French Provincial Dining Table

I am going to admit something here. Dining Tables are my very least favorite project! By far! This one was the worst! I get fired up even thinking about it, so I won't go into detail, let's just say that I'm glad it's done. Eventually it did turn out to be beautiful, and the cute lady who bought it even sent me pictures of it in her home. I LOVE seeing what happens to my projects when they leave me! So here's the before... (Well, sort of. This is after HOURS of sanding off the photo finish, because I was going to use a light stain to show off that fancy grain.)

Now let me just say this. I will NEVER again do a dining table that has parquet grain. It was the root of MANY problems on this project. So, I will just tell you that I painted the skirt and the legs in Duck Egg Blue, by Annie Sloan, and I dry brushed some Coco by Annie Sloan, and distressed. Then I sealed with my favorite sealer, Shabby Paints Vax,  and glazed with Hazelnut Revax. I ended up with a beautiful aged look.

Eventually, after fighting with the top for a few weeks, I ended up deciding to just stain the top with General Finishes Java Gel Stain, using the brush on method for full coverage. Usually, even if I use gel stain, I opt for the wipe on method, because I like to keep the grain, but this table was the exception, and not the rule for me. Maybe someday when it is not so fresh, I'll share some of the in between photos of this table top. Right now, I just want to forget! After giving my gel stain 48 hours to cure, I sealed it with 3 coats of sealer for durability.

Here is the finished product.

And here it is pictured in the happy customer's home. She said this is the 4th table she's bought since moving into her new home, and she finally loves this one in her space! What a compliment!