Dining Room Table Makeover

This is one of those projects that should only take 3 days, but ends up taking 3 weeks. I had to completely re-do and start from scratch THREE times. I came close to tears a few times. But just grit my teeth and told myself "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." (Thomas Edison). If anything I learned a LOT about refinishing wood and I know how to use so many products now.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

The pictures really don't do it justice. We have such terrible lighting in our basement suite. The chairs are actually and heirloom white color (look way more starch white in the pictures) 

Here are a few pieces of advice I had to learn the hard way....

1. Don't just read the instructions on the product. I had to completely strip my table after round #1 because I didn't apply the product correctly. I found some awesome youtube videos that SHOW you how to use products. Minwax has some awesome tutorials that explain how their water-based and oil-based products are different and which are appropriate for your product.

stripping and sanding the table AGAIN

2. TEST YOUR PRODUCT. I saw this one all over the web, on blogs, on tutorials, on youtube videos... And I thought BLAH BLAH BLAH. I picked out an extremely dark stain for my table but it didn't stain nearly as dark as I wanted. So instead of testing on a little piece of wood or part of the table I stained the entire table and leaf before I realized it wasn't going to be dark enough.... On to round #3....

not dark enough!! Ugh!

stripped and sanded again.... my poor neighborhood had to suffer through SO much sanding.

testing the stain this time.. I had to basically use a black stain to get the dark brown color I wanted

testing on the leaf first

3. WITH THE GRAIN PEOPLE. I finally got a beautiful dark rich color stain. It was perfect. I was laughing!! Only took 3 tries! Wrong. I applied the Minwax Wipe-on poly. A lot of tutorials mentioned the "hand rubbed" look. So I rubbed it in nice and good, let it dry. Well... I didn't wipe with the grain at the end. I left the poly to dry in the swirled pattern. After about 8 very thin coats some areas of the table were milky and the finish was uneven now. This was the closest I came to crying. Seriously?! I had to screw up the LAST step? UGH!!!!!!! So I sanded off some of the finish and wiped on a Minwax polyshade which is a 2 in 1 stain/polyurethane. Bada boom bada bing.

Good to know...

Pre-stain Wood Conditioner - It helps the stain absorb more evenly on softer woods. Use an extra coat or 2 of pre-stain wood conditioner on the edges of your table. The edges naturally will stain darker than the top of your table. I didn't end up doing this but I wish I would have! BEWARE, if you use a wood conditioner the color will end up lighter. I didn't end up using a wood conditioner on round #3 of my oak table, its not as soft as other woods and I wanted a dark color.

Stain - never shake your can of stain to mix it up. Use a paint stick and stir it so the particles that settle on the bottom of the can get mixed back into the stain. If your staining is taking a long time make sure to stir your stain every 5-10 minutes

Water-based vs Oil-based (http://www.homedepot.com/c/Stains)

Stain Base	Major Advantages
Oil-based(alkyd)	Better penetration Excellent durability Longer drying time allows more time to achieve an even finish Special deck stains deliver maximum durability for harsh conditions
Water-based(latex; acrylic)	Better color retention Less odor Breathable Nonflammable Soap and water cleanup Quicker drying

Polyurethane - apparently there are different sheens.Gloss, Semi-gloss, Satin. If you want your table super shiney do a gloss finish. If you want more of a matte look use a satin. If you want something in between use the semi-gloss. Make sure you buy the right one!

Wipe-on poly - It isn't streaky like some lacquer or polyurethane. 2-3 thin coats = 1 coat of polyurethane. Just remember to wipe WITH the grain. It was awesome to use on the dining room chairs, its so thin that you can get in all those little nooks and crannies. I also liked the wipe-on poly because it didn't make my table look like it had a plastic finish on top, it still had the beautiful wood look.