I have a 1920's cottage I am Sloooooowly rehabbing. A labour of love, for sure! The woodwork (Gumwood) is all intact, and not painted, thank God ;) However, the old finish is in rough shape - dented, dinged, paint splashed on in places.....to try out methods, I removed an interior closet door and went to work.

I used a scraper and paint removed to get some of the splashed paint off the spine, and the rest of the finish came off nicely with Methyl Hydrate (did this outside). Then I used good old fashioned shellac. I assumed this was what was on it originally, as the Methyl Hydrated took off the original finish? However, the first coat of shellac looked uneven, so I put another on. I ended up with three coats. The good news? It's nice and even. The bad news? It's super glossy, not the flat, satin finish the original one was :( While I don't mind the gloss, husband doesn't think it shows off the beautiful woodgrain as well as the satin did.

Any ideas? I'd like to stick with whats traditional, and the door does look nice, just...shiny ;)

MANY thanks for any tips!!!