How to Paint a Dining Table

Dining Tables are the focal point of your home. It’s where you gather, eat, laugh, and play games. Why not make it beautiful with a fresh coat of Milk Paint by Fusion? Milk Paint is incredibly durable, making it the perfect product for this How to Paint a Dining Table Blog!

Milk Paint is incredibly durable for a heavy-use surface like a kitchen dining table. If applied to a porous surface, it will never chip or peel, so those dinner plates, or knives won’t make a dent in the paint! The kids on the other hand… just kidding! We chose a classic soft white colour, Marble. It looks just as it sounds! It pairs well with virtually all colours as its undertone is cool and warm depending on the lighting.

Here’s what you’re going to need for this project:

Prep

To prepare the table for painting, we lightly sanded it all over and then cleaned the table with Fusion TSP Alternative. After prepping our piece, we mixed up a batch of the “Marble” Fusion Milk Paint Powder with equal parts water and powder and mixed the paint with a whisk to get the smoothest consistency. Check out mixing tips on our YouTube video below.

Painting a table

Sometimes when painting a large surface with a brush, it can be difficult to apply in one long brush stroke without stopping. This often leaves stop-and-go marks. To avoid this, we tried a new technique by spinning the table top while applying the paint. To spin the tabletop, we temporarily attached a lazy Susan under the tabletop.

painting table in circular motion using the help of a lazy susan

We started by applying the mixed-up paint at the center point of the table with the Staalmeester flat brush and continued spinning and painting in a circular motion, enlarging the circle until we reached the edge of the top. For the rest of the table legs and apron, we just brushed as usual. We applied a total of two coats of paint. If you want a totally opaque look, we would suggest you apply three coats of paint. We also lightly sanded in between coats to smooth out the table.

Top coating a white colour

Since this is a table and will get lots of use, we wanted a super durable finish. We chose to use Fusion’s Clear Tough Coat to protect the paint. Because the colour “Marble” is a light colour, this is a great option as it is non-yellowing, unlike an oil base such as our stain and finishing oil in Natural.

However, over dark colours, we would not suggest the Clear Tough Coat as it can leave a milky look over the paint. Instead, we would suggest either Fusion’s Stain & Finishing Oil over your painted surface or the new Fusion Gel Stain.

If your piece does not get lots of use and you don’t necessarily need such a strong topcoat, Fusion’s Waxes are also a great solution. Fusion Extender was added to the Tough Coat to extend the open time while we were applying and spinning the Tough Coat. It also helps to level out any ridges or brush strokes.