We have had our lovely pine dining room table since 1999, I believe. It's a great sized table, but it's condition-not so great. It's taken years of abuse from forks, hot wheels, and numerous art projects, among other things. Let's just say it wasn't looking too hot. It was sad, tired, and ugly. I have appealed to Dave over the last couple of years for a new table, but Dave just felt a new one would sustain the same abuse. Guess I can't argue with that. So I had every intention to one day refinish the table. These good intentions had been mounting up for months, until last week I just couldn't take another day. Does that ever happen to you? I have been looking at the dumb thing for years, yet in my mind, I just couldn't handle another day. Not even another minute. I had a plan that would cost under $50. Since refinishing our chairs and the legs of the table would be a hideous task to say the least, with all their detail work, I decided painting them would be the solution. And I would stain the table top darker. So for a gallon of paint and a can of stain, I was ready to embark on my latest obsession-I mean project.
Footnote about the above statement: "I" was about to embark on this project really means Dave and I, as he has very well learned. But he was so happy and sweet to oblige at my asking to help. He's so sweet and understanding!
So we began by sanding the table top itself, and after several hours, it came out beautiful! I was so surprised how much of the damage sanded out. Pine is a very soft wood, yet I was still happily surprised! I hand painted the base and legs of the table. Dave extended the table length buy moving the legs further apart with the help of about $5 worth of wood. Now my table will seat 10! Yippee! Last night we put on the stain, and this morning I applied the first coat of polyurethane. Dave painted all the chairs last night with his power sprayer. I am so thankful I did not have to paint those chairs by hand. That would have taken forever! Today we will finish the last coats of poly, and by Wednesday it will be back in my house, making this Mommy very, very happy. Did I mention that the same $6 can of stain will also refinish my oak butcher block countertops in the kitchen (that's next week's project). What a deal. Pictures to come when it's all finished.
With all that to say, who needs to buy a new dining set? Sometimes you just have to be creative with what you have. And after putting in a bit of elbow grease, I see now that my table can be practically brand new looking as the reward for our sweat! I am so thrilled.
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