Refinishing/painting oak dining set

[mangggia]

Hello! I am new to this site and I hope I get some help! I have a dining set, the table seems to be a different kind of wood then the chairs which are oak. Maybe maple? Anyway, I like to paint the top of the table and seats of the chairs in a cherry finish to match my cabinets and the legs of table/chairs and also back of the chairs in antique black. Do I have to strip the parts where I am going to use paint? I plan on using killz primer before painting. On the parts where I like the cherry finish, do I have to strip, sand and then apply finish? If so, what material should I use to get the shinny cherry finish? I tired to add a picture here but could not :-( I do aprreciate your help and happy holidays! Thanks!

[leone184]

It's probably a good idea to remove as much of the old finish as possible. You may get the paint to stick using kilz, but This does not mean it will be durable. I am considering the same thing for an old heavy dining room set I have. It is finished in a thick, surprisingly soft varnish. If I painted over it, the layer of varnish would still be there, which would cause the new coating of paint to quickly fail.

As far as the cherry finish, it depends on what it there now. A polyurethane will not go over a varnish (and vice-versa). It may even be a lacquer. You should only recoat with the same material. If you don't know what it is, and you can't (or won't) strip it first, the only thing I could recommend is Gymseal. It is a tung oil finish made for gym floors. It's good at going over other finishes, and is very durable and glossy. It's great for furniture applications, but is expensive, and I think it is only sold by the gallon. What ever you decide make sure you try a small area first, and give it a couple of days to dry.

Hope this helps.

[HayZee518]

I do not know why people "paint" over beautiful woods unless they are trying to hide something. White oak and dark oak have such beautiful grain patterns and it is an extremely hard wood - very dense! Maple is another hard wood but not as hard as oak. The grain pattern of maple is "soft" almost luxurious and very nice if left "au naturale." Cherry is a rosey soft wood. If you were using cherry "burls" like for a table inset, the patterns obtained seems hypnotizing, and finished with a soft tung oil is very complementary to the wood.