how to stain a table

“Round or square, mahogany or oak, the table is the heart of every home, the nucleus of domestic life...” ~Doris Christopher

We got our table in 2003 from the classified ads in Boise, Idaho. Remember when we used to shop from the newspaper classifieds before Craigslist?? It was $450 and our first major furniture purchase. We started out using the table with our 2 oldest girls without any leaves. 3 children later and now we use both leaves. It has been such a good, solid table to us, but she really needed a facelift. Here we go:

1. Completely sand down the existing finish on the table. This is a must so the stain will hold.  It is also a MAJOR pain in the wazoo. I hated every second. It took me about 3 hours (with plenty of interruptions) with an electric sander. It also made the decision for me not to sand the legs of the table. Down with anymore sanding! Make sure you get it bare and smooth.

2. Apply wood conditioner, wait about 15 minutes and then wipe off the excess. Then the fun part begins!

3. Apply the stain with the grain. I used three different gel stains to get the color I wanted. Let your first coat dry, then apply additional coats until your color is achieved. Here is the difference in the stained table and the sanded leaf.

It’s already looking so much better! Maybe all that blasted sanding was worth it?

4. After your stain is dry, you’ll want to protect all of your hard work! I love this finish.  It comes in satin, it’s water based and it is tough as nails. The guys at my local hardware store recommended it and said it was stronger than poly, and it has withstood everything my kids have dished out in the past 3 months. Time will tell, but right now it gets two thumbs up from me.

Apply one coat at a time, again with the wood grain. I use a cheap brush that I can toss after the job.

You’ll want to lightly sand between the coats of protectant~I use a very fine sanding block.

Now, for our captains chairs and the bottom of the table. I decided to use the same color as our entryway: Glidden’s Olivewood.

First, you need to clean your nasty chairs.

I called in my favorite 4 yr old assistant

and we went to town with a toothbrush, some Dawn dish soap and warm water.

Then we used our paint sprayer to spray the bottom of the table and the chairs.

 

And here it is in the kitchen, bare and clean for just a second. The vintage blue chairs are from Craigslist and they bounce! and wipe down beautifully. and remind me of my Grandma’s.

We have family coming to town to sit around this table with us…we can’t wait!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving~do you know that this blog would be nothing without you? Thanks so much to each one of you that take a minute to read this crazy blog~you are a blessing to me.

Do you think the kitchen/dining table is the most important piece of furniture in your home?

*Kate also has a fantastic tutorial on staining her table…she gave me the courage to tackle mine!

* Don’t forget to enter the HP Touchsmart 320 computer giveaway here~