Project: Table Restoration

The Prelude
I’ve mentioned this in the past and have finally made some headway in refinishing my kitchen table. As a brief recap: I received the table second-hand back in ‘02-ish from friends who were moving away. There was a good bit of wear n’ tear, but all in all a sturdy table. And after my coffee table project proved a success in ‘00, I wanted to test my skills with wood once again. I also chose to recycle some of my Celtic knotwork designs to embellish the otherwise ‘blank canvas’.

Episode 1.5 - The Stripping
Here, you can almost see the excessive scarring and natural rubbing of the varnish. I didn’t think to grab a pic before I started applying the varnish remover, which ended up being a waste of time and money anyway. Sandpaper worked perfectly!

Episode 2 - The Sanding
Now we have a nice and clean surface! The wood’s grain turned out to be a lot cleaner and more defined than I’d anticipated. What you don’t see is the layer of red dust that covered the entire back side of my kitchen. On the later sanding phases, I learned it was in my best interest to haul this mutha’ outside.

Episode 3 - The Staining
Originally, I’d planned to go with a Red Mahogany stain, but then saw the Red Oak and chose it instead. Not quite as red, but has a much silkier tone. Let’s all pretend that it doesn’t clash with my wine colored walls, m’k?

Episode 3.5 - The Mocking
In case you’re like me and just can’t wait to see the finished product… here ya’ go. The design is set, but I’m not 100% on the colors yet. I don’t know if I want to go light or dark, or even stroked as shown. But this gives me something to look at and ponder over in the meantime. Try picturing a nice gloss on top!

More as it comes…