Well, it's only just March and already I'm one fairly major project down this year. We had (let's face it - I had) been looking for a new dining table for quite some time, and struggling to find what we wanted. Partially this was due to the fact that we didn't know exactly what we wanted. We knew we wanted a round table, but that was only the starting point.
After lots of searching and trying out different things, I determined (on our behalf) that we wanted a round table with a pedestal, so that no-one had to straddle a table leg (major bugbear with our old table - awkward). We wanted one that extended - you know, in case we win the lottery and have room for a dinner party. I also knew that I wanted one with a fairly shallow top so that chairs with arms could fit under it (2nd bugbear with our old table), which meant leaves would have to be stored outside the table. Which meant I also wanted one where the pedestal would split to accompany the extra leaves when you put them in.
And we really didn't want pine.
And we didn't want farmhouse chic style.
And we didn't want to spend loads of money.
And...
Needle & haystack. I eventually found that the sort of table I wanted was vintage (gasp), Danish (seriously?), and found only on ebay (where else?!). After losing out on a few auctions, I finally got lucky and we landed a gorgeous teak table. And that's when the real fun began.
The photos don't do the table justice, but you get the idea:
The process was to:
strip off the old finish (some gross, dark, slightly sticky finish)
sand (1st time by hand = failure)
sand (2nd time using Emily's amazing orbital sander = brilliant)
sand (3rd time by hand to finish up)
apply a soap finish
enjoy!
You can see that the leaves look a bit different than the rest of the table - they need another application of the soap finish and also are much more grainey than the other part of the table. I like the smooth bare wood and the textures in the colour that a finish otherwise hides. I had intended on bleaching the table to make it super light, but for now, we both really like the gentle red hue.
We love it! What to do next?
