Sidetable Revamp & A Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway.....

The weather has finally started to warm up a bit here in our neck of the woods, and you know what that means...... New furniture projects of course!  Below you will find my latest project.  This table was a hand-me down from my husband's parents.  I love the bones, but not a fan of the honey finish.  I had wanted to tackle this project last fall, but the weather got too cold too quick for me.

This sidetable calls our living room home.  I love how this table offers a large table top for display, and then a segemented second shelf.  Our living room is a more casual space that we use for reading, and I really like the idea of displaying magazines  or some cool looking books on the second shelf. 

In the close-up you can see the edges have been a little worn, and the table is just screaming for a facelift.

I spent a sizable amount of time sanding the sidetable down. I started with 80 grit sandpaper, then bumped up to 100 grit, and then 150 grit. About a hour in to sanding, I realized that the top of the table was screwed into the second shelf by screws underneath.  It was a welcome suprise as I was able to take the table apart, and then sand the second shelf down all the way, as well as each of the divider pieces.

I was able to get all of the old stain off the second shelf, but a bit remains on the edge of the top table surface.  I am still undecided what my next step is going to be. 

As you can see, the legs still have a bit of stain of them too.  It it very difficult to get into all the nooks and crannies to remove the stain.  I am pretty satisfied with the my efforts so far.

Now I just need to decide what the next step is going to be.  Initially I thought I would restain it a very dark brown color to match all the other furniture in the room, but now I am thinking of painting it black since I haven't been able to remove all the former stain off the piece.  I am not sure if I am drawn to this option because it is easy or if it is because I think it will work best for the room.  Two of the major wood pieces of furniture in that room are a very dark brown stain, but the wood mirror is painted white, and most of the frames are black.

Below is a picture of a table that has been my inspiration for this project.  It is Pottery Barn's Rustic Pedestal Accent Table.  The finish on their table is an "expertly crafted of distressed espresso-stained hardwood, with mortise-and-tenon joinery for lasting stability and all sides are antique finished using a multistep process". 

Here is a close-up of the table.

As I mentioned above, this table is stained an expresso color.  I have never used stain, but if I recall right, all the previous stain must be removed for stain to work, right?  If so, do any of you have any ideas of how I can achieve this look with paint?  I don't think there is any possible way for me to get the rest of the stain off.  I have considered using a liquid sandpaper option, but I am not sure if that would work (I also am a bit scared of it since the label pretty much spells out it is dangerous).

Therefore, I need some advice.... Does anyone have any suggestions?  I am stuck with what the next step should be..... Please help!

For your time, I will be raffling a $15 Starbucks card to one lucky winner that posts a comment to this post.  I will draw the lucky winner using random.org on Friday, March 19th.

Thank you in advance for all your help!