We’ve had this little wooden antique table for many years. I’m not sure why, but it is one of the few that I have never taken the time to refinish. We keep it in our bedroom and I love both the size and shape of it. The old stain was super dark and didn’t reveal even the slightest hint of the wood beneath. In all honesty, my first choice would have been to paint it out white just because that’s what I do. Tim really likes “wood” and the grain to be revealed, so my thought was to do a quick refinish and prove it was nothing spectacular and then have my way and paint it white. I must say, we were both quite surprised when the stripping was done and the beautiful oak wood grain was exposed. Although I still prefer the “painted out” look of white, we do have dark brown in our room, so I opted to stain it and make my hubby happy! I can’t believe the difference in the BEFORE and AFTERs.
When stripping, I find the Crica 1850 products work great. They are strong and fast acting products that require proper gloves and protection. Although effective, be careful when using these products. I’m not quite sure what type of wood my coat rack is, but the grain is not very visible and it seems to have a natural redish hue ~ maybe fir? I chose a deep brown stain that helped to tame the red and a satin finish, as opposed to the old high gloss. I love how it has more of a matt look.