New (Questionable?) Farm Table Addition

In many ways, I loved our ikea dining room table (bought on Craigslist for $150 I think).  For example, how it expanded to seat up to ten people (although we never used it for more than four), but fit perfectly in it's un-expanded state. I loved the clean lines, the modern silhouette.  And the price.

Dining Room awhile back - including our previous table
(ikea's bjursta table in brown/black)

But two things were bothering me more and more: First, it was really dark.  The color was called "brown/black" but some people that came over thought it was black.  It just seemed so heavy against our light walls and dining room rug.

Leg of the table (pretty dark, see?)

Secondly, my eyes found it increasingly... ikea-ish... compared to some other things in our home.  Which is not to say I'm some worldy traveler and collector of goods from around the globe.  There are a number of items that have come frome ikea. I love them!  But my eyes kept getting hung up on the big-box-store, faux-wood finish.  For those of you out there considering this table (the ikea bjursta in brown/black): don't let me discourage you! For months I obsessed over how "perfect" it would be for our crib... It's just dark and stuff! Nuf said.  Moving on.

So when my mom mentioned that she was going to kick her own kitchen table to the curb, I took note. The style of her farm table has certainly come back en vogue and the timing seemed appropriate.  Not to mention the idea of having a table that had personal history (my fam enjoyed a number of meals together on this table in high school).

A little peek into my mind:

Farm table - Does anyone know the original credit for this image? 

I sold our ikea table for probably $10-$15 less than I purchased it for, kinda' semi-impulsively. I had movers scheduled to bring the buffet, remove some other items and bring in others for our guest bedroom/office (you know I'll update you on that) - so I decided to go ahead and get it all done in one fowl swoop.

There were a few imperfections here and there that needed to be remedied. I sanded the sucker. Dad led the charge (this was all happening on my parent's back deck).

And  take a look at this  was almost definitely result of one of us four kiddos (looks like my little brother, but who knows?):

 So here's what I used, in a addition to my dad's power sander (although that's not mandatory):

Materials for the farm table re-do: sandpaper, tung oil, and towels

Dad started to sand the outer edge with the power sander.

Then it got more complicated... Here's my dad demonstrating how to manually sand the rest of the wood (the rest of the job was up to me, boo-hoo).  Remember, you sand with the grain of the wood. Because this table had wood several panels that criss-crossed quite a bit, it meant  a bit of manual labor and patience.

After a lot more sanding, and ended up with this.

See the difference in the color on the top vs. the bottom?

Only the top was sanded at this point

Neeehhxt, we started working some Tung Oil on the wood with a cloth, to provide protection from moisture and give it a slightly richer finish.

Hubs felt like lending a hand this weekend! He's applying the Tung Oil.

After the tung oil dried and we moved the table in... here you go.

"New" farm table in the dining room. 

I'm still really split on this one.  It certainly has a warmer feel. But it seems to look a little too small.  Even though it's only an inch or so shorter and narrower than our last table, it looks even smaller.

The chairs will have to be re-painted or replaced (no surprise there, of course).   I can't decide.  What do you think?