaces. I let it sit for about a half an hour, then with my scrapers in hand, took off the first layer of paint. Because this was the least ‘intense’ paint stripper and the table had a few different layers of paint, I had to repeat the process about four times to ensure all of the paint was removed from the wooden tabletop and shelf.
The transformation has been incredible, especially knowing how old this table was. I would definitely use paint stripper again, but in the future, I might use something a little stronger, as it would consume less time. I am so happy and honored to be able to breathe new life into a family heirloom that I will hold onto forever. I decided to paint the wicker parts of the table an antique white, so in order to prep the surface, I just washed it and gave it a very light sanding by hand. I painted the wicker parts with two coats of paint, and after this was dry, I decided I wanted to stain the tabletop and shelf a dark walnut color. The old wood absorbed the stain, so I gave it two good coats, and then finished it with a matte sealant.
Sarah is currently studying Anthropology at McMaster University. She enjoys up-cycling, creating customized furniture, decorative furniture painting and any do-it-yourself projects, big or small. She is passionate about creative sustainability, by breathing new life into items destined for the land-fill.
Elizabeth Lampman is a coffee-fuelled Mom of 2 girls and lives in Hamilton, Ontario. She enjoys travelling, developing easy recipes, crafting, taking on diy projects, travelling and saving money!
Wow! You made that table absolutely gorgeous! It has a beautiful vintage look to it.
Wow, you can’t even recognize the before piece with the after piece! Great job! I tend to think of wicker as “cottagey” but this piece looks like it could fit in just about anywhere. Love it.
I wish I had the talent of seeing the potential on old items. This looks great.
That table looks amazing! If I visited I would completely think it is brand new! And getting everything at the dollar store?! Wow! Good going crafty (hee hee see what I did? Double meaning?) lady!
That is really pretty!
That table looks beautiful, you’ve done a lovely job!
I love sentimental pieces in the home, that’s an awesome story and you did a wonderful job. A hint though, for your next project, if you need to strip paint a heat gun works amazingly! If you move the gun around, don’t leave it in one place it just lifts the paint right off.
Laurie @ Vin’yet Etc.
It turned out great. The white is much better than the lime green/yellow. Love having pieces around the house that have meaning.
You did a great job! It’s practically unrecognizable from what it once was, but it still has it’s history.
WOW!! great restoration!
There’s nothing better than antique “shopping” in relative’s homes’, isn’t there? I have a few things from my family – so much more special than anything I could buy. The piece turned out beautiful – great job!
This little gem came up beautifully! I love the two tone effect you got by leaving the top dark. Some of my favourite pieces came from family… I love walking through the house and remembering special people and feeling them close.
I am in love with these DIY posts of yours. They are completely inspiring and I’m committed to doing ONE project like this, this summer.
A nice fresh update. I’ve been trying to keep my eye out for some wicker/natural items for my porch. Nice work!
TALENTED. Any ideas of how to resurface cheap brown ikea ‘wood’ furniture? My daughter is using for her dorm room and wants it white.
looks SO much better – i love furniture with a story and a personal touch!
I love restoration posts! WOW! Talk about going from drab to FAB! Super pretty! 🙂
Love your table reno its looks amazing!
Every time I see one of these posts I want to rush out and find things to make myself a table!
Wow, I love this! We had a whole wicker settee?? Setee? Set and just didn’t know what to do with it so we gave it away. Now I wish we hadn’t 🙁
Thanks for linking up at Inspire. Create. Do. last week- we’re featuring this post for this week!!
Linked back to you in our Inspire. Create. Do linky party!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Wow a great job restoring this it looks amazing.
Love the transformation what a beautiful job you did. Great to see that you were to bring back an old sentimental piece to new again.
wow!! that is pretty amazing!! thank you so much for this .. I’m now going to redo my mom’s for her!!
amazing!
cool!
I love how you can just diy!
Wow, I would have thrown the “before” away, but you did an amazing job with it!
Very nicely done – I have gotten rid of things that looked better than the “before” picture.
wow! What an amazing job!! That came up absolutely beautiful!!
wow that thing was pretty ugly before you got your hands on it! kudos to you! absolutely beautiful finish!
Wow, good job, would never know that it’s over 100 years old, your great great grandfather is smiling from up above, thank you for sharing
You did a fantastic job, and what a sentimental piece. Love your work.
what a marvellous job you made of this table. It looks enchanting now it’s had a touch of TLC. Your great-great grandfather would be very proud of you of that you can be assured.
Quite the transformation! well done!
Awesome job,I love giving new life to an old item
Wow! Talk about creating a whole new look for a table! That’s amazng!! Looks like a bran d new table!
great job & such a treasure
What a great job & such a treasure
i bought a wicker table at a yard sale going to try to redo it
Nicely done, I have always had a hard time painting wicker
I really like this piece
I love redoing over old pieces and giving them new life,I can wait for the yard sales to start
You have a great imagination of how the finished product is going to look when it’s done.It looks awesome!It is such a pretty table that has it’s own distinguished look now.Great job!!!!!
What a transformation! I love breathing new life into old, tired furniture.