Unfinished Dining Table

Who should buy an unfinished kitchen table? People who don't like what they see in the marketplace and people who want to finish their dining table themselves because they are picky about the wood color and tone!  

Features

Look dull and "pale" in its original unfinished appearance.

Want a distressed (antique, rustic) look? Want a modern contemporary look? Now you can choose for yourself. You don't have to depend on the furniture seller anymore.

You always get a better price in unfinished stores when you want to buy a high quality solid hardwood.

You can easily customize the types of wooden legs and base. In the market, there are manufacturers who specialize in this service alone. They sell quite a number of table legs and base. You can choose them because you haven't finished your table, remember? This way, you can have much more freedom in choosing your table design. 

When it comes to the advantages of the unfinished dining table, there are many...

Benefits

Greatest freedom in choosing your wood finish. Because the tables are not finished, you can choose from a wide variety of wood tones and colors from the manufacturer. Contrary to finished tables, you are limited by the choices of colors of the already finished table. This means you can have a custom finished dining table. For some people, this can mean the final touch to a great looking home because of personalization (wood color) of style.

• Don't know which wood color to choose from?
• Want a certain design but can't find the perfect wood color?
• Don't want to rush when choosing a wood color for the table?
• Don't want to regret buying a table only to find out you don't like the table color?
• Think you can do a better job in terms of finishing the table more creatively?
• Need to match a chair set that is already finished in a different decorative tone?

Go for the unfinished dining table.

Much cheaper than finished tables but higher quality. Finished tables undergo finishing procedures (staining, varnishing, etc.) in the factory beforehand. When you buy unfinished dining tables, you are actually saving a lot of cost due to the forgone factory finishing procedures. People who are knowledgeable in furniture finishing should do it themselves. Besides, you still get a very high quality (expensive, top class wood type) wood. Why high quality? Read the next paragraph to find out.

Do you know that most finished tables have wood defects? Manufacturers often cover these faults using paint or a wood veneer. Therefore, you won't know for sure whether a finished furniture really has defects or not. Why is this important? Furniture with wood defects are more prone to warping, cracking and other wood problems. So, when you buy an unfinished dining table, you are guaranteed to have a good quality one because if there are any defects, they will be instantly visible to you. Remember, unfinished means naked. You will get to see the bare truth, in this case, you see through the quality of the wood directly.

You can get the antique and rustic look. How? Simply distress the wood or sand it. Polishing it would work too.

Unfinished kitchen tables also look natural and homely, which suits a lot of homes with the country theme. This is if you don't want to finish your table. But it is not recommended that you keep your table unfinished. For protection, use table coasters and table cloths. Avoid spilling water onto your unfinished table because it can affect the wood grain.

Tips

The question is, should you finish your unfinished dining table? If you want to have some fun under the guidance of your experienced dad (who has been working in the furniture finishing industry for 20 years), why not? Cultivate some woodworking experience.

In actual fact, you should skip the whole idea of an unfinished dining table if you don't have the time. Applying the proper finish to any kinds of wood will take time, usually in days for the job to complete. 

As a word of warning, you should never take a wood finishing job lightly, ever. Why? This is because all forms of finishing is actually hazardous and contains some amount of toxic (poison). Therefore, always make safety your first priority by using proper tools and ensure you know what you are doing.

How to finish an unfinished dining table? This brings to a long answer that can only be explained by reading books dedicated to wood finishing. Generally, you will want to determine the technique of finishing first, be it lacquer, varnish, staining, sealing and so on. After that, you have to choose the coloring options. Most importantly, you must have the proper tools and location to do the job. For most manufacturers who sell unfinished tables, they provide custom finishing jobs too. Therefore, you don't need to worry about finishing the dining table yourself when you leave it to the professionals. Otherwise, you can always educate yourself by reading reputable books on the subject. No problem.

Everyone working in the woodworking industry has at least read this book once. So should you.

Understanding Wood Finishing: How to Select and Apply the Right Finish (American Woodworker)

Note: You should always practice applying a wood finish onto a sample board first before proceeding with your actual unfinished table. The same goes to other unfinished wood furniture.

You should consider going down the unfinished dining table route especially if you want a really personalized and unique dining table for your already decorated kitchen room.

Back to Table Color and Finish 

Back to Dining Table Guide

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