One of my dining room table restorations.

This table is one I completely restored about 2 years ago. It belonged to a young woman in Greenville, South carolina who had inherited it. The table when I first saw it had some pretty deep scratches in it. It was very dark in color and there was some structural reglueing involved. This was not a restoration for beginners, although I will share with you some of the things I did to get the spectacular finish you see here. First of all, this table was originally stained very dark with a traditional red mohogany stain. I stripped the old finish off leaving some of the old red stain in the pores of the wood. This let the natural mohogany grain "pop", giving the table top it's tiger stripe effect. I then coated the top with 3 coats of polyurethane so it will last for many years to come. I sanded each coat by hand and them applied multiple coats of paste wax after the last coat of polyurethane. This table was in pretty sad shape when I started. It could have easily been discarded and sent to a landfill. The value before I restored it was mostly sentimental. Now it has become a treasured heirloom that will be dined at hopefully for generations to come. It is difficult to put a price on a table like this. Rarely do you see an antique one in this kind of pristine restored condition. New tables are rarely seen with finishes and wood grain of this quality.

The important thing to remember is that this table will now be kept and used by the owner, hopefully for at least a couple of more generations because of the restoration. Sure she spent money to have me do the work, but it was less than the cost of a new table. This piece didn't go to a landfill. She didn't buy a new table made in China. She saved some trees, helped the earth, and stimulated the local economy. She deserves a big round of applause. This table is a great example of a "greentique".