I did it!!

After yeeeaaars of thinking and/or talking about refinishing my kitchen table, I finally got a shot of motivation to tackle it. I don't know exactly how old the table is - it was passed on to us. We've had it just shy of 18 years now. And it didn't come in good condition to start with. I mainly wanted the top done because it was so bad. (As you can see!) And it's the only part I could do without using a chemical stripper (I used an electric hand sander). The legs weren't all that great either but with a scrub and then wiping the stain over them it gave them a bit of new life. They don't look half bad, except the foot part that was worn to bare wood, it took the stain really dark. But all in all, not bad. It took me 2 - 3 hours just to sand the main table part. My arms were incredibly sore that night and I hadn't even done the leaf in the middle! So my table looks pretty good now - I think I should put museum ropes up to keep it looking good. LOL Of course, my chairs still look bad. However, THOSE will require a chemical stripper and I don't think I'm up for that yet. So here it is - before and after (I took the pics without the flash and with the flash). Just click the pictures to view larger. I left a bit space on each side of the leaf in this pic while it's still curing. I had to sort of guess what stain color would come close to the original so it'd still work with the other pieces (the small buffet in the back and we have a hutch in the living room). Not quite the same but it worked out pretty good. It doesn't look that far off from the legs. Especially depending on the light. :)