How I Refinished Our Wood Kitchen Island Top

I recently shared our spring front porch where I had freshened up our front door with stain. I received several inquiries about how I did it so I thought that I would share the steps I take to refinish it. Now I do not have another door to refinish but I do have the custom wood top to our kitchen island.

Mr. Front Porch and I made over our kitchen island three years ago. You can read all about that here.

After three years of wear and tear this is what the top looked like. This top sees a TON of traffic from my paint projects to sitting hot pans on it. I figured it was way past due for some fresh stain!;)

I took the island top outside and used medium grit sand paper to hand sand the top down. I hand sand because I do not like the little squiggle lines my orbital sander always leaves behind. 

I do not sand the entire thing down to bare wood. I sand just enough to take off the old poly. I prefer things to look aged and I like the different depths this gives to the wood. After sanding I wiped the top down with some wet paper towels. This not only cleans all the sanding residue off but also opens the grain of the wood up to accept the stain better.

Next I use a clean white rag to apply the stain. My preferred choice is Dark Walnut by Minwax. It is a beautiful color.

You can choose how much stain you want to apply. The lighter the coat the lighter the stain. I applied it on a little thicker to deepen the color and wiped off the excess. You do not want to leave the excess on or your piece will NEVER dry. It will always be sticky/tacky to the touch.

After a few hours in the sun it was time to add the protective top coat. For things such as front doors which will be exposed to the elements or kitchen island tops which take a lot of abuse my choice is Minwax Helmsman Sparuthane. It is specially made to endure the elements such as rain and what not. I use a sponge applicator for this to eliminate brush strokes. 

I applied two coats of Sparuthane to the island top. In between coats I took some steel wool and lightly went over the top and then made sure to dust it off well with a clean cloth to remove any tiny particles of wool. You do not want to trap those with the second coat.

The Sparuthane dried fairly quickly and within two hours the kitchen island top was back on the island and ready to use. The Sparuthane is a tad shiny and in most cases I prefer things not to be shiny but since the island top receives so much abuse I felt it was best to use the strongest protective coat.

Please keep in mind I am NOT a professional. This is just how I accomplish my staining projects. Before completing any project it is always best to do some research and decide on the best method for yourself.