Refinish table

A couple weeks ago I decided to refinish our kitchen table and once I decide to take on a project there is no turning back. I am so happy I did it even though it took a couple weeks because I could only tackle it during the girls nap time. This table was the table my family had growing up. I love it and I am so happy we have it now. It started out with white legs and a light oak top. When my family moved to Georgia my mom painted the table legs and chairs black and stained the top. Stephen and I got it when we first got married and I just left it as is. The black paint was turing into more of a gray paint and it was chipping like crazy. The top of the table had water marks all over and it was in need of a new stain. I looked up a tutorial on line and invested in all the things I would need to strip and re-stain properly.

The chairs were quite the task. I didn't realize how much time it would take. I started off by sanding them down and making sure they were nice and clean. I did 2 coats of semi gloss black paint. After letting them dry for 48 hours I did 2 coats of polyurethane to seal the paint and prevent any chipping from occurring.

Here is the table out in the garage right after I stripped it. The staining of the table went a little something like this...

1. brush on thick paste finish remover

2. use wide putty knife and scrape off finish

3. apply liquid stripper and take off with steel wool

4. wash away waxy stripper residue with lacquer thinner

5. sand to smooth surface

6. apply stain and let dry for 24 hours

7. brush on 3 coats of semi floss polyurethane clear coat

8. apply finishing wax

Here is the finished project. It was so nice to have a table in the house again after a couple weeks of eating on the ground. haha Stephen and I were really happy how it turned out. It is always satisfying working hard on a project and loving the outcome.