Baby Green Me was still growing inside his momma when we came across an adorable set of kids chairs on quadruple clearance from DWR. The chairs were in fact the last of the last and an awesome deal. They’d had a matching table, which I thought I might someday track down, but after a year of searching I gave up. I really wanted a table that would be durable, but also not break the bank (hence the search for the clearance table). After several months of looking this spring I nearly gave up and decided to just buy an unfinished table and stain it myself.

Boy, was I surprised to learn that the unfinished pine tables at our local store (FSC certified Pine from Texas) were over $150!!! So, I posted an add on Craigslist saying “wanted: unfiinished kids table.” After a few weeks a lady finally responded that she had a table, she was just a 10 minute drive away, and she would sell it for $15 bucks! Woohoo!

For the last couple of months the table sat in our garage as I slowly took the time to research my plan of action. Finally, I settled on Bioshield Aqua Resin Stain in Teak for the color and Polyureseal BP from Safecoat for the finish. The stain was just over $6 and the Polyureseal just under $30 — the total for both coming in just over $40. The price of the stain was perfect, and the jar was perfect — meant to coat 12 square feet, which was just about 3 coats for my little table. The Polyureseal was definitely on the spendy side and I had to buy more than I needed, but I am hopeful that I can use it on a few more projects. I only used about 1/4  of the can (I’ll round up to a 1/2) of the Polyureseal, so I calculate that it added $20 to the project. (I plan to use the remainder to refinish a wooden kitchen that I got for him second had for $25.)

I chose teak for the stain color as all of our intentionally collected furniture is either aged teak or natural cherry, both of which turn a similar orange hue with time. I’d actually intended to buy cherry, but when I looked at the samples, the teak looked a much closer match to our furniture. And, as you can see in the picture below — I was right! Not bad for a table that only cost $35!

The next time you need a new piece of furniture, seriously considered breathing life into an old piece! This table clearly had some wear, as a few nicks showed up after I applied the color that weren’t evident when we’d first sanded the table. However, after a good sanding, new stain and a hard sealent (recommended to me because restaurants also use it on tables) it is ready for baby! And, I can rest easy when my little one uses the table to eat or when he licks the sides, because all the materials used to stain the table were water based and non-toxic!

Go Green and Save Green!