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| My New Coffee Table!! |
I finally got to a project last weekend I had been wanting to work on for years. Honestly, I have hated
disliked the finish on our coffee table and end tables from day two. We bought them in 2000. You know the popular finish of the time, a light honey pine. Everything was honey pine ~ tables, chairs, kitchen cupboards (we have those too:), bar stools, headboards, dressers....I could go on and on.
Well, I finally had had enough. I woke up one morning, went to get the screwdriver to take off the hardware, and started the hour long process of removing all the braces, handles, and hinges. Thank goodness my hubby was home and helped me get started. I might have stopped before I started if he hadn't kicked the hardware removal into high gear.
I love to sand old, tired pieces. I usually sand by hand; it just produces the best finish. However, sanding three tables by hand can be quite an exhausting and time consuming event. So, I broke out my trusty palm sander and went to town. I did finish each table with 220 grit sandpaper by hand, but I certainly reduced my time by letting the palm sander do its magic.
I purposely sanded the tables a little unevenly. I wanted the stain to to be absorbed unevenly. I'm kind of into the extremely rustic and distressed style of finishes at the time. I even like the burnt wood technique, but I don't trust myself with a blow torch. Apartment Therapy has a great post about transforming an Ikea table using the effect. Click here to check it out. I simply chose to let my Minwax Wood Finish in Dark Walnut do its magic. I love how the table received the stain. I followed up the staining by applying Howard's Feed and Wax over all the surfaces. I even used the wax on the iron hardware and legs to spiffy them up a bit. Once the wax had cured about an hour, I buffed all the pieces with my trusty old men's tube socks. Check out the pictures below to see the entire process.
So, what do you think? I hope you like it and I hope my spur of the moment refinishing spree has inspired you to do the same. Please let me know if you've had luck with other finishing products or if you were brave enough to try the burnt wood technique.
Have a great day!
~ Alison
This post is linked up at:
Liz Marie Blog
Miss Mustard Seed
My Repurposed Life
Common Ground
