Expert: Eileen Cronk - 2/2/2009

Question
The base of the table was antique white when new..50 years later it is yellowed.  What can I do to bring it back off white color with the little gold antique look.  the table top is a fruit wood but around the table top is the antique white border and that is in great shape.  Can I paint the base?? how do I do this???  thank you, Leslie

Answer
Hi Leslie
Nice to hear from you.
Certainly you can paint this pedestal white.
The surface must be prepped so the new paint will stick.
I would not use sandpaper in this case. I would give the pedestal a scrub with a TSP (hardware store) solution.
Use a steel wool pad as a scrubber.
The tricky part will be selecting a white that closely matches the white around the top. You are probably thinking "white is white", but white colors vary.
Some paint chips will help you in this selection.
Next you will want to add some gold highlights as before.
The dry brush method is the best and easiest to control way of doing this.
Gold craft paint is a good choice.
Simply squeeze out some gold on your pallet, dip the tip of the brush in the gold and remove most of it on paper towel by thumping the brush up and down. Then switch to thumping the pedestal in areas you want highlighted with gold. Less is best when applying the gold but you can go back once its dry and add more.
Keep a wet towel handy to remove goofs LOL.
Great project and great question.
Regards
Eileen