I love those chairs! I definitely wouldn't paint them. Before you do any staining, think hard about the color if you don't plan on keeping your DR table.

Is that a black stain on the new chairs? If so, I like the color. A dark stain on all the chairs would go with just about any color of wood, even if you have a light colored table.

Try using 409 to get the tackiness off the chairs. I did it once with a piece of furniture and it worked.

The chairs may be maple rather than oak. The wood looks a lot like the seats of my old Hitchcock set.

Is it not an option to stain the seat and paint the backs of your new chairs, after using a good primer?

I'm thinking they might be maple, too. Striping them would be a lot of work, but I think they would look nice.

If you wanted to paint them, I think using a deglosser and fine steel wool would work. That's what I did with mine, before spraying with Krylon Dual paint/primer in satin black. After letting them cure a few days, I gave them all a good coat of paste wax.

I know a lot of people cringe at the thought of painted wood, but I felt like I need the black to get the chairs to stand out a bit from the Brazilian Cherry floor. I'll attach a picture of mine. Horrible lighting and the chairs are a bit difficult to see, but I think it will give you an idea of what yours might look like :)

I really like those chairs! Since it appears that the last finish might have been done improperly, I think I'd want to strip them completely, return them to Square 1 and then consider your options. How are you going to reliably stain something that already has been stained that couldn't be stripped? Doesn't a lot of that old stain fill the wood's pores and prevent new stain from taking hold?

I know what a pain it is to strip all that little stuff. At least you only have two of them. :) I think it's worth it to strip both of them down completely and then think about what would be best.

BTW, that pedestal table looks awesome.

oakleyok, it looks like the chairs originally had a light gray stain and then someone slapped a streaky coat of black over that. Right now I am drawn to a medium stain for table tops, although by the time I get my farmhouse table, I may go back to a dark golden oak. They don't show dust and scratches nearly as much as the darker stains. And I like chairs to either match or be a much darker stain. I just like the look of wood grain.

deeinohio, yes, it's still an option to stain the seat and paint the rest. But I need to get the black paint off because I think it will turn loose even after a primer is applied on top of it. I don't think it's maple, but I'm not good at identifying wood and didn't think to ask dh. It's kind of dried out right now but I'll wipe it with some mineral spirits and take another photo, a good photo, and maybe find out.

Errant, your table and chairs are great. I really like that look and your chairs look a lot like mine. Just curious, do you have an easy way of dusting the tail piece on the chairs? Have you had any problem with the paint on the seats scratching? That's one reason I wanted the seats stained.

Thank you linelle. I think that's a flattering photo though. The top still isn't very good. I've never had a problem with staining after stripping if all the finish is off and the surface has been lightly sanded. But I am concerned that I won't be able to get the stain out of the grooves and inside the cutouts on that wide, center section. I guess it won't hurt to try it and see what happens. If I can't get it off, I can always repaint.

marti8a, whatever you decide, take pics along the way to share with us. Refinishing wood takes a lot of prep, but it's my favorite thing.

So far, I've not had any issue with the paint scratching on the seats (that was a concern of mine, too). We use them most every night, and aren't particularly careful (I even stand on them sometimes when I'm too lazy to grab the step stool). If it does, I think they will be easy enough to touch up, though.

As for dusting around those close spindles on the tail, I thread my dusting cloth through and give it a pull. I hated dusting those spindly chairs until I figured that one out ;)

Hi marti,I like the idea of painting back,staining seat with the combo fading from one to the other. Finishing involves exprimentation in order to get unusual and custom results. In this case you should try various solvents and/or cleaners to remove the tacky substance ( naptha,denatured alcohol,turpentine,mineral spirits,liquid sander and common household cleaners to name a few). If you inquire at a real paint store,they should have stripper that specificly removes latex while leaving other finishes uneffected. Sanding and striping is much faster with an assortment of items used as tools for getting into grooves and small areas as well as to wrap sandpaper around. If you plan using water base stain or topcoat,use scotch pads in place of steel wool. Use underside of seat as a test surface for stains ect to prefect your "fadeing methods". Shellac is a good aid for several tasks. I reccomend dry flakes because shelf life is unlimited. Using alcohol base stain will alow mixing it with shellac to do the fade. I wish I could offer silver bullits but truth is even the old hands have to "play with techniques" when going for the look they have in their head.

Thanks Errant, I'll try it that way.

Thank you for so much information klem1. I've read about shellac flakes but have never used them. I've got a few scraps of oak and ash that I can practice on. As it turns out, I don't think the gray is a stain either. It may be milk paint though. It is stripping more like paint than stain.

I've been working on stripping the spindles, middle section, bent wood with the grooves and the cutouts are stripping better than I thought. There are some dark areas but I think they are machine burns.

There are a few nicks and a couple of scratches that may not sand out.

The groove did pretty well too. The wood seems dark on the bent piece, but I'm sure the finish is completely off there. I wish the color was even there.

But I found a problem. Whoever did the groove messed up in one place. It wasn't noticeable when it was painted, but sure is now.

I think the chairs are oak. The seat would be the easier place to tell if anyone knows for sure. (The seat is still wet here, not permanently discolored.)

Would the groove mistake or any of the scratches or dark areas make you think paint over stain? Right now, I think I'm going to finish stripping, then stain and see how it looks. I'd really like to try fading the stain the way klem1 described.

"Would the groove mistake or any of the scratches or dark areas make you think paint over stain?"
No no nooo! Absolutely not. Remedying those would only destroy characteristics of the chairs, I often intentionaly build into new pieces what will later appear to be flaws. It gives me satisfaction seeing somone pause to touch one of those "flaws". Staining will blend the color variations. Not conceal or cover,just pleasantly blend them. What I would do with the groove mistake is clean it up so it will be closer to color of surounding wood. It will only require 15 secounds with an artist's brush to make darker groove appear to run straight through the divot. The seat is white oak so the rays can realy throw you a curve by blotching with stain. For that reason,go slow until you know if it is blotching. One more area where shellac can make the difference between rays appearing as blotchy or beautiful pop. The problem is caused by variations in stain absorbed. To see this at work,stain all 6 surfaces on a scrap of wood. Note how much darker both ends appear compared to 4 sides. On a new unstained piece,sand one end with 180,other with 320,one side with 100 and oppisite with 220 then stain as before. Applying 1-2 or 3 wash coats or different cuts of shellac has similar effect as sanding grits. A good starting point is 1 Lb cut and go from there as you develop a preferance. If using top coat which is thinned with mineral spirits,a wash coat can be made by starting with 1 part finish in 4 parts mineral sprits. Ditto for laquer but don't attempt making wash coats with water base finish,buy commercial.

Yep. Strip the whole mess and then see what you've got. I'm liking the look of the stripped chair, so might want to just stain everything. If you really want to tie it into the table, you could paint just the legs, but I think black legs will show wear and scratches more than a stain would.