Our kitchen table was one of the first pieces of furniture Jim and I bought after getting married 22 years ago. We lived in an apartment across the street from an oak furniture store and thus bought much of our furniture from there. Twenty-two years later, we can prove that oak lasts!

However, with five kids, we can also prove that oak scratches and stains. One unnamed child determined that a table knife can put deep grooves into the edge of the wood. Another unnamed child demonstrated that nail polish can stain the wood, and that nail polish remover does not only remove the polish but also the wood stain.

Not only was the table in sorry condition, but the chairs were literally falling apart. We had already thrown out some and replaced them with hand-me-downs from the old neighbors; now even those had become rickety. The big guys in the family were careful about not sitting in certain chairs, lest they end up on the floor.

We were at a crossroads: do we bite the bullet and replace the constantly-used table and chairs, or is there another solution? Besides the sentimental value of the table, it was still quite sturdy. So we opted to sand down and re-stain it.

This worked out well because we were able to pick a stain that matched the trim of the house.

As for the chairs, we found a great deal on unassembled, unfinished chairs from, where else but Amazon. This endeavor required much elbow grease and time, but everyone definitely thinks twice now before putting a knife edge to the table!