don't do either...if it has a solid finish like a lacquer or such, take it down to the bare wood . if it has interesting grain you could darken it with an oilbased wiping stain then you can do a tung oil finish ..a nice rubbed oil finish can be done with equal parts of tung oil and turpentine warned and then applied with a lintfree shoptowel. the advantage of that is it can be renewed just by rewiping with the mixture when and if needed.
@ProblemAgain:
Thank you- couldn't remember The finish that This End Up used- it was tung oil. It wasn't "high end" but was high quality. We still have AND use 2 bunk beds ( now separated), couch, recliner, kitchen table and chairs,
Coffee table, 3 end tables and a bookshelf- all of them are 21 years old. We keep buying cushions for the couch.
After the bathroom is done we're sanding the kitchen table and reapplying the tung oil. This stuff has held up forever even better than our expensive, high end (10k after an emplyee discount) dining room furniture. The desk and chair in the picture looks like This End Up- that's why I suggested refinishing it instead of painting.
4951