I would consider painting the legs now. The women at Home Depot told me I would need an oil based primer to get back to a latex paint. Is that going to be difficult?
Back the the primary question of how do I stain correctly? What did I do wrong? So I don't mess the top up.

The variable here is that you don't know what wood the table in your inspiration is ands of vs. your table.
Different wood takes stain differently.

Here is my recommendation for what it's worth. Staining wood is always an iffy proposition, especially when you are trying to make it look like a picture you've seen, and don't know the original treatment method.

I have become very familiar with chalk paints over the past several months. These are paints that have chalk/clay bases and are not like "regular" paints. They allow for a "washing back" or distressing that creates a look similar to what you want to do. They have more color in them than the "colored stains", less see through. You can water them down to be a very thin coat, playing with that look instead of trying to make a colored stain come out to look a certain way.

There are several varieties, Annie Sloan, American Paint Company, Ce Ce Caldwell. I'm sure there are more. In our area I purchased it from the store in the link below. The store owner has multiple "how to" sessions on the link and on youtube as well. You can find all types of videos by others on youtube, just search for "chalk paint". If you used a grey color, start on the bottom and keep making it thinner until you get it to a "depth of color" (I don't know how else to say it) that allows the grain to show through, but isn't totally covering the wood. I think you'd like this method better, because it is color over the wood, instead of stain that affects different kinds of wood differently. Just google any of the manufacturers I mentioned above and look for stores near you, or order online. I always suggest seeing it in person, however, because colors online can be so dramatically different.............like the grey table you wanted to make that looks lilac : (

http://fabulousfinishes.wordpress.com/

Good luck.

I really appreciate you all taking the time to help. I looked at the second coat and it's darker which I like but the undertone is so terrible! I think the best decision is to sand it a little, prime it and paint it. I'm not sure yet if ill white wash it and stain the top and/or the legs or clear coat the top. But you have all given me great ideas to help figure it out! Thank you.

I do think the stain is just the wrong color. Don't white wash it - sand it all off. Follow motown mom's advice - easier to get the driftwood look (which is a brown gray tone - more available in paint than stain) by "washing" the wood with the right gray tone - and you can practice on the underside of your table. There are about 30 different shades now referred to as gray. Training the eye to see all of them is tough. Take your picture to the paint store and pull all the paint swatches that look faintly like the colors you see in the inspiration table. Narrow this to three or four and get samples. You may need to mix or layer lighter over darker to get the look you want.
Water them down 1/2 and 1/2 and "wash" the underside of your table to see if you get close.
Don't give up - sanding just the legs won't be hard and you will be ever so glad you didn't settle for white wash - that can come out terrible - cream / ecru wash or warm gray wash is ever so much better.

I was going for a similar look and decided after much research to paint the top. I watered down light blue latex interior paint, brushed it on and immediately wiped it off. After it dried i did 7 coats of poly. I love it and it's bombproof!