After many months of searching for a "good deal" on an entry table, I finally gave up and just started looking for an ugly one that had potential. Bingo. From the mouth of Craigslist spewed this gem from the 1960's era of honey wood, accented with lime green, covered with a thick coat of polyurethane and I swear, smelled of Don Draper's smoke and whiskey. (Any Mad Men fans out there?)
Before
Before
I actually sanded this one down to the bare wood, thinking I might go off on a limb and paint it red with black accents. But Java called to me like an old lover, so that's where I ended up...
2nd coat of Java Gel Stain
2nd Coat of Java Gel Stain
I used the "Sock method" to do the 1st and 2nd coats of gel stain. This gave the smooth coverage that the top and curves needed. On the 3rd and final coat, I used the sponge brush.
After
After
After
On the hardware, I spraypainted them with a black matte finish, and after drying, used a sandpaper block to distress all the edges to bring out the 60's gold bronze back to the surface, just a bit though.
Also, I did NOT do a full coverage of the Java, I left some of the lighter wood showing underneath, so in person, this actually looks more of a mahogany stain. I played around with the sponge brush on the top to create something I thought turned out pretty cool. I made the edges more dark and blended it all towards the middle...
So it turned out really good, and I am pleased. I appreciate it a lot more than if I had just went to Hemisphere and purchased it looking like this already, that's for sure!
Here is a quick video of the Gel Staining process on this particular piece
