This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on these links and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission- at no extra cost to you.

Do you have that piece of furniture that you love the shape of but it just doesn’t fit your decor anymore? Maybe it has a great shape or details, but the color is too dark. It could be a piece you’ve had for awhile, inherited or maybe its a roadside find or thrifted piece- and you love the overall look but want to give it a fresh new look.

Me too!

I absolutely LOVE the look of raw wood pieces. Those that allow the natural wood tones, grain and beauty shine. When I was planning my dining room refresh, I KNEW I wanted to raw wood look table. However, all the ones I found that I liked were completely out of my budget. I knew my current table was real wood and with a little TLC and LOTS of elbow grease, I could breathe new life into it.

Let’s take a look at the BEFORE:

The process of furniture stripping is NOT one that is quick, easy or will give you instantaneous results. It takes time, patience and a lot of elbow grease. However, if you are willing to put in the time and effort, you can totally transform a piece you already have into one you absolutely LOVE.

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

The first step is to gather your supplies. I used paint stripper (citrus type and the heavier duty kind), metal pails, cheap brushes, plastic putty knives, wire brushes, mineral spirits and steel wool and gloves. Once you have all the supplies, you will want to move the piece of furniture to a space that it won’t be touched by little hands, bumped and that the process won’t ruin any surrounding furnishings. I also laid down a canvas dropcloth and then two layers of plastic dropcloths.

Step 2: Apply the stripper

You will want to get a metal bucket and pour some of the stripper into the bucket. I worked in small sections. My table has two leaves and seats eight, so I worked on one half of the table and one leaf at a time.

Now, this is where I need to stop and tell you about my experience with a more the more natural stripper vs the heavy duty stuff. I have been informed by a couple of followers that the more natural citrus stripper has recently undergone a formula change and is not as effective as it used to be. I was NOT happy with the results from the natural stripper. While it was less smelly, it left a sticky gooey smeared mess.

So I moved on to the “heavy duty” stuff (and used heavier duty gloves). I applied a thick even coat and let it sit for the time as instructed on the can. Mine stated 15-20 minutes, 30 max, so mine sat for 15 (because I am impatient). As soon as I started to scrape, the paint just slid off. . Thank goodness, because after the sticky gooey fiasco from earlier, I was ALMOST ready to take the table to the road. I scraped all of the “goo” into the second metal bucket lined with a couple of plastic shopping bags. This kept all the mess as contained as possible.

Step 3: Time to bring in the spirits

Once I scraped the majority of the stripper and old paint and stain off, I needed to clean up the leftovers. This is where the “spirits” aka Mineral Spirits came into play. I took steel wool and the mineral spirits and started wiping the areas down. The mineral spirits serves two purposes. First, it deactivates the chemical stripper. The second purpose is to get all the rest of the stuff (paint and stain) off and clean up the piece. The combo of the steel wool and mineral spirits worked wonders. I did use a variety of grades of steel wool. Initially I used the more coarse grade, then as the majority of the paint, stain and stripper was gone I moved to the finer grade to get the rest of the areas down to the raw wood.

The steel wool and mineral spirits were especially helpful for the nooks, crannies and the legs. It was easier to manipulate the steel wool in the grooves and curves of the legs than a scraper.

Once I completed one half of the table, I started the same process of the other half. Remember, only work in small enough sections that you can manage to scraped down before the stripper starts to “set” and dry. So when I started the second “half”, I actually did the second table leaf first, then moved on to the other side of the table. This seemed to work better and prevent a second stripper application on areas that had started to dry.

Step 3: Lets get sanding

Once the table is stripped and all the stripper, old paint and stain is removed its time to sand. I started sanding first with a coarse grain a 60 or 80 grade and my orbital sander. You can also use a corner cat sander… mine just happens to be broken. You are sanding to even out the tones of the wood. You will want to use even pressure and sand WITH the grain of the wood. Don’t stay in any one spot too long and keep moving the sander. Once I did the the initial sanding with the coarse grain, I then moved to a 120 grit and finished with a 220 grit to give it that smooth final finish.

Once all the sanding is done, I wiped the piece down with a damp rag. I then went back over the entire piece with tack cloths to remove all the sawdust. Now stand back and admire all your hard work. You deserve a pat on the back.

Step 4: The final finish

Now, this is where I stopped. My table rarely gets used, except for styling and decor. We usually eat at our breakfast table. However, you will NEED to seal the final piece to prevent damage from water, food, and anything else life can throw at it. My go to sealer is a matte finish Polycrylic. My second choice is a clear wax. I am still deciding which option I want to use. I want to preserve the raw wood look without altering the color of the table.

I would love to hear if you have stripped any furniture before, or if you use my techniques and what you think.

UPDATE: December 2020
STEP 5: STAINING

A few months ago, I FINALLY got around to staining and sealing my dining room table. I worked SO hard stripping it down… I wanted to make sure I got the stain choice right!

Before you start staining, using a pre-stain wood conditioner first will help prevent blotchiness. I like to think of it like the “moisturizing” before you apply the stain (kind of like if you were applying self tanner. It will help give a more even finish. Always follow the directions on the can of wood conditioner.

I went with my FAVORITE stain from Old Barn Living. It is an all in one stain, topcoat built in, no odor, dries quick and comes is multiple colors that are very natural looking.

I started with the stain in the color WHITEWASH. I ended up doing three coats to cut the remaining orangey tones from the wood. I made sure to let the stain dry between coats. I then applied one coat of the stain in WEATHERED. Once it was dry I applied one coat of a matte sealer to give it a little more protection since it is a dining room table.

I could not be more excited with how the table turned out. It was definitely a labor of love… but so worth it!

Stay tuned for more tutorials and DIY’s.

See ya next time friends!

XOXO, Tiffany💕