If you don’t have a good work area or some kind of drop sheet to use, you could put down 2-3 overlapping layers of newspaper or even create a drop sheet by taping some plastic garbage bags together.
You could also use a special soap made for cleaning wood, such as Murphy’s oil soap. If you do so, follow the instructions on the bottle for mixing it with water to make a cleaning solution. It’s important to clean off the surface very well so there are no grains of dirt that you might end up grinding into the wood as you sand.
Wear a face mask and goggles whenever you’re sanding to keep wood dust out of your mouth, nose, and eyes. If there are any hard-to-reach areas, such as engraved legs or sides of the coffee table, fold up a piece of sandpaper into a small square and sand those areas by hand. If your sandpaper stops removing the finish at any point, stop sanding and feel the sandpaper with your fingers. If it is smooth, it has worn out and you need to replace it with a fresh sheet.
A tack cloth is a cloth specifically made for cleaning up wood dust. You can purchase one at a home improvement center, a woodworking supply shop, or online. If you don’t have one, something like a microfiber cloth or an old cut-up T-shirt will work. You could also use a vacuum with a hose attachment to suck up the dust. If you notice any spots where there is still paint, varnish, or stain showing after you wipe away the dust, go back over them with the coarse-grit sandpaper until the wood is bare.
Stop sanding periodically and run a hand over the whole coffee table to feel for rough spots. Keep sanding and feeling the table until it feels like it has a uniform smoothness.
Wear a face mask when you apply mineral spirits so you don’t inhale the fumes. If you are working inside, open up any doors and windows you can to ventilate the space. Mineral spirits are also known as mineral turps or mineral turpentine. The liquid is very similar to paint thinner, which you can use as a substitute if that’s all you have.
Teak oil works well for denser woods like mahogany, maple, or oak. Tung oil and Danish oil work well for all types of woods, including soft woods like pine and cedar. Furniture oil will soak into the wood to protect it. You can apply it as often as you want to enrich the finish of the coffee table and keep the wood protected. Furniture oil enhances the natural colors of the wood without drastically altering the color. Depending on how much oil you apply, it can slightly darken the wood.
Since you are applying stain to bare wood, the wood will absorb it very easily. If you don’t want the finish to be too dark, wipe off excess stain right away. If you want the finish to be darker, you can apply 1-2 additional coats of stain after the first coat dries, wiping off excess stain after each coat. Make sure to let the second coat dry before you apply a third.
Varnish is a transparent protective finish for wood. It comes in matte, semi-gloss, and glossy varieties, so you can choose whether you want the coffee table to look more natural or shiny. You can also apply a coat of varnish on top of a wood stain if you want to make the table glossier and give it an extra protective layer.
Flip your coffee table upside-down when you paint it to ensure you paint the insides of the legs. [11] X Expert Source Tanglewood SueDIY & Upcycling Specialist Expert Interview. 24 March 2021 You can use either oil-based or latex-based paint for the coffee table. Keep in mind that oil-based paints take up to 8 hours to dry, while latex-based paints only take about 4. Latex-based paint is easier to clean up after, as you can just rinse out your paintbrush with water. Oil-based paint requires paint thinner to clean up. You could use 2 different shades of paint to give the coffee table a 2-tone finish. For example, you could paint the top of the table a dark blue color and paint the legs and sides a slightly lighter shade of blue.
