Have you ever wondered how to get an authentic white stained furniture look? I want to share with you have to achieve that look WITHOUT having to sand your furniture for days!
Affiliate disclosure: “This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link.”
Supplies You need to antique white stain a table
- Rust-Oleum Antique White Stain – for small tables half pint size is perfect! A little goes a long ways.
- 80 Grit-220 Grit sand paper- Awesome set at a great price!
- Shop towels
- Polyurethane Sealer – This is the poly I used for this table
- Foam Brush
- Table!
Steps to Antique White Staining a Table
To begin, lightly sand your table with 80 grit sand paper in the same direction of the wood grain. This will created scratches. And you want scratches because when you stain the white stain will seep into the scratches. And that is when you start to see your table come to life! After your tabletop is nice and scratchy, lightly sand with 220 grit sandpaper to soften the scratches.
Wipe off excess dust as you go with shop towels. Once piece is nice and smooth begin applying Antique White Stain with a foam brush, wiping off excess stain with a shop towel and making sure stain sinks into the scratches you just made. I added 3 coats of stain to this table. Dry time was super fast. I only had to wait about 20 minutes in between each coat. You can add as much of the antique white stain or as little of the white stain as you like.
When table is completely dry use a sealer of your choice. My go to is General Finishes top coat. It works great! I’ve never had any problems with it when I paint for clients. It gives a lasting smooth finish.
You can also use tung oil to seal your painted table top. Tung oil is used by many wood workers and is a classic finish. Is allows for a durable finish. According to Wikipedia “Tung Oil drying oil obtained by pressing the seed from the nut of the tung tree”
Thoughts of a White Finish Top for a Table
I’m seeing a lot of designers on IG doing lighter finishes on the tops when they are refinishing furniture. Lightly sanding the top of a chest, dresser or table and then packing in the white wax is also a great way to get a light stained looking finish for the top of a table. Also when you use the white wax as your light staining method you do not have to seal because your wax also acts as a sealant. 🙂
I also painted the base of this table in Amy Howard’s One Step Paint “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” Love that name! Ha. The paint color is a dark gray and pairs nicely with the lighter finish stained top. 🙂
Do you have a favorite brand of stain? If so I would love to hear your favorite brand of stain! Leave a comment below!
CLICK THE VIDEO below to watch me antique white stain the wood table!
Can you do this on laminate?
Sadly no, 🙁 the laminate would come up while you were trying to sand. BUT you can use Gel Stain over laminate!
Do you have to strip the old stuff on it first?
Hi Katherine! I did not strip this table first! Just gave it some good scratches with 80 grit sandpaper so the stain could seep into those scratches for the white stained look! 🙂
Do you know what kind of wood it was? I have dark staircase and I was to stain it light. The wood is pine though
Hi Areeba! I actually am not sure what kind of wood this table was. I would guess pine! Your staircase projects sounds beautiful lightly stained!