How To Paint And Antique A Wood And Iron Table To Make It Look Old

The JTS (aka Junktion Technical Specialist, aka hubby) bought the angel/cherub wood and iron table at an auction. I don’t remember how much he paid for the table because it’s been sitting in the workshop for a few months. 

This is how the table looked before the makeover. I’m not a big fan of angels or cherubs on furniture and I planned to remove the decorative iron piece. The iron cherub (looks like a cherub face so that’s what I’m calling the piece) applique was easy to remove from the table base.

The only problem was a small gap (one inch) where the two pieces of rounded iron met at the top. I wasn’t a fan of the gap. I searched the workshop for something to replace the cherub….no luck. I was more fond of the cherub than the gap, so the it went back onto the table.

There was a big gap running across the wood tabletop. The JTS filled the gap with wood filler. Once the filler was dry, I sanded it flush to the table. There were a few low or sunken places in the filler, as there usually is as the filler dries, so I filled the low spots and repeated the drying, sanding process.

I decided to paint the tabletop with Beyond Paint in off-white. Beyond Paint is a three-in-one paint meaning it requires no priming or sealing. So all you have to do after making sure you have a smooth surface to paint, is paint the project.

Next, I dry-brushed the iron base with the same off-white paint. I didn’t plan to paint the base, but the dark iron was too stark against the white tabletop.

Now it’s time for the magic. I applied Caromal Colours Toner with a brush. You can see the toner is dark and I applied a lot of the toner to the top. It’s best to work with the toner in small areas at a time. 

I wiped the toner back with a damp rag which means I wiped some of the toner off. This process wipes the toner smoothly onto the paint. Wipe off a lot of toner or just a little depending on the look you are going for. Once the toner is dry it is there to stay. The toner gives the paint an antiqued look.. I use this product a lot.

The toner will sit more heavily in corners, grooves, etc. which looks really cool. I did a little distressing with sandpaper by hand once the toner was dry. 

I have to say the cherub does look nice. I think the bit of dry-brushing helped.

How about the cricket container? I got it at My Favorite Junk Shop. You guys would be so jealous of the junk shop. I wish I could take each and every one of you junk shopping with me.

Does anyone recognize the plant “container”? Yes, it’s an Amazon shipping box. Those things are awfully handy. I painted the table the first part of October, took it to the shop, and it’s sold. I guess the Cherub Table turned out pretty well.

If you like this table, you need to see my plant table made from an aquarium stand…How To Make A Reclaimed Wood Plant Stand