Disaster DIY

I've been fortunate enough to not have had many disaster DIY projects, but this one makes up for that.  I had grand plans to refinish my dining table, stain it a nice dark brown and paint the hutch.  It sounded like a great plan and one that would give our dining room a whole new look without spending hardly any money.  Well, things did not go quite as expected.  It seems like everything that could go wrong with this table did. 

Here is what the table looked like before I butchered  refinished it.  Now, I prefer the maple finish over what it has become. 

I started with some citristrip.

I have seen lots of other bloggers use it and have great success so I thought I would give it a try.  Plus, it was eco friendly and had a nice orange scent, what could go wrong?!?

I'm not sure if it was something I did or the finish on the table but it made a terrible mess.  So, then I tried the real deal stripper.  The stuff you need to suit up just to use.  Even that didn't work.  I then tried to sand it down.  Nope, still no luck.  So, I thought I'll just test a small area and see what the stain will look like.  Well, it looked terrible, I mean really terrible.  I wish I had taken a picture.  So, after all that I was going to have to paint it.  Well, I painted it.  It still looks awful.  I polyurethaned it, hoping the fnish would even out.  Nope, that didn't work and I dropped the can of polyurethane and ended up with polyurethane all over my face and in my hair!  It was ridiculous!!  

So, here is what it looked like "before"....really it wasn't bad I just wasn't crazy about the blonde wood, if I had to go back I probably would just leave it as is...

I've given up on making it better and I'm planning to sell it on Craigslist in hopes that another DIYer will be able to rescue it. 

So, now I need your help.  I'm actually going to buy a new table, not from Goodwill, not from Craigslist.  It's hard to believe, I know.  As much as I love to DIY stuff it will be kind of a luxury to buy something brand new that I don't have to do anything to.  So here's where I need your help.  I'm trying to explore all my options when it comes to buying a new table.  Here are a few that I like.  I don't need the chairs because I was able to refinish those to make them work with a new table.  I want something unique, something a little chunky, something I can have for many years to come....

love the legs on this one from Ashley furniture....

and this one from Zgallerie is nice and chunky and very unique too....

and this one from Haverty's is really nice but more expensive...

and my absolute favorite, and of course the most expensive, this one from Drexel Heritage...Anybody seen a look a like for a table like this?

so, this is what I've come across so far.  Any of you have any favorite sources for furniture?  Things that are similar in style to these?  Any help would be appreciated!!!