Looks can be deceiving and this one looked like it would be "a piece of cake" to remove the old stain and simply re-stain. Yeah, right. It proved to be quite the challenge as that old stain simply REFUSED to come off. I have three power sanders and lots of sandpaper and I used all of them to remove the extremely stubborn old finish on this old cherry telephone table. This was a client of mine who also had me refinish her red magazine rack. I had no idea this piece would be as difficult as it was! I spent the better part of 1-1/2 days just removing the old finish, but I was determined to make
it look good and I believe I conquered it and made it pretty again in spite of its determination to be old and stubborn! When I was satisfied that I had completely taken off the old finish, I stained it cherry since it was made of cherry. I was very pleased with the final color and the end results. I chose to use a spray semi-gloss polyurethane since the legs were so spindly and there were so many small corners that a brush would have been cumbersome to use. I loved using the spray poly on this piece as it proved to be the best solution for a demure table.
My customer is proudly displaying her piece in her dining room but told me the other day that she moves it from room to room because she likes to see it in various places. This little gem is definitely one to be a "show off" and will last for another 75 years!
