IKEA Norden Gateleg Table goes dark

Norden Gateleg Makeover

IKEA items used:

IKEA Norden Gateleg Table

I fell in love with the Ikea Norden Gateleg Table and thought it would be great for my small apartment. The thing I did not love was it’s appearance, as all of the wood in my home is darker colors. I started out by sanding off all of the polyurethane that comes on the table out of the box with an electric palm sander. I first used 80 grit sandpaper and then finished off with 220. It took a lot of sanding to remove the original poly! You must sand all parts, even the drawers because the poly is literally on everything! After the sanding was finished I applied Minwax Dark Walnut stain on the table top and drawer fronts.

IKEA Norden Gateleg Table with dark walnut stain

IKEA Norden Gateleg Table with dark walnut stain

IKEA Norden Gateleg Table with dark walnut stain

I put on two coats of the stain. After that I applied two coats of polyurethane to seal it. I painted the table legs and drawer sides with two coats of black latex paint. After everything dried I assembled the table. I’m happy with the darker wood look to it and it matches much better than the lighter birch!

~ Leanne O