JOKK(MOKK) Jams (aka Table Refinishing)

Don’t act for one second like you didn’t love Jock Jams.  That would be like me trying to tell you I don’t love to restock the candy jar.  It’s currently full of fun-size packs of M&Ms.

Back in the day, I introduced you to our table.  Well.  I introduced you to two tables and explained the following:  Clarice and I scored a table fo’ free ($0), yo, and then turned around and sold it on Craigslist for one hundred dollas ($100) because we found one we oh-so-preferred for fiddy bones ($50).  So we, in fact, turned a profit on the table.  Let’s focus on the now, though.  Here’s what we bought on Craigslist:

Here it is at IKEA:

So we are happy that we saved a few pretty pennies on it.  We were not, however, happy with the color of the table.  So we decided to take matters into our own hands and refinish it.

We started by sanding down all of the chairs and the table with medium grit sandpaper.  We went over it a second time with finer sandpaper for extra coverage (it seemed like the IKEA finish was pretty much on there for the long haul, which is great if you like it but which calls for extra sanding when you don’t).

The chairs were really the biggest headache.  We thought they’d be a breeze because they were so basic, but it was still a hassle.  (And yes.  Just like our bench redo, we did this entire project inside as well.  And yes.  Just like our bench redo, we do not recommend doing the project inside.)

From there, we ran over each piece with a tack cloth to ensure any debris from sanding was cleaned up and we went to town with Minwax in Ebony and foam brushes.  (And yes.  Just like the stain we used on our bench redo.)

After our first coat we were dealing with this:

It’s definitely darker than it was originally, but it still wasn’t nearly as dark as we wanted it to be.  Plus, since we’d already refinished the bench and it was a super rich dark brown, we wanted to at least get our table close to that shade.  Another coat and we had lift off:

We then put 2 coats of polyurethane on – being sure to sand lightly between coats and use a tack cloth after sanding – and a third coat on the table top because that would get the most wear and tear.  At the end of a *ahem*two week process because we are easily waylaid*ahem* we finally had our dining table ready for use.

Isn’t she lovely?

We even love the sort of streakiness you can see from the original wood and spots where we didn’t sand as heavily as others.

And here we have two of those IKEA purchases being put to use!  Our cream table runner and wicker charger (holding a bowl that was full of apples…until I ate them all…)

It’s actually darker than it looks in this picture and we’re smitten.  I’m also totally smitten with that bowl.  I have a problem.  Hi.  My name is Catie.  I’m obsessed with bowls.  (And not just candy bowls.)

Any tables refinishing in your life?  Or just general I-love-you-IKEA-for-the-less-expensive-yet-totally-able-to-be-tailored-to-my-tastes turnarounds?  We do have big plans for that empty white wall behind our table.  And it involves another one of our IKEA purchases.  But I’ll say no more.  Well.  For now.