How to refinish dining room table and stain a lighter colour?

Question

Hi! Wondering if anyone would be able to help me figure out what sort of wood my dining table is made out of, and whether it might be possible to refinish it and achieve a less dark red, less glossy, hopefully a little lighter end result? I've included a couple of photos of the underside which shows that the outer leaves seem to be all different colours. This table is from my partner's grandmother, I believe it is about 60 years old.

MitchellMc · Accepted Answer

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @possummagic1. It's marvellous to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about refinishing a table.

You can likely restain to a lighter shade, though it will require you to sand the table back to bare timber, removing the current stain entirely. The leaves show the true colour of the timber before it was stained; it's actually quite a light colour. The part of the leaf I have highlighted is quite clear, with no growth rings. I suspect the areas with growth rings with fluctuate between lighter and slightly darker timber.

Here's a helpful step-by-step guide: How to restore timber furniture. For your project, stain the timber to your desired colour before sealing it with a clearcoat.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell