Our wonderful customer had us completely repaint their kitchen and bathroom cabinets as well as lime wash their fireplace brick. While working on that project, they asked if we could repaint an heirloom table and chairs. When we finished their kitchen project, we took on the table set.

The firs thing I did was to beat up the top, scored it, and hand planed it. This was to give ie a more weathered texture.

After done with that, I stained it with a dark walnut stain and let that dry. After it was dry, I put shellac over it all and allowed that to dry.

The next coat was a coat of medium gray paint. I put another coat of shellac on that. Then I added some white wash to catch in the grooves and nicks. Then another coat of shellac.

Once that was dry, I went over it with a warmer gray paint, wiping and massaging it into the grooves. Working in the different colors and stain gave it some sense of wood graining and texture. It’s certainly a work in progress, or I often call it art!

When that was all dry, I took my router and made grooves in the wood. I looked at the textures and colors and made the grooves where it looked like a natural plank would end. Each was around 4′ to 6′ wide.

After putting the plank grooves into it, I took two colors of gray paint and colored the wood in the grooves wiping it into the planks to give it a more natural shading effect. As I wiped it, some of the other paint came off allowing some smudging to take place.

Once all of that was dry, I put one coat of polyurethane on the entire piece. After about an hour I put another coat on it. As I did that, the paint began to peel, and smudge. I was taken aback by what was happening so I used it to the advantage of the piece. It revealed colors and graining that looked even more natural to what weathered wood would look like.

As it dried, one more surprise occurred. The finish on the entire piece began to crackle. Oh my gosh, it could have been a train wreck! But instead, it looked even better!!!

Voila! Weathered gray wood table top! Some intention, but mostly luck and surprises along the way.