Hello,

I have a melamine table that the kids have ruined. Any ideas how I can make it look good again? It was beech effect.

Thank you.

Our Homes And Property Expert replies:

Hello there,

There's really not much you can do to revive the old beech-effect surface, but instead of going to the expense of replacing it, you can completely transform a battered old piece of melamine furniture by painting over it with International Melamine Primer and High Performance Melamine Paint.

The low odour primer provides a basecoat to ensure smooth and long lasting adhesion of the topcoat, while the paint, available in six shades, provides a tough protective coating.

Clean the surface of your table completely to make sure that all traces of grease and dust have been removed. You must make sure that the melamine surface is completely dry before applying the melamine primer. Using a synthetic brush, apply an even coat of the primer and then leave to dry for four hours. Once it's dry, sand down the surface of your table very lightly to remove any brush marks, and then dust it clean with a dry cloth. Using a brush with natural bristles, apply the High Performance Melamine Paint. Paint the entire surface with regular up-and-down strokes for a smooth, even coat. Leave it to dry for six hours and again, once it's dry, sand the surface lightly to remove any runs or drips and then dust clean with a dry cloth. Apply a second coat of paint and leave to dry thoroughly for six hours. The whole process should take you around two days.

A 750ml tin of melamine paint covers up to 9m and costs £8.99, while the primer costs £9.99 for 750ml.

To complete the makeover and to ensure that your new-look table bears no resemblance to the old, damaged table you could add a pretty stencil to each of the legs or the top. This will give it your own, unique look.

Hunt out tableware and accessories like tablemats and napkins in similar colours to your stencil, to round off the look and tie everything together. To help you, we've reviewed our Top Five Tablemats and our Top Five Glass Tumblers so you'll find something no matter what your budget. Talking of budgets, if you've got some money to spare, you could extend this colour scheme by adding touches throughout your kitchen. You're old melamine table will soon be no more than a distant memory!

I hope this helps you,

Donna.