When my son, Sean, and his fiancee, Eulissa, were discussing moving into their new apartment, a slight disagreement ensued. Sean wanted my marble top coffee table (pink marble with a brass base) and Eulissa did not want it. It would not go with any of the furniture she had in mind for their new place. So Eulissa capitulated...and agreed to take it. Unfortunately, no one asked me if they could have it. It belonged to my mother and I had sentimental reasons for wanting to keep it. But as long as it stayed in the family, I was okay with them taking it. But, that would leave me with no coffee table. So I went searching for a new one. I found a beautiful coffee table that was being sold but it was dated looking. The maple base with the snow white marble top just didn't seem to go with one another. I purchased the coffee table for $80.00 because it was in fantastic condition-not a flaw in the marble. So I decided to stain the maple in gray stain.
When Eulissa saw the table, she got excited. "Mine???" "Well, umm, how many coffee tables do you need?" Sean thought my choice of gray was my devious attempt at getting Eulissa excited over the new coffee table and not want my coffee table. (See the predicament?) I told him no, I wanted a driftwood stained coffee table to go with my beach theme in my condo. Well, long story short, Sean and Eulissa got the new coffee table, but they paid me for the table and its refinishing. I still have my mother's coffee table.
I took the marble top off and washed the table in TSP. I removed the door pulls on the front and back (no drawers there just pulls for show) and used wood filler. Using sander deglosser and sanding lightly, I used Minwax water based wood stain in slate and glazed with Unicorn Spit colors White Ning and Midnight Blackness and custom gray colors using White Ning and Midnight Blackness. I then used General Finishes Arm R Seal in satin and it looks amazing.
