More Stripping at our House, Part 1

...But it's not a roof this time, and it's not the kids, but me.


I decided months ago that it was time to refresh the Waterlox finish on our island top.  It had never had as many coats as I'd originally wanted it to have, and the corner I use most was getting a little scuffed looking.    

That one corner to the right of the sink gets used
ALL the time.  

I was just waiting for the warmer months to take the island out of action for a week and get that taken care of.  The warmth never really arrived and the weddings came along instead.




During prep for wedding #2 -the night before, in fact- the girls were trying to multi-task while creating bridesmaid bouquets, and fingernail polish remover was sloshed onto our kitchen table. 

The bare spots were tiny, but obvious

 It was wiped up immediately, but that was time enough to take those 2 spots down to bare wood.  I always knew its finish wasn't anything as durable as Waterlox, and had planned to redo it 'someday' anyway.


Labor Day weekend we finally hit the 80s, and the weatherman promised we'd stay there for days on end.  Feeling a little industrious, the refinishing project caught my eye and I decided to do both the island and table.  The table went out on the porch and we just kept the doors and windows open to deal with the odor from the island.  

An advantage of waiting until September to do my summer project was accomplishing 2 projects for the time and mess of 1.  Of course, it was a little tougher on those of us who cook, bake... and eat (all of us) to do without those 2 vital surfaces in the room at once.

It's a long way from here to the ovens
with several Friday night pizzas

Prince CuddleBunny's makeshift table

Prepping toward walls, sharing the cleanup sink, and running all around the kitchen to access different work areas were things we weren't used to.  We always value the island and prep sink, but this was a good reminder what great things they do for us.  And the convenience and homeyness of the table was a loss, too.

I wanted to make sure no one disturbed the finishing process, since we're so used to using the island, I was sure it' would take some major visual reminders... even for myself.


More on the process and results in Part 2.