A Drop-Leaf Restored

I have been on the hunt for a round table for my booth for a couple of weeks and finally found one on a recent jaunt. The size was perfect and with the drop leafs, excellent.

I should have taken a better before shot, but as bad as the picture is, you can still see how pitiful this little table is. Dried and worn out wood, the finish peeling and cracking off and obvious water damage. I thought that I could bring it back to life with a little effort and work.
I decided to give it a shot.

Now I have never refinished or restored a piece of furniture, so this was also a learning experiment. I knew I had to strip it and went to Lowe's and settled on a product that was non-caustic and good for the envoirment called Citrustrip. I bought the spray-on type (but they have brush-on too), and basically followed the directions, sprayed an even coat and let it sit for a minimum of thirty minutes.

It actually didn't take long for the stripper to start working, the top coat (or what was left of it) started to froth up. It was pretty gross looking (so I thought I'd share it with you).


After minimal scraping, and a warm bath of soapy water, I had successfully gotten down to the bare wood.

It still had the dent and dings and scrapes, but that's the good kind of damage. I selected Dark Walnut stain for no other reason than I had it on hand. I was immediately happy with the choice, it was brought back to life and I hadn't even applied the poly yet! I also decided to give the under carriage and legs a coat of black (again because I had it) and distressed the paint

After painting the legs and under carriage black, I took the palm sander and distressed it, after that I went over the everything with the dark walnut stain and this is how the finished product looks:

Finally, I applied two coat of polyurethane over everything and let it dry.

I was really thrilled with the outcome of this little table that could....I think the finishes, match the style and if a table could be happy, I think it would be.

I couldn't believe how fun the process was either, I'm usually a 'paint it' kinda gal, but the top was just too damaged, but it gave me the opportunity to refinish and it was actually thrilling, not to mention easier than I thought. I sent my MIL at least three pictures during each stage, I was so excited with the progress. I could really get into 'refinishing'.

With the sides down and some autumn finery (and scanty grass)! :)

Of course I had to do a little tablescape before it goes to the booth. :)

Have you ever refinished a piece or do you only like painted finishes?

Also, a big thank you to Tobi Fairley (my design idol) for featuring my DIY Chevron Floor cloth! Check it out HERE

Joining Miss Mustard Seed

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