Q: I drooled over the vintage Castro Convertible table for years, and finally found one last year at a price I could afford. I couldn't resist buying it and it's now sitting in my living room. The problem is that I'm not a fan of the light Formica paneling (Photo 1). I would love to either stain the Formica or re-panel the table so it's a shade or more darker (Photo 2 is an example). Does anyone have any experience with this? Or am I better off selling the table and waiting until I find one with paneling I like?
Sent by Denise
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I don't think you can darken formica without it looking just stained. I would recommend getting a wood veneer, it's not terribly expensive.
You might check with formica.com and see what they recommend. Although they deal primarily with countertops they should know how to alter the color if it is possible. :)
http://www.createastain.com/static2/formica.asp
...whoops. Meant to say, this looks promising.
The table is really cool, though!
it looks like the legs are wood. stain them and replace the top!
it looks like the legs are wood. stain them and replace the top!
you could likely use the same process this person used: http://www.diymamas.blogspot.com/2012/10/staining-easy-way-with-professional.html
Well, Formica (and Wilsonart and other laminates) is/are actyually printed paper bonded to a stiff backing and coated. So even if you are "staining" what you are really doing is painting the surface with a translucent glaze, at best. This is hard to do nicely without streaks and thick drippy spots.
Since this appears to be a mid-century collectible, you will probably be undermining it's resale value if you mess with it, and messing iwth it could turn out badly. So my suggestion is to use it as it is, try to learn to like the color, and wait to find a dark one if htat's what your eally want. (The light color was very popular back In The Day.)
I have veneered the top of a coffee table before. I bought teak veneer on ebay (the kind that is not peel and stick). I used contact cement to adhere the two together, as long as you get it lined up on the first try (there is no wiggle room with contact cement) then you're good. I finished the wood after sticking it down and its perfect, no problems at all and it looks great!
I have used peel and stick veneer in the past and it does not last the way the contact cement method did.
good luck. its a beautiful table!
If you plan to keep it as a "collectible", don't do anything to it. If you just plain like the utility of it and plan to use the heck out of it, I'd go to a cabinet maker and have a new top made for it.
Another option is to have a top made to fit OVER the existing top, not hard for a cabinet maker to do.
Shoe polish?
I have the same table. Remember that it is a convertable table. I think that adding a veneer would compromise the ability of the table to open up and fold away again. At least of my table, all the components fit rather closely and adding any thickness would cause problems. That said, I like the light color.