My Kitchen Nightmare!!!!

Okay, so I took off this week from work.  I needed a little rest and relaxation.  Since I was home this week, I decided to take on a few projects I've been wanting to do but haven't had the time.  I had several outdoor projects I wanted to work on, but Mother Nature had other plans for me.  It started raining Tuesday and the rain will continue at least through Friday.  So, I wondered what I could work on inside.  My kitchen table needed a little attention.  The table top had several watermark stains and the topcoat could use a little freshening up.  I haven't stained any furniture in a long time, but I still know how to do it.  I have never stained furniture that was already finished, but I figured it couldn't be that hard, right?  My first mistake was trying to sand the table top without a sanding block or an electric sander.  When I tried sanding the table top to rough up the finish so the stain would adhere to it, I scratched the table top in several places.  I thought maybe the first coat of stain would eliminate the scratches.  That was mistake #2.  I have a neighbor who has every tool and gadget you could ever want, so I went across the street and borrowed my neighbor's electric sander.  I've never used an electric sander before.  It couldn't be that difficult to use, right?  I've seen people use an electric sander all the time on various HGTV shows, so surely I could use one.  Well, I'm here to tell you--it's not that easy.  The good thing is, I got rid of the surface scratches.  The bad news is, the whole table top is very streaked up.  Once again, I applied the stain in hopes that the streaks would go away--they didn't.  

The whole table top is streaked.

The first coat of stain is drying and tomorrow morning I will go over it with #000 steel wool.  I've decided that if the table top doesn't look better after using the steel wool and applying the second coat of stain, I'll go to plan B.  Plan B is to paint the table top and then apply a glaze over the paint.  I'm going to paint the table top in SW Latte which was used on my cabinets.  If I have to paint, I think I will paint the entire table. 

I purchased this table in 2001.  A few summers ago I painted the chairs and recovered the seat cushions.  My neighbor thought I needed more color in my kitchen.  The chairs were painted in a Paprika color, but I didn't touch the table.  I didn't want everything to match.  I think a room is more interesting if furniture pieces don't match.

I'm almost hoping that the stain look doesn't work out so that I can paint the table.  I can visualize how it will look.  To be continued.....