Not Bad for a Free Table - A Couch Table Revamp

Remember the redo of the computer desk?  Well, at the same time I picked up that lovely piece, the seller gave me this couch table for free, along with another end table that hasn't yet been revealed.

So not our style.  The color is all wrong.  We are not yellow-y orange-y oak people.  We are dark espresso stain people.   However, I thought the table had potential (plus it was my favorite price - free!).  The lines are clean and with a darker stain, would fit in nicely with our plan for the downstairs guest room. 

With a complete sanding, the piece was prepped for stain.  Sorry no picture of the sanded piece, I need to be better about taking "during" pics.

After not finding an actual espresso stain at either Home Depot or Lowes, I headed to the local woodworking store for a pint can of water-based espresso stain.

It took three coats of the stain to get the table dark enough to match other pieces in the house that I wanted to coordinate this one with.  After another three  coats of water based poly and 24 hours to dry, we have a great piece for the guest room.

I like that the space under the table gives a spot for a guest's suitcase and the table itself gives them a place to put out a few of their things.

Now we just need to get the rest of the room done.

Cost of the Project:
$ 0.00 Table - Free from Craigslist Seller
   2.00 Espresso Stain  (Used only a small part of the $10.00 can)
   4.00 Water-based Poly (Used only a small part of the $16.00 can)
   5.00 Two sanding blocks (can be resed on another project)
$11.00 Total Cost