Sweetbean I just went through this in our small 11'x11' DR that was largely over furnished with a lot of "this n that" - part of our entire home reno was out with it ALL! Yea DR set, 2 sideboards - one that matched the set, on that was a beast & did not - a PIANO , a beautiful built in I searched, searched , searched - DON"T give up - You will find a table/chairs I scoured all ads, and Craigslist - what I found were LOTS of DR Sets - I'm close to NYC and found people giving high quality sets away - I think people are moving away from formal DRs blowing kitchens into DRs So my advice is don't settle - live without and enjoy the hunt I did. I found a Duncan Phyfe Mahogany set which is really what I wanted - our house dutch col 1930 so it suited the home as well as the small scale of our DR - it was dirty, dirty dirty - I'm still working on cleaning waxing -It is really well made & found incredible fabrics on ebay that were really reasonable - so they will get a big face lift. The owners were asking $2,200 for the set - DR table, 4 side chairs, 2 arms - mirror ,sideboard, and tall china cab I didn't want the china cab (we have lovely built in) got them to $1300 Dh thought i was crazy - wait til he sees it in DR Here is a pic in the prior owners DR In my almost completed DR chair w/proposed fabric sitting on it Guess I wanted to inspire you - I know the furnishings aren't your choice but to illustrate they are out there - get on a mission Link to craigslist good luck eileen Here is a link that might be useful: Craigslist

Okay, a little later than I said, but here are some more photos. The flash turns the finish sort of orange, so the last two pictures are with no flash, which gives a better representation of the color, which is browner, not orange. I think you asked if the finish is shiny -- it is, but I think it's more of a satin, definitely not a high gloss. I think they will do a glossier finish if that's what you want. And you can choose distress levels, too. I think Centennial (light/medium finish) and Oldtowne (dark traditional cherry) are their no-distress finishes, and then Arlington, New Market, and Oxford are the distressed finishes, Oxford being the more brown/darker of the three, and Arlington being a little redder and lighter. New Market is in between.

Thanks for all your advice. I'm so glad that I didn't just rush in and start this. From the sounds of it, I WOULD HAVE ruined them . . . :^0 . . . OMGosh! I need to run all this by DH. He's been encouraging me to call up and order a set I like that I saw in Phoenix Home & Garden magazine spread. I can't imagine ordering anything that big and expensive sight unseen, though. Hmmmmmm, there may be a weekend trip to Scottsdale in the offing ;^) In the mean time, I need to decide whether I want to paint the set a brown first and them give the Gel Stain a go or just leave it as is until I get a new set. BTW, I haven't looked into having it professionally stripped and redone. I probably should. I can't imagine a red or blue table in our dining room, though. I'll have to think about that one.

posted link to pics below Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen pics