​We have been on the hunt for a dining table ever since we moved into our home. Up until now, we’ve used a beautiful solid oak flip-top table from Willis & Gambier. However, it’s never really worked for more than 4 people due to the tight, awkward space. This has been bugging me ever since we moved in, given that we love cooking and having friends over.

I’ve never thought to look on Gumtree until we were out with some friends who had recently decked out their entire house with real oak flooring at a fraction of the cost: all purchased from eBay and Gumtree. This got me thinking, and made me curious about what’s out there. Nowadays, there’s so much information available to help you with DIY projects; from videos, blogs, courses, apps etc, all of which are inspiring plus with a little creativity added in, you really can make something from nothing.

Often, older furniture is incredibly well made but a little out of touch with what’s on trend. I picked up this 20-year-old solid pine table from a couple round the corner who were downsizing and advertising it on Gumtree. They had received the table as a gift when they got married over 20 years ago and when I collected it, they said “we hope you have many more dinner parties and good times at this table”. Although buying something brand new is a welcome luxury, this piece of furniture had a really great feeling about it; it had been lived in and used and seen many good times. To me, it brought a sense of nostalgia and warmth that it was going to an appreciative home.

Here’s how to turn an old pine dining table into a beautiful piece of furniture again.

What you’ll need:

• Pine table
• 120 grit sanding paper and ideally an electric sander
• White spirit
• Primer paint
• Furniture paint – Rust-Oleum chalky furniture paint in hessian was used for the legs
• Wood varnish – Ronseal diamond hard white ash varnish was used for the table top

How to upcycle your pine table:

1. For the legs, wipe over to remove any dirt and dust and apply two coats of primer. Although chalk paint can be applied to most surfaces, to avoid any yellow coming through (also known as bleeding) the primer will seal the wood and guarantee a perfect finish.
   
2. Once the primer is dry, apply the chalk paint. I applied 3 coats of Rust-Oleum chalky finish furniture paint in hessian to gain an even coverage.
   
3. Now for the table top: sand the top and edges until you’ve removed any varnish and residue. To save time, use an electric sander with 120 grit sanding paper and then wipe down with a cloth and white spirit to clean it off.
   

   

   

   

   

4. Finally, apply the wood varnish. I went with a Ronseal white ash varnish as it’s incredibly resistant  against scratches and knocks. The amount of coats you apply will depend on the colour. For this project, I applied three coats.
   

   

   

There you have it: a beautiful pine table that will last another 20 years.