How to Refinish a Table in 5 Steps (It’s Actually Easy!)

Buy Supplies
Before you remodel your dining table, or any wood furniture, gather all the necessary supplies. Here's what you'll need:
All-purpose cleaning spray and rags or paper towels
Sandpaper in 60, 120, and 360 grits
Block sander or orbital sander
Clean, dry tack cloth
Stain (or primer and paint)
Paint and varnish remover (stripper)
Putty knife
Paintbrush

Step 1: Get to know your wood table

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Real wood is better suited to refinishing than veneer, which tends to be thinner. Refinishing laminate is not okay-it's plastic. If you're not sure what type of wood surface you're dealing with, suggests looking at the wood's grain: "If it repeats across the width of the grain, it's veneer because it's rotary cut from one log to create one sheet."

Step 2: Clean your wood table
The biggest mistake first-time renovators make is not leaving enough time to clean or prepare the surface. Before stripping the current finish, clean the entire table thoroughly to remove any dirt, oil, or grease; otherwise, you'll grind debris into the wood when you sand. Use standard cleaning supplies, such as an all-purpose cleaner.

Step 3: Remove the First Coat of Finish
For old finishes, you have a few options. You can use a chemical stripper to remove the original layer of paint or stain; just make sure you follow the proper instructions on the product label. Generally, you'll want to wear rubber gloves and long sleeves and work in a well-ventilated area. Once the stripper has softened the finish, remove the first coat of finish with a putty knife or scraper, following the grain of the wood. Then sand the table with 80- to 120-grit sandpaper to ensure the surface is as smooth as possible.

Alternatively, use coarse sandpaper to remove the original finish from the table. Start with the coarsest sandpaper (60 grit) and sand in the direction of the grain. You can sand by hand, but a mechanical sander will make the job much smoother. Finish by wiping the table with a tack cloth to make it dust-free, then sanding the surface again, this time with 120-grit sandpaper, to polish the wood.

Step 4: Apply paint or stain-or nothing

"Once I strip everything off the raw wood, I go right to applying oil," says Hamm. "Furniture oil will penetrate and protect the wood beyond the surface, and can be reapplied in the future to bring out the rich color of the wood without making it shiny." For denser woods, try teak oil, or for an all-purpose finish, tung or Danish oil. If you don't like the natural color of the wood, find a stain you like. Don't take shortcuts by spot-fixing isolated damage or chips: "No stain can match the feeling of your grandmother's walnut table sitting in the dining room sun for 60 years," says Hamm.

If you're going to stain, use a wood conditioner; it helps create an even effect by preparing the surface to absorb stain.

Wipe everything clean, then apply a coat of stain with a paintbrush, following the direction of the natural grain. Once it's dry, lightly sand it with the finest sandpaper (360 grit) to remove any bumps or fuzz, and wipe away any dust. Apply one coat, and then another-it all depends on how deep you want the color to be. If you're priming and painting, sand once the primer is completely dry, then move on to painting. Paint isn't as durable as an oil treatment, Hamm warns, especially for a high-traffic piece of furniture like a dining table.

Step 5: Finish
If you refinished the table with oil, you're done. For stain and paint jobs: Hamm recommends using a clear coat to help extend its life-look for polyurethane or polyacrylic, both of which require two coats. Use fine-grit sandpaper to sand between coats. Once your heirloom coffee table looks brand new, it's time to style it to your liking.