Refinishing A Dining Table

Hi guys! I know it's been ages since I last posted (seriously...like, four years) but I decided it was time to bring the blog back to life. A few years, a move out of my high-rise, and several life changes later, I'm back to DIY-ing and doing the things I love most!

The current project I'm working on is a tough one. My boyfriend, Ryan, received a really beautiful mission-style dining table from his parents when he was in college, but some of the finish was worn off due to a leak in his storage unit. We didn't realize that was the case until we got it moved into our apartment, but c'est la vie! After trying to strategically hide the damage with my sad attempts at styling, I finally decided it was time to bite the bullet and refinish the damn thing.  Little did I know how much work that was going to be...


Here is a photo of the table before I began working on it. The wood and construction of the table are great, but I was never a huge fan of the stain color.

Before! You can see some of the damage on the left side of the table.

And here are a couple of "in progress" photos! I have been using Citristrip to remove the varnish and stain. It says it's safe for indoor use, but I've been working outside because the smell got to me after working so closely with it. I was amazed at how quickly Citristrip worked- I was anticipating having to scrub and scrape the stain off for hours, but I left it on the wood for about an hour and it came off SUPER easily with a paint scraper!

Left side- stripped. Such a huge difference!

After getting (most of) the stain off, I sanded it. Easily the most annoying part. Dust. Everywhere.

After sanding.

While Ryan and I haven't 100% decided what color we I will stain it after everything is prepped, I'm leaning more towards a walnut finish- something about dark wood always looks really sleek and clean to me. I'm also trying to be forward thinking and try to consider what would look best in a house with the rest of our furniture once we purchase one. White walls + dark wood = major heart eyes. 

Another thing we're working on is reupholstering the cushions for the chairs. They're currently a beige chenille fabric (my worst nightmare) but of course, I'm leaning towards a grey. Ryan's been much more opinionated on the fabric type/pattern than I anticipated, but I think I can convince him that I know what I'm doing ;) 

 

More updates coming as I work on this piece! Hoping to get a couple more chairs done over the long weekend, but at the rate I'm currently going, this may end up being a Christmas present to us both. Sorry, babe.


Natalie