End Table Checkerboard Fail and Redo

I had seen this great pin on Pinterest from Minwax about how you can stain a checkerboard right into the top of a table.  I was up for the challenge and purchased my $5 yard sale table to being the project.  However, when I sanded down the stain off the top, I found the wood to be a knotty pine that would never in a million years cooperate with a checker pattern.  With my luck the dark knots would end up right where the light squares should be.  So I moved on to plan B.

I had already purchased the Minwax Polyshades in Pecan for the first round of the checkerboard so I stained the top and drawer in this shade.  Three coats later, I liked the color and moved on to the legs.  The dark knots needed to be paired with a dark charcoal bottom.  The contrast is more than I would normally choose, but I liked the outcome.  I swapped out the dainty white knobs for small black ones and a new end table is born (without checkers).