Updating a Dining Table

While our dining room was the next logical target for adding crown molding and trim, the other main reason I focused on the dining room was a desire for a new table.

Aside from our island in the kitchen, our dining room is the only dedicated eating area in our home. We don’t have a breakfast area. So our dining room has always been on the casual side, but I wanted to dress it up a bit.

The table we have now was purchased on Etsy. I made benches for the sides, and looked for chairs that would match, without luck. I ended up keeping the same chairs that we had from our previous table.

All in all, the table just felt too narrow but also too long. It was awkward passing around food, and yet it never seemed there was enough space in the middle of the table to place dishes. The other big problem was the leaf. I originally wanted an extendable table so that we could easily extend the table when we had company, but not have too large of a table for our everyday family meals. Our current table does have a leaf, but the extension system underneath doesn’t adequately support the leaf, so the whole table droops in the middle when extended.

Other Options

So, I began my search. I came across lots of beautifult tables (see some of my faves here). I also knew that building a proper extendable table with a nice top was beyond my capabilities. My search then turned to scouring Facebook marketplace and local auctions. My intention was to find a simply designed top that I could refinish. It would need to have leaves, with aprons on the sides, and legs that I could swap out. Then I could update the legs with some favorites that I had found from Carolina leg company, without me having to refinish lots of curves, nooks and crannies – I just didn’t have it in me to do another complete refinishing like I did on my bed last winter. These were the two I was considering, and really leaning towards the narrow legs.

However, when scouting tables, I became so focused on the top of the table, that I completely disregarded what the rest of the table looked like, or what else was included in the lot for that matter.

I scored one at a local auction.

After getting it home, I took a look at the legs and realized they had some curves, but wouldn’t be ridiculously hard to sand down. So I decided to save the money on the legs and give refinishing them a try.

Test Drive

I purchased this set in August knowing full well I wouldn’t be able to get the dining room done until the new year. But one day I couldn’t help pulling out one of the leaves and seeing how it looked underneath. Those few moments might be one of my favorites of refinishing furniture… seeing the beautiful wood underneath.

I was happy. I wished I could have finished the whole table and moved this project up before Christmas.

Now, it’s important to note that this table was veneered. The veneer was much thicker than other things I’ve done, like the inner panel of my bed, but it was still a veneer. And that means I needed to be very careful with how much I could sand.

Another alternative would have been to use a stripper on it so that I wouldn’t have needed to sand as much, but I really didn’t want to go that route if I didn’t need to.

Process

I started the sanding with 80 grit sandpaper and a lot of patience. If I found myself trying to force it and get done faster, I knew it was time to stop and come back another time.

For the most part, I used my Bosch random orbit sander, but I did pull out my Ryobi corner cat a couple of times. The Bosch worked best, even on the slight curve of the legs.

I just upgraded to this Bosch sander last year. At the time it felt like a splurge because I already had an orbital sander, but the upgrade was well worth it! There really isn’t a comparison, and the dust collection abilities was a feature I didn’t even know I needed.

Plan Ahead

As usual, I just jumped in with sanding. But my main issue was the aprons. The width of the apron inside the trim was just too small for me to get my corner cat in, and even my smaller Dremel multi tool sander was too big. I ended up having to take the aprons off of the table top.

Once I pulled them off, everything was much easier to sand. I wasn’t hanging upside down trying to get all sides of the legs. I wished I had just done it in the beginning. It enabled me to put everything up on my workbench and sand it from there.

I followed up the 80 grit with 120 and 240. And then it was time for the biggest decision… stain color.

Stain?

To test stain colors, I sanded the backs of the leaf aprons and tested colors there. I tested 4 different colors. It took me a few days of waffling back and forth before I finally decided I would just forgo stain altogether.

Finishing

To finish the table, I went back to my tried and true favorite: Minwax Polycrylic in a Matte finish. I did 3 coats on the legs and aprons, and 4 coats on the top. I really like the non-shiny finish. The Polycrylic finish doesn’t seem to darken the wood as much as polyurethane. And the matte sheen feels more modern than the glossier sheens.

Up Next

And that is it for the table! This pic below gives a pretty good feel for the sheen. Next I’ll share my overall plan for the dining room and a current update.

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