Farmhouse table

Our home has gone through quite a transformation in the 3 years that we have lived there. The previous owners took good care of the house, but had a different design style that myself. So taking the advice of Mamasita (my mom), who is a very wise woman, I have tried to take my time with each room rather than make snap design decisions. This is EXTREMELY difficult for me. When I see something in our home that I want to change, I want to fold my arms, wiggle my nose and have it done instantly without any mistakes or mess. Since this isn't realistic, especially with a wee bambina, projects tend to drag out longer than I would like.

For the past 3 weeks, I have been working on refinishing a table for our dinette. Originally, it was a Craigslist purchase for my craft room. It was a steal that I just couldn't pass up. The top was in decent condition, but the legs needed some TLC. Sadly, the chairs could not be salvaged and went to furniture heaven (at the end of our driveway on garbage day). It wasn't a big deal because it was going to be covered in my creations. That is until a few weeks ago when Mamasita recommended that I fix her up and use it upstairs. It was bigger than our current table and could seat 6 people rather than the current 4 seater we were using. (I told you she was wise!) Her advice was confirmed when my fantastically chic friend, Sarah, suggested the same thing! Eureka! It was destiny!

So with Spring Project Fever, I tore apart cleaned up my craft room to free up this diamond in the rough. I was excited and energized by the possibilities! Over the past few years, my style has evolved by reading the numerous blogs and following the amazing home decor projects of other people. I would classify it as "Traditionally modern" which I think is now called "Transitional" by many people. I love dark, rich woods (cherry, mahogany and espresso finishes) but have developed a fondness for crisp white details in furniture and accessories. With that in mind, I decided that I would touch up the farmhouse legs with a bright white and stain the top a deep rich tone.
This was my first attempt at staining and I was determined to add a notch to my toolbelt (and not in the "you need a bigger belt" type of way). After talking to some people and doing some research, I settled on a mahogany stain + polyurethane. Like I mentioned, I like to see results quickly and I did not have the patience to wait for multiple coats of poly to dry.

The project was a journey in itself. It wasn't a home-run, but I would consider it a base hit. (My sports-enthusiast husband would be proud of that baseball reference.) There are definitely steps that I would do differently in the future (and will potentially have to with this piece). Here are my learnings:

- Test, Test, TEST your color. In hindsight, I am not in love with the color that I chose. It used Bombay Mahogany. It turned out to be much more red that I had anticipated and will probably refinish the top in a darker stain in the future. But my excitement got the best of me!
- Stain with light, thin coats in the direction of the grain. If you use too much stain, your piece will look blotchy in areas.
- Stain + Poly is very finicky. It sets up REALLY fast so it is extremely important to work fast but in thin coats. You don't have the luxury of wiping it with a rag like the simple staining process. What you see is what you get.
- Sand with a fine paper in between coats. This helps to deepen the color without getting raised spots from the stain.
- Wait about 8 hours between coats to ensure it has fully dried, but keep in mind that temperature, humidity and the thickness of the coat can impact dry time.
- Tack cloth. Enough said, this tacky cloth (hence the name) is great for picking up dust in between coats. The creator of this product was a genius!

Here is the finished product. While I look for a full set of chairs for this table, I will be refinishing the current chairs in white to tie me over. Hopefully, I can get to those once the warmer weather settles in again.

Does anyone else have Spring project fever? What are you working on trnasforming in your spare time?