$15 Bunnings buy transforms dining table: 'Like brand new'

There’s nothing like hard work that pays off and that’s exactly the case when it comes to one woman’s incredible makeover of a dated and dull dining set.

Whitney, from QLD, picked up the second-hand solid pine table and matching chairs for a steal online as she explained in a post in a Facebook group.

Whitney's dining table before and after the makeover. Photo: Facebook (supplied).
Whitney's dining table before and after the makeover. Photo: Facebook (supplied).

“Finished this project a few months ago. Picked up the table for $50 off [Facebook] Marketplace and eight chairs for $10 each!” she wrote.

“I used beeswax for the top of the table and chairs,” she added.

Whitney also shared a series of amazing snaps showing the furniture before and after the transformation, and the end result looks like a completely new dining set you’d see in a fancy boutique.

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The solid pine chairs came up a treat. Photo: Facebook (supplied).
The solid pine chairs came up a treat. Photo: Facebook (supplied).

Mum-of-two Whitney tells Yahoo Lifestyle that, even though it took a long time and involved a lot of work, the makeover was well worth it.

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“I have done a few projects now and this one was by far the most rewarding,” she says.

“Being a mum of two young boys having a project like this to focus on was really therapeutic for me,” she adds.

So, how did she do it?

“First I started on the table using the electric sander where I could in the table legs and sanding the rest by hand. I had to do five coats of the white paint on the legs. The bottom part of one of the legs snapped off when I turned the table upside down (to make it easier to paint) so back to Bunnings to get some wood glue which worked amazingly.

Whitney used a $15 tin of paint from Bunnings to transform the furniture. Photo: Facebook (supplied).
Whitney used a $15 tin of paint from Bunnings to transform the furniture. Photo: Facebook (supplied).

“Next, I used the electric sander to sand the top of the table, which took a lot of time but as soon as I saw the beautiful wood underneath the varnish I couldn’t wait to see it finished. Then I used two coats of Glitz 200g Beeswax Polish ($12.50 from Bunnings) for the top of the table.

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“I started on the chairs which were a mess — you could see bite marks on most of the lower legs from the previous owner’s puppy. The chairs were definitely the most time consuming as all of the sanding, minus the top of the chair, was done by hand.

“I saw some members on the Bunnings Mums Facebook page recommending rust-oleum spray paint to spray chairs as it would be quicker. I tried this method and it did not work at all — the paint started bubbling and looked very messy.

“I ended up having to sand back four chairs and start again with the good old fashioned paintbrush. I had two different sized brushes the smallest for the back parts of the chair and bigger for the legs.

The table was first sanded back then painted and waxed. Photo: Facebook (supplied).
The table was first sanded back then painted and waxed. Photo: Facebook (supplied).

“Once I had finished the painting I used two coats of beeswax on the tops of the chairs, then a clear coat of Cabots Cabothane on the white parts of the chair to protect the paint.”

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All up, Whitney says she used about five tins of Cabot’s 500ml White Timbercolour Deck And Exterior Paint which is just $14.60 a tin from Bunnings.

Whitney’s fellow Facebook users were incredibly impressed by her DIY skills, flooding the comments section with praise and compliments.

“That looks amazing!!” wrote one.

“You did a great job, they look like brand new. You must be very pleased,” remarked another.

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