I need to know what you used to do this in the first place . I agree it looks a mess Take a pic of the whole table please .

I wish I could remember. I'm not entirely sure. It had a dark stain originally so I think I just sanded it down and stained it again. The table is at my dad's house disassembled so I'm not there to be able to take more photos unfortunately and haven't been able to see it in person yet.

Did you sand that down to bare wood, or just a quick sand?

I think I tried to sand it down completely but there might have been a few patches that didn't come off - could that be why it looks sort of splotchy?

Depending on the type of wood, a pre-stain conditioner will help the wood take the stain more evenly. Is it pine? Pine is a wood that does not take stain evenly. I'd sand it down to bare wood, apply a pre-stain conditioner, then stain again.

Mostly, it looks "splotchy" because of the type of wood it is. You would need to sand it down completely, using an orbital sander. Do a test to see what grit to start with (maybe "100"). This will depend on what type of sealer is over the stain.

Then do progressive grits - 100, 120, 150 & 180. Don't skip any. Finish by hand with the 180, going in the direction of the grain. Hopefully you can do color tests on the back of the leaves or table. You will need to seal the wood before you stain it to prevent as much blotching as possible. Or you can look into "toning" it with water based stains.

Are you able to spray on your finish? Do some internet research for the "best way to refinish a table" (insert the wood type).

thank you all for the advice!

I've used a hand rubbed tung oil with good results, so read up about that option too. It's an old table, so don't worry about some 'beauty marks' but do take care to sand really well.

Start by stripping all the old finish and all of thr old stain. All of that must be completely removed. Months later….

All the old finish has to come off and that means ALL right down to the bare wood everywhere . Then I agree to talk to the paint store about a pre conditioner if a more perfect finish is wanted or a good coat of primer and paint the top if easy is more your style,

I agree with you - the finish doesn't look good. My suggestion is to strip and sand the entire piece. After the piece is stripped I usually start out with a medium girt sandpaper followed by fine grit and top it off by buffing the surface with 000 steel wool. As far as finish it the wood is decent quality I would finish it with a rub on polyurethane. After the poly has dried and cured I would apply a paste wax and give the whole thing a really good buffing.