Dipped Docksta
/We got Ikea's DOCKSTA table for our kitchen nook when we moved in 4 years ago, because it was functional and looked more expensive than it's $179 price tag. Two kids later it has taken one hell of a beating. The base and leg are made from a heavy duty plastic, and the top from an acrylic fiberboard. Chairs slam, feet scuff, forks gouge, food stains. It has been looking like the junky floor sample found in the cast-off section by the check stands. I was ready to part ways and get the next best thing from CB2 (no Knoll for me). Then the dipped leg craze started up. I was seeing wooden spoons and chair legs and vases all with a pretty dipped paint coat. Could I do this with the DOCKSTA? A wipeable color on the base would solve all my problems. I decided were I to go for it, I would need to give it a little more finish than a dipped look. Borrowing from that school of thought, I decided on a geranium color for the base and a soft white for the table top. Embarrassing before photos and tutorial below, first, here's my color inspiration:
I dragged the table outside and cleaned it really well, removing all the stuck on cereal and mud. You couldn't tell, but it was clean. I took the top off and proceeded to prime both pieces with a spray primer starting with the tabletop. When the top was set, I sprayed the backside and started in on painting the base with color.
before: paint scraped off of sides and table top, bottom scuffed.
I applied three thin coats of a semigloss enamel to the base (I didn't want it to be too shiny) leaving 2 hours in between each coat. For the table top I used a high gloss enamel which required more dry time. I am going to give the table top a few more days to completely dry before applying a low VOC sealer to make sure it can take another beating. For now, check out the clean and colorful detail shots: