This is a project that I started in 2011 and could never get the finish to come out the way I wanted. It sat in the corner for over 7 years until I decided it was time to complete this project. One of the problems I had was the the wood, particularly the top, was very pale and I couldn’t tone that down. So I decided rather than fight it to accentuate it. Surprisingly this did work.
I spent a couple of weekends sanding all of the finish off. I used water based polyacrilic matte finish on the top, which enhanced the pale look. I had some sage colored milk paint left over from the toy chest I built for my niece so I used that to finish the base. The light sage color matched the top well.
Alex's Woodshop 