It all started with this Ikea table that I wanted to stain. It wasn’t horrible, but I wanted to update it and give it a fresh look. I decided that staining it would be the best way to go. It would freshen the dining room table without changing its look completely.
I had great success painting the chairs and base of the table white, and my plan was to give the top a darker finish with stain.
That dream quickly became a DIY nightmare, and I wrote all about that mishap here.
After a total of six hours of sanding, I was able to get the table down to its original bare birch wood. I then stopped my project for a little while to figure out what to do next. I even asked for suggestions on Facebook, and they were great. Most people said paint the top a color. I couldn’t get Yankee on board with that, so I decided to stain it again, and if that didn’t work, I was getting out the paint.
The first thing I did differently this time around was use three coats of the Minwax Pre-Stain. This is to help eliminate streaking, and since it was birch wood, which is tough to work with anyway, it needed more than one coat. Also, I decided to practice on the back of the table leaf. I sanded it down and loaded up the pre-stain, and then I applied different stains that we thought might work. I really wanted a dark stain, but as you can tell, it wasn’t going to work again. We opted for the one with a little bit of color on the bottom of the picture.
I only applied one coat of stain because I was happy with the color and not having streaks. The next step was to apply polyurethane. I applied three light coats and sanded between each coat.
The poly is really protecting the wood, and I do not get nervous if cups are used without coasters. This table will hold up to the “elements.”
I am so glad I was able to tell you this success story because it was touch and go at one point. I was shopping on line for a new dining room table.
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Here is a fun side by side of the before, and finally, the after.
I am really happy with the end result, and even though there were some bumps in the road, this table works great for us, and now I am happy with how it looks.
Have you ever had a DIY project go wrong that you were able to turn around?
Cheers!
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The dining room looks fantastic!…I knew you would come up with the perfect solution to your table dilemma!!…Great job!
Shirley,
The DIY mishap makes and hard work to fix it really makes me love my table.
Cheers!
I love the final results! So pretty with the painted chairs. I’d love to restain the top of my table. It’s oak with lots of love marks… 20 years worth. I just can’t seem to do it yet, sentimental I guess.