Harvest Table Makeover

Hello again! We've been very busy with our 'rustic farmhouse' restoration. In the meantime, every day LIFE and the TO-DO LIST still need attention. A few of us took turns sanding our pine harvest table top. Those pine boards were given to us by my Father in law and are well over 100 years old. About 10 years ago we had a table made from them, the boards were 8 feet long but we had to shave off a couple inches to square them up. And before anyone cringes at the thought of all that patina being sanded off, it really did need it! It had YEARS worth of slopping, drooling, eating, drinking, colouring (with permanent markers), being used as a catch all, spilling glue & glitter, grapejuice....you name it!

 And no all that stuff couldn't just be washed off, it also had a layer of stain and varnish worn off in some spots and not in others. It's like going to the hair dressers and saying "I only want a half inch cut off" and she replies "Yes I understand that ma'am, but you NEED about 3 inches cut off to remove all these dead ends!" and I may or may not be speaking from personal experience. I did't want to sand it completely flat, it has always had dings and chips and cracks and holes which gives it character and I don't want to remove that BUT I do want to give it a new look. A makeover.

Right now it is raw with a little stain and varnish and unrecognizable things left in the cracks and dents, the low spots. So I need to find a product that will get in there and gently wash it away. I will then need to FINISH it! I recently made facebook and instagram posts regarding this and I have had many suggestions and I am leaning towards WAX as it is more natural and let's face it one of the oldest ways of protecting furniture! I have seen some great photos on pinterest of tables coated with lime wax which adds some white in the crevices. I see that there are also colored waxes as well, which only confuses me more. I am also concerned about water marks being left behind.  Maybe some newer waxes don't leave water marks??

 Here is a photo of the table with it's warmer finish. OH! I just love this photo by Robin Stubbert for Prairie Style magazine. Oh what great memories on that farm! We are still living in the country on a parcel of land just shy of an acre. Just enough for the kids, dogs and eventually chickens to run around and I have plans for another nice garden and fire pit! Can't wait to make more great memories at our new place! I would LOVE to hear about your personal experience  with table top finishes and always open to suggestions! Thanks!
~Mel