Turn your indoor table into an outdoor table. Create a cheap garden table by repurposing in old indoor table for use outside. See my tips on how to paint an indoor table for outdoor use.

　　Hello sweets, we are moving outdoors today, because major progress is happening in my garden. I even have outside furniture now! Yes, alfresco diners are in my future (if the weather would only be a bit nicer), as well as long gossipy conversations while sipping lemonade, and of course long Sunday breakfasts with the newspaper spread out over my ‘new’ garden table.

　　Now nothing here is truly new though, but you guessed that already didn’t you. A long time ago I scored a dining table for next to nothing on our local version of Craigslist and it has been patiently awaiting its makeover ever since.

　　Well here she is baby! My former ugly duckling indoor table all grown up into a fully functional outdoor table. Because yes, you can totally use a wood dining table outside if your prep it properly.

　　I had great success in using an old dining table as our garden table in my old house, so when this baby presented itself to be scooped up for a song and a dance I didn’t hesitate.

　　The previous owner had started on sanding down the table top but quit halfway through. The table legs were badly stained and a bit wobbly. But all in all it was a solid table that just needed some DIY makeover love to make her beautiful again. So I set out to turn an indoor table into an outdoor aluminum dining set. These were my steps.

　　Strip and sand any paint or stain from the parts that you want to show .

　　Sand the painted parts until the finish is rough and ready to be repainted

　　Repair wobbly legs and any other issues your table has

　　Choose the best outdoor paint and weather resistant stain you can find and paint and stain your table with at least three layers.

　　Really the secret into making it safe to put any indoor furniture outside is choosing the right kind of finishes. Indoor furniture is usually made of softer wood that isn’t meant to withstand the forces of nature. Moisture is the biggest enemy of these kind of softer woods. But painting and/or staining them with really weather resistant finishes gives them a real fighting chance outside. I choose paint that was meant for outside doors and window frames and had extra strong UV protection and water resistance built in. And the stain on top is meant for fences and wooden outside structures.

　　I used the same paint stripper I used on my pine dining table to remove the last bits of stain from the top and then I went to town with a palm sander. After all that work she looked like this:

　　Turns out there were different kind of woods used to make this table top. I opted to go for a light oak finish to bring it all together. The stain really brought this dried out wood back to life.

　　I gave her three finishes in total. Three layers of stain for the top and three layers of exterior paint on the table legs. All in all the whole project went much faster than I anticipated. Love it, when a DIY goes smooth and easy for a change.

　　Just wish it wouldn’t take me so long to actually start working on a project. In my head the work is always so much harder than it is in real life. Maybe one day I will learn that lesson and just get on with my projects in proper time. Does anyone share this problem? Are you all eager beaver DIY gods and goddesses who tackle everything immediately? Or can you relate to my ever-procrastinating ways?

　　I love how this project turned out and how I now have a fully functional outdoor space.

　　Well the rest of my garden still leaves much to be desired but I am working on it. All that is still to be done is a worry for another day, today I am reveling in the glory that is my new outdoor dining table.

We also offer garden patio swing chair, Welcome to consult.