1. The first thing I did was set the table up (this was important since I basically bought it blind). I wiped off all of the webs and storage dust off of it and sanded it down. I didn't get crazy (I just used my Craftsman sander with about an 80 grit sand paper) and hand sanded the molding. I didn't even bother with the legs etc because I bought primer to act as an adhering layer for the white paint.
2. I then wiped off all of the sawdust a couple times to prepare for staining. I painter's taped where the stain would meet the white paint. I blindly (without really any knowledge of the staining process) stained the top of the table. This is the most important step in the process in my opinion, and looking back, I should've watched a couple videos. There is a certain amount of finesse that goes into prepping the wood and rubbing it in right. I just painted it on liberally. It is important to keep in mind that you want to do your brushing (or rubbing it in) correctly the first time! Any defects in your work that you go back to fix will be silhouetted from the rest of the work. Hindsight is 20/20 and the good thing about it is, the defects kind of add to the charm and uniqueness of home furniture etc. It is important also to not that your biggest enemy will be applying the stain in a way that makes the stain drip or run, this is basically impossible to "cover up" making it much different than normal paint. You'll find that when you try to re-brush an area with even a moderately fresh bead of stain, everything will stick where it is except the bead (that part will come off completely leaving uneven colors). The stickiness of the stain is the culprit there as it wants to absorb and adhere as one coat. *One last stain note, I was really bummed when I sanded and it seemed like I "sanded" off the wood finish that was on the table, I was worried that it would be bland. It turns out that when you stain, that's the real thing that brings out the beauty in the wood so don't get too down on yourself if the sanded table looks like crap.
3. After the stain dried I got to work putting painters tape on the stain side of the paint/stain border. I then took and rapidly primed the surface of the legs etc creating the rough primer surface. It worked exceptionally well without any issues.
4. Then came the paint, I put two coats of paint on it back to back and drank a couple of beers. Legs can be a little bit of an issue, but remember uniformity and like with everything, go with the grain of the wood.
5. Lastly I waxed, this was the most laborious part of the process. I liberally applied a based wipe of wax with an old shirt. I worked 1/3 of the table at a time and just rubbed hard. It'd helped bring it to an initial gloss. I tried using some power tools to help but they made it look shanty. So back to waxing I went, it was surprisingly back-breaking work. I rubbed in two separate coats before giving up. I did the molding as well and crudely rubbed in 1 coat of wax into the legs. The furniture wax I used was for light brown furniture and tinted the white a little. I was actually happy about this as the white paint was really darn white before it. So a win win I guess. Well, anyways, I was able to get the table set up for my lover by the time she got home and she lost her mind. She said it was "the best present she could've ever come home too!" Not bad for $60!
My future with this table entails antiquing the legs some and throwing a couple more coats of wax on it to make it more child proof. We will also be getting chairs that match it better or repurpose some used ones! Anyways, we are both happy and love having this over our old table!
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