Refinishing a Dining Table

A few months ago I purchased a set of mid-century dining chairs from the flea market that had really great style, but needed some major TLC. The chairs came with a table and when I first saw it the legs were detached and it was in super shabby condition, not to mention that there were a bunch of what looked like old dental tools scattered on top of it, which sort of grossed me out. I didn't really want the table, I was really only in it for the chairs, but I begrudgingly hauled it to my car anyway.

I need a lot of furniture for my new apartment and naturally I'm on a budget. The dining chairs that I thought would work in my new space ended up being too big and I didn't want to over crowd the dining area because it is the only pathway to the kitchen. Then I got to thinking about that crusty old legless table and I thought....this is so crazy, it just might work.

Crazy for a couple of reasons. 1. The table needed a major overhaul (I apologize for not taking a before picture, apparently I was just super anxious to give it a make over that I forgot.) and 2. I am sort of anti DIY. I think in theory DIY projects are great, and if you have the time, talent, and patience to pull it off...more power to you. But I am not one of those people. I want things done right, especially when it comes to furniture, and I know my limitations. Nothing I do would ever come close to the beauty and precision I get when I take something to my upholstery shop to my wood finisher.

But with this ratty old table, I decided to give it a go just to see if I could do it. Of course I would need the help of my father, who is basically good at everything and also a licensed general contractor (although he had only refinished one other table before), and a step by step tutorial that I found online here. I skipped the first few steps and went straight to the sanding because our original surface was already pretty weathered and stripped. Then we stained and added 3 coats of clear finish. I let it dry for a day or 2 and then moved her in to my new place!

I was pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out. It's not perfect and the stain is a little splotchy in areas, but I think it's the kind of thing that only I would notice. My new, smaller scaled chairs should be arriving this week. And with that, my dining area is one step closer to accommodating dinner guests.