Dining Room Table Redo

 I have long had a vision of a beautiful reclaimed barn wood table for our dining room.  Well, after researching and researching for deals...they are just way too pricey.  So, I turned to a good, reliable friend Mr. Craig's List!  I found a great table that was the size and price I wanted...$75...yup-what a deal!  It just needed a little modern make over.  We wanted it to be a little wider so we got 4 6ftx12in planks from Home Depot that cost around $25.  Then I got to the sanding...I sanded and sanded and sanded....then sanded more...until a mini beach evolved in the backyard.  Then I did a little distressing with a chain, not too much though. Next, I stained the planks with a Walnut Brown Minwax and then guess what I did..sanded more!  This was an important step because it gave it the look of the weathered/barn wood that was sun-drenched.  Then, I used New Minwax Colonial Gray stain and it was the perfect shade!  I don't think I would of gotten the contrast if I didn't give it the first brown stain.  Finally, I put on a few coats of Minwax Finish Paste Wax.  I also painted the legs and apron in an oil based white paint, it will keep it from nicks longer than spray paint will.  As I am reading what I am typing it seems so simple and it wasn't too bad...but the sanding was no fun and took 75% of the time!  Just wanted to share our weekend project (ok really I did it over 3 weekends, but you could do it in one!)