So, waaaay back, when we first moved, we made the journey with our original dining room table. One that fit great into our old dining room… a large square table (when the leaf is open), in a large square dining room.

But the new place is loooong and narrow. Like, really long. Which means we could fit a fantastic long table, but a new one was most certainly not in the budget.

Buying second hand was the answer, and the cheaper the better. Time to refinish a dining table!

Enter Kijiji! Loooove me some Kijiji. I found this monster 7 foot table (when the leaf is in) for $120 — It also came with 4 Windsor chairs which come in handy for big dinners (and are awaiting their own makeover).

Some good energy was attached to this table too… the family shared their memories of many years of family dinners around the table, and I was happy to take that home with me.

But… all that love meant it needed some work. The finish on the table top was pretty rough. And, the old oak yellowish stain was showing her age. Time to give her a modern facelift. The table top got sanded aaaaall the way down. Yep, I was living in the garage for a couple days. But the new Skil Sander, (a gift from last Christmas), sure came in handy with those curvy edges. Loving those fancy attachments!

The base got a quick hand sanding, to scuff up the shiny surface, to prep it to hold paint.

The perfect matte, soft white, completely propelled this “dated-and-too-country” finish into today! So clean, and I appreciate the curves so much more now.

The table top was lugged upstairs (thanks Steve!), so I could stain it indoors, and away from the dusty garage.

Already, so! much! better! The bare wood against the white base, already had me feeling really happy, and I was excited to get staining!

“Friday” the cat needed to supervise, as usual.

And on goes the stain… Every time I strip wood all the way down, and start applying stain, I can almost hear the wood saying, “thank you, thank you, thank you! I was so thirsty!!”

It really is as, “good as new”.

All damage completely removed, and the new supple wood ready for its new life… for years to come!

Here it is after two coats… looking pretty proud…

And after 3 stain coats, (in Jacobean), and 3 Varathane coats, she was ready to go…

This old table is looking better than ever! Young and fresh.

The best part? We can seat 10 for the big family dinners, and with our breakfast bar adjacent to it, everyone is together, with no need to set up extra plastic tables! A proper family table. Are we grown-ups, or what?!

The kiddo was pretty sick of eating at the breakfast bar, so it was extra cruel, waiting for the extra time waiting for the Varathane to cure. Let’s just say, she enjoyed her first meal, and has been choosing a new seat for each meal and snack, the last few days! Ha! She keeps me laughing.