Old Table, New Life

This table came out of an old rent house Bobby and I lived in.  This piece of furniture, along with some other stuff, was left from the previous tenants.  The landlord said we could just keep it all.  It was an ugly thing and would have easily thrown it out, but it sure was sturdy and solid.  I thought, some day I will refinish it.... Almost 2 years later, I did!  

For Christmas, I got 2 sanders.  One was a heavy-duty one and the other is for small spaces.  

I decided to work on this little table as a first tester project.  Reasons: it was free, and SMALL.  I've always dreaded sanding in the past because I've only used a very old palm sander with the paper falling off, or just by hand.

Boy was I in for a treat!

It was like instant gratification seeing the old finish come right off with my new sanders! Needless to say... I want to sand everything now.  lol.

Now on to the actual finsih....

I was asked a while back, what color did I use for this? I never responded cause it wasn't an easy answer.  

Back when we lived in Cleburne, TX Bobby and I went to some rustic furniture stores.  There, I saw an entertainment console with a green finish on it.  I had never seen something like it before, and loved it.  Bobby thought it was weird, but that didn't stop me dreaming of this neat touch to furniture.  

When it came to this table, I thought of many different ways to color it but was undecided.  I went to Lowe's to figure out what I was going to do.  I always like looking at their mark down section of paints because there are some REALLY good deals there.  While I was there, I found a gallon of green paint.  It wasn't a subtle shade of green either.  It was the exact shade of green I needed for only $5!

After painting 2 coats of green, I lightly sanded the edges of the table, exposing the wood.

Next, it was time to stain.

I got some stain from a brand I had never seen before.  The color I wanted was a "dark walnut" and that's what it said on the can.  I painted it on there and soon realized it wasn't working.  I went back to Lowe's and bought the Minwax brand of "dark walnut" along with glossy polyurethane.

I brushed the new stain all over the table, covering up all the green.  Once I was done, I got an old rag and wiped the stain off.  This technique made the green darker, getting into all the grooves and creases of the wood.  Still though, the wood didn't soak the stain in all the places.  I didn't mind cause it added more character.  

After letting it dry, I coated the table in the polyurethane to seal in the paint/stain.  I have found out that I love to brush the glossy polyurethane on furniture.  It tends to bring out all the richness from the colors making the project that much nicer.  

So there you have it.  My new "rustic green" table.

I got Buddy's approval!