Dining Room Table

My husband and I went to Savers (a secondhand store) not looking for a dining room table.... but fell upon this beauty! For $18, it was hard to pass it up. There were a lot of scratches, but I knew those could be fixed. It was solid wood, had the ability to extend, and was huge! I knew it was worth a shot.

 

 

FIRST: I sanded the table. If you like stripping wood chemically, that's perfectly fine- I just find it's faster to sand wood to it's natural color. I also had a lot of scratches and dents that I wanted to sand down to an even level.

 

 Thankfully most of this table was flat, so I was able to use a sander to strip the entire table, including the bottom!

 

NEXT: I stained it a dark color. Dark stains are always more forgiving, especially if some of your scratches or stains don't come out with sanding.

HINT:  Remember, when staining- add the stain with a clean cloth - allow it to dry 5-10 min - then wipe it down with a clean rag. You may have to do the table in sections so you can wipe off the stain in a timely fashion. The more coats of stain you do and the longer you let it sit, the darker the stain will be.



 

THEN: I used polyurethane on the entire table. I decided to use a water-based polyurethane so I could do several coats in one day (it dries faster, but you have to me careful in applying it, versus oil based polyurethanes).

 

 

Here's a picture to show you what the table looked like before and after the polyurethane. There are many ways to seal your stain- polyurethane usually gives it a shine. Research all the other methods (i.e. varnish, shellac, and lacquer) and find which one you like best. I am a bit partial to polyurethane.

And voila- it's finished and ready for use. Next project- making some chairs that match this table.