DIY: Stain your old table

When moving out of our last apartment J and I asked our roommate D if we could have the table she had if she wasn’t going to take it with her to her new apartment in Boston.  She let us keep it, so we moved it with all of our belongings to my parents’ house.

Thanksgiving two years ago, but you can see how light the table is

Before moving into our current place J decided to do his own DIY project with the table.  Since the table had accumulated nicks and paint from using it in our past apartments, J decided he wanted to sand and stain the table.

Newly sanded, but not stained yet

A friend from J’s work already had stain and lacquer for him to use and he got it okayed to use the sander at work and complete the whole project as well.  He began working on the table and decided partway through to only stain and sand the top and paint the legs and underside of the table black.

Sorry for the poor quality picture.  Early stages of lacquer and stain.

 When he was finished after many coats of stain, lacquer, and paint, we had to wait a week for it to cure and be able to use it.   It was well worth the wait.  The table looks brand new and I’m in love with the color (deep mahogany). 

Doesn’t it look so nice with all the holiday décor now?