DIY Restoration Hardware Weathered Oak Dining Table

Sharing is caring!

Like so many of you, I love the Restoration Hardware Weathered Oak finish and wanted to recreate the beautiful salvaged wood look on my dining room table. I have to say, this was definitely the biggest refinishing project I have completed to date, but I am beyond ecstatic with the results!

We purchased this dining set about 25 years ago. It was a beautiful pickled oak set and as was pretty standard in the 90’s, we had everything matching, from the hutch to the kitchen cabinets to the armoire. Pretty much the entire downstairs was all pickled oak. Well, after about 15 years I was “pickled out”-sorry couldn’t resist 🙂 This poor table has been subjected to all my decorating style changes and painting techniques!

Disclosure: I received product to review for this post from Weatherwood Stains.  However, all opinions and  images are 100% mine. I only promote products that I love! This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you.

DIY Restoration Hardware Weathered Oak Dining Table

Well, it was finally time to bring back the beautiful oak of the table. In all my furniture refinishing, I have never really stripped a table. I have usually just used chalk paint and updated pieces on a smaller scale. I did a lot of research about the easiest way to strip a table. I knew I had three coats of paint on the table so it would be work. I decided to go with Citristrip mostly because it is safe to use indoors. This table weighs a ton and I don’t have easy access to the outside so I had to refinish it right in my dining room! I placed drop cloth under the table and used a roller to cover the entire table top with Citristrip.

I covered the top in garbage bags and let it sit overnight. There were several Pinterest boards which recommended this tip.  Here is a pic:

The next morning I removed all the bags and used a scraper to scrape off the layers of paint. I was amazed at how great this product worked. It was time consuming because this is such a large table and there were three layers, but honestly it scraped off much easier than anticipated. The next part-not so much! I used a Porter Cable Orbit Sander with 60 grit sand paper to sand the table. Obviously, this took some time, but I did it a little at a time so it wasn’t too bad. Here is what it looked like in the middle of sanding:

I fell in love with the beautiful grain of the wood all over again! I was getting so excited for the final step and couldn’t wait to see it complete. That is the thing I love about DIY projects-the sense of pride and accomplishment really makes all the hard work worth it. I used Weatherwood Stains Reclamation stain with a White Maintenance Oil to achieve this gorgeous weathered wood look. Look at the beautiful options!

There are two points of difference between Weatherwood Stains and typical products. These stains are REACTIVE, so you drench the wood and ALLOW THE STAIN TO WEATHER THE WOOD AS IT DRIES. You don’t wipe them back off. And two, DIFFERENT WOODS WILL TURN DIFFERENT COLORS. The best thing to do is to plan your project’s wood, and to use online color charts to see what color your wood will turn.  This stain makes it so easy to get the weathered wood look without the wait!

[Tweet “DIY Weathered Oak Dining Table @Weatherwoodstains #weatherwoodstains #ourcraftymom #sponsored “]

Here it is after a coat of stain before drying:

I let it dry overnight, but after just 15 minutes it was already lightening:

I used two coats of Weatherwood’s white maintenance oil to finish it. It seriously looks like a piece of driftwood. The pictures don’t do it justice. I love seeing the beautiful grain again. I painted the base of the table white, as I am going for a coastal feel and like the two tone look. It has that gorgeous grey tone to it that you see in all the high end decor magazines!

I am so in love with the beautiful finish on this table. It is so unique and I feel I will enjoy this look for years to come! I haven’t finished the chairs yet, but plan to paint them white and recover the fabric. Come back to see the update!

Thanks for visiting Our Crafty Mom! Have a great day!