Live In Grace: dining room table

One of my very favorite hobbies is finding old pieces of furniture and updating them to fit my home. Most of the furniture we have is refurbished in some way. I have a few local antique stores that I search on a weekly basis for new finds.

Several weeks ago, Brian and I stumbled upon this beautiful 7 piece dining room set with 2 additional leaves. Our current dining room table, ~~if you can even call it that,~~ was a little farmhouse table that we re-did about 18 months ago. It was really too small for our new dining room and it could hardly hold 4 people. This new piece was actually painted white and the chair seats were covered in burlap (~~not necessarily what I would have done...but the burlap I can live with).~~ I wasn't really "looking" for a new set, just yet, but when I spotted this, I couldn't let it go. The table is a beautiful oak table, with cane-backed chairs (swooning).

Redoing furniture always sounds like a very easy process...but honestly, it is a work of patience! This piece took me about 2 weeks to complete AND I'm still working on the leafs for the table.

Before

I don't usually strip paint off furniture if I am going to repaint it. Stripping paint is a VERY tedious process, so I only recommend it if you are restraining wood to its original. For this piece, I used about 4 cans total of paint stripper. I should have bought the big canister. You can find paint stripper at your local hardware/paint store. You want to use the HEAVIEST/THICKEST stripper you can find. DO NOT USE aerosol stripper! I basically pore the stripper straight onto the table, then use a foam brush to spread the paste all over the paint. This works best if you do small sections at a time. Let the paste sit for about 20-30 minutes, then begin to strip the paint. You will need a paint stripping knife to do this. If the stripper is working correctly, the paint should come off in big strips...if it's not it will come off in smaller pieces.

This piece took about 1.5 weeks to strip ALL the paint off. It had lots of trip work on the sides that were very time consuming to strip.

Once you've gotten all the paint removed from the surface....and it must be ALL the paint. You will want to sand the surface. I usually use a 220 grit sandpaper for most projects. At that level, you can be sure it will not scratch the surface. You just want the surface smooth and slightly gritty in order to hold the stain.

After, you are comfortable with the sanding, wipe the table down with a damp cloth (mineral spirits or water).

After the table is dried, you are ready to begin staining. I always use MinWax when I stain furniture. I trust the tint of the stain and the durability on the furniture. For this piece, I actually used two different stains (a regular oil-based stain-table top and legs & a gel based stain-trim work).

Again, I use a foam brush to coat the stain. It is important that you notice how thick you are coating the table. If the stain is too dark you can always wipe it off with a clean cloth. Let the stain dry for about 24-48 hours or until tackiness goes away. DO NOT rush this process. If you rush the drying process, you will it end up with blotchy spots on the table.

After the first coat is dry, sand the table (again with 220 grit sandpaper). It is important to go with the grain of the table to insure that you don't get scratch marks. Again, wipe the table down with a damp cloth of mineral spirits or water. Let dry.

Repeat staining process to desired color.

After the stain is 100% dry (for this project it was about 3 days), you will want to coat the top surface with a Polyurethane. This keeps the surface protected and also allows you to clean the surface later on. I used a clear semi-gloss for this table, but there are several surface options. Let dry for about 48 hours or until dry to touch.

Finished product

I am very pleased with how this piece turned out. I still need to finish the leaves, but it is the perfect table for this room.

The key to refinishing furniture is really patience! Try not to have a set deadline and allow it to become a fun, relaxing hobby!