Dad and I undertook another project before mom and dad had to take off. Our aim was to spruce up the dining table and chairs by restaining the wood from its original light colour to a more rich cherry mahogany finish. (for my next DIY project I will include "before" pictures for comparison).
Several hours later, and mutterings of "what a mess" under our breath, we reveal a new woody, almost burnt look, to the red accent in the wood. I am quite happy with the end product, although my dad, the epitome of perfectionism, has many things he would want to change had we had more time.
Personally, even darker would be better - really dark and black and red and burnt looking would be awesome. And the scratches made by the coarse sand-paper? Unlike my dad, I wish we had more of them. In fact, I may take a hammer and some other blunt objects and just rough it up a little because once the stain gets into these marking, they become dark and add to the character of the wood and is a "design" in itself. I appreciate the "old wood" look while my dad prefers the finer finish, lighter colour so to reveal the grain of the wood itself.
