So, this is pretty much the best picture I have of my kitchen table before. We were having our Back To School Sundaes!! I despised the grooves in this table which collected all the crumbs and food that a family of six can tend to leave behind while EATING! Sheesh.
We ended up getting a loaner table while we worked this one over.
Travis began my completely planing off the top layer of the table, making sure to leave no grooves and just a flat surface. Jakob helped by sanding it smooth.
Next, I used a tack cloth to remove any extra saw dust or dirt.
Smooth smoothy smoothness (sorry for the blurry pic) but it is smooth. :)
I then created a paisley cut image with my Silhouette and cut it out of a stencil blank I purchased at Hobby Lobby. I think it ended up costing about 3 dollars or you could purchase a larger stencil online for $50 or so.
I rolled on the Heirloom White painted with a foam roller. I had to stop about 2/3 of the way through and pick off all the paint that had collected on the stencil as it wasn't letting the paint through the smaller holes in the design.
While that dried for a while I painted the table legs and sides. When the top was completely dry I painted on Minwax Dark Walnut stain and then rubbed off the excess with a cloth. I did two coats and let dry and added a coat of Wipe on Polycrylic. I let that dry overnight.
In the morning I added a second coat of Wipe On Polycrylic. Food wipes off like a dream even though it doesn't have a thick coat of polyurethane.
I'm really happy with the way it came out...Now to paint the chairs.
Have a super day!