Refinishing Furniture Biz Update

Hey y'all!  I just thought I would pop in and share all that was going on with my very little business adventure.  About a month and a half ago I decided to finally try to sell come furniture pieces that I refinished.  I am such an optimist because I did not anticipate any hiccups and there has definitely been some!  I decided to keep my designs pretty simple to maximize my supplies {and profits}.  Out of the 4 kitchen tables I have refinished, I have sold 3 of them.  I thought I would share my 4 tables and things that I learned from refinished each one!

Table #1: 

Things I did right:  a).  Listing this piece on websites like Facebook marketplace, varagesale & craigslist on Saturday morning is best!  I actually didn't know I did this right until I listed something on a Tuesday... 

Things I did wrong:  This table alone taught me 3 lessons.  a). Skip the paint stripper and just use a high grit sandpaper.  Using the paint stripper added 2 hrs to this project.  b).  Polyurethane doesn't do well over white paint.  HELLO YELLOW!  It was so bad!  I ended up reapplying primer and doing another coat of white paint on this one.... c).  If the table was really rough to begin with you should probably use a wood conditioner before you stain.  The stain definitely had some weird spots on the top that I didn't love.  :( 

Table #2:  

Things I did right:  a).  I thought people would hate a table that would expand to a square but that was not the case!  This was my biggest hit by far.  

Things I did wrong: a)  I am a firm believer in primer.  I think water based primers are great because they don't have the fumes that oil based does! But... it doesn't work nearly as well!  This table was originally black on the bottom and I am pretty sure I painted the base 6 times to cover up all the black.  Oil based primer would have cut that down.  b)  I learned the hard way, to not hold furniture for anyone.  I had someone that was "so in love" with the table flake out on me...  Always give the piece to the person who will pick it up first.

Table #3:  
Things I did right:  a)  I switched the kind of paint I was using for the base.  I love chalk paint, it is beautiful but I just don't trust its durability {especially bc of how much a table is used}.   I'm now using Benjamin Moore Advance in White Dove because it's the best!  b)  The combo of 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint was perfect {finally}!
Things I did wrong:  a)  I listed this table on a Tuesday and it has taken the longest to sell... aka, it hasn't sold.  Facebook only lets you refresh your item once a week which isn't good bc it made me refresh it on the following Tuesday.  b)  This table was the most expensive and I had Tall Tan Man pick it up.  I didn't think from the Craigslist pictures that I would have to do anything to the top and that was not the case.  I'm not sure how I would of avoided us overpaying for this table but from now on I'm going to be more conservative with my pricing.  

Table #4:
Things I did right: a).  My sanding/stain progress was perfected by this table and there were no hiccups with the top!  b).  I sold this table to a friend through instastories.  This was my easiest transaction!
Things I did wrong:  a).  Man oh man... This base gave me a run for  my money! I did water-based primer and chalk paint, and all the old stain kept bleeding through.  It was terrible.  100 layers of water-based paint would stop the stain bleed.  Long story short I had Tall Tan Man apply oil based primer for me.  The primer was old and major brush strokes but I was able to salvage it with some sand paper and Benjamin Moore paint. Its one of those things that the table looks good but I know its not perfect.   Can you tell I have learned a lot already?  It's pretty crazy that I thought I knew a lot about refinishing furniture before all this.  I do think Tall Tan Man needs to build a she-shed for me to work in.  #notachance :)  I hope y'all have a wonderful week!