I Got All DIY on My Kitchen Table

If you know me well, you know, half the time I can't be arsed to put on anything more than a t-shirt and a pair of comfortable jeans, let alone actually *do* anything.  It isn't that I am lazy.  Actually, generally by nature I am extremely lazy.  It's not my best trait and I do try to curb the habit. Let's be honest though, if I could just curl up on the couch and sleep for a day or read a good book, I would pretty much never leave my house.

BUT! I did something very handy this past weekend.  With the help of my very crafty and very not lazy next door neighbor, I refinished my kitchen table.  It was in dire need.  We bought the table when La was about 2 years old.  She is now 11.  It was covered with every single art project we had ever done.  It had remnants of breakfasts and dinners that couldn't quite be wiped off with a hot soapy wash cloth.  It was frankly a mess.  And that is putting it nicely.


So we started off thinking we were going to need to sand this oak monstrosity down in order to refinish it.  However, my other crafty and quite handy neighbor told us about a furniture stripper (not the kind that takes money as tips) that we should try out.  I call it "agent orange" but it's real name is Citristrip.  It will take the stink off a skunk.  That old finish didn't even stand a chance.We did end up sanding most of the legs ourselves and using the "agent orange" only to get into the grooves that we couldn't quite get our sandpaper down into.  In all it took us about a day and a half to get the entire table down to bare wood.

Afterwards, we sanded the table down with 120 grit sandpaper to get it as smooth as a baby's butt.  That took quite a while and my arms burned from never having used those muscles before. Then we tac clothed the table and got it ready to stain and paint.

I ended up painting the pedestal a mossy green.  It looks so gorgeous.  However, we accidentally used an oil based  paint instead of a water based paint.  Let me tell you, it is not easy to work with an oil based paint.  I still have it on my ankle and that crap isn't coming off anytime soon. It does look lush though.

The top I decided to keep an oak color.  We used a product that my neighbor had never used before.  It was a stain and poly mix.  When we opened the can it was grey.  *insert panic moment*  There was no way we were putting this on the top of my table with the amount of time we had put into it sanding it without testing it.  We ended up finding a spare piece of ply wood that we tested it on, and guess what?  It worked.  it looked like oak.  Just not in the can.

So we put two coats of the stain/poly on the top of the table and on the decorative edge. Oh I forgot to mention the decorative edge.  Let me tell you how much of a pain in the rear that was to strip and stand.  Now wait, don't let me, cause I will be here all night.  Then we put two extra coats of clear poly on top of the table.


In total, we spent 3 days refinishing the table.  Then we let it sit for a couple days to cure and harden up.  Guess what?  It was completely worth it.  Now, I want to do an old dresser that I have sitting in my hallway.  Lord help me, I might not be lazy anymore.