Anique Style Kitchen Island/table Refinishing on a Budget

About 14 years ago, my mom bought a cheap, build it yourself kitchen island with stools. When I moved out, I took it with me and used it as a work bench in my garage for the past 6 years or so. This thing has been abused, hammered on, drilled, spray painted many, many, times, and has had gasoline, brake cleaner, and various other chemicals spilled on it. Needless to say, it was pretty rough, and I don't think that it was ever meant to last this long, even under it's intended use.

My wife and I are now moving to an apartment where I will have no space for a work bench, I was going to throw it out, but I decided that I would do a little bit of experimenting with it first.

I have always been into reclaimed materials being used as interior decor, and saving old pieces and giving them a new lease on life, but this was my first attempt at "Reduce, Reuse, and Redesign"

Step 1: STEP ONE

STEP ONE-

Pick out the old table, workbench, or what have you that you want to bring back to life. Take it apart (if applicable) and clean it. As you can see mine was pretty filthy, so your cleaning time, may not take as long as mine.

Step 2: STEP TWO

STEP TWO-
Pick your color for the legs and paint away!

My apologies, I forgot to take pictures of this step.

I used Rustoleum white simi-gloss for this. It was a good price, and covers really well. 4 cans gave me several good coats on the island base, and the stools.

Step 3: STEP THREE

STEP THREE-
Now the dirty part, sanding. Your project may involve more sanding than mine, due to the state of my table. I started with 60 grit on my DA, and then moved on to 80, and 120.

My original plan was to try and sand all the way though the discoloration in the wood top left from years of abuse, and to use a stain-able filler on the nail holes and imperfections, but once I got past all the crap on the surface, the discoloration and damage that had been done to the surface, actually looked really good to me, so that when I decided to keep it, and go with the ''antiqued'' look.

Step 4: STEP FOUR

STEP FOUR-
Adding stenciling. Choose what kind of theme that you want to go for, and lay out the stencils, or draw out your design by hand. I used black acrylic paint for the stencils.

After the paint is dry, go back over the stenciling with the 120 grit to give them a nice ''aged'' effect. (age to your discretion)

Step 5: STEP FIVE

STEP FIVE-
The final step! It's time to stain. I chose to go for a single step stain (Mostly because I have never stained anything before in my life).
The color I picked was supposed to be much darker than it turned out, but in the end I am very glad that it turned out so light. If I did this again, I would definitely choose a light color on purpose.

Let it all dry, and your done! I am very happy with how this came out, and it will now be the kitchen table in our new apartment. Please ignore the mess in the pictures as we are currently packing.

I did not take any pictures of the stools as I was going, but the same steps apply.

All in all this project cost me a total of $50 in supplies, but I still have enough sand paper and stain to do at least one more piece.