I can do hard things

My friend gave me a used dining room table and I decided to refinish it for my kitchen.  I have never done anything like this, so it felt overwhelming at first.  Dave didn't like the table at first.  He thought it was too "cabinny", but I had a vision.   My friend Karrie came over and helped me figure out how to do it.  

We sanded and sanded and sanded.

 Then we ran into a problem and were rescued by a friend who brought over a belt sander. That saved me.

After we got everything sanded - it took about 4 days off an on, Dave helped me take it all apart and we moved it to the garage.  I used a black stain with polyurethane in it.  It took 2 coats, and then 2 coats of just wipeone poly.  We roughly sanded the legs and did 2 fresh coats of oak stain on them.

 Then put it all back together.  I LOVE IT!!!!

We hope to find some unfinished chairs that we can refinish to match, but until then we will use what we have which match fine for now.  

The hardest part was waiting for stuff to dry.  I am so happy with the finished project.  It only took about a week.