Looks like an oak door.

I agree that I wouldn't darken it. It is a wonderful table top and the grain wouldn't look as pretty if it were dark. I don't think the color looks all that "off", even with the finish gone, so hopefully finding a complementary or matching stain wouldn't be too difficult.

Did you try wiping the top with lacquer thinner or mineral spirits? How close in color did the wet wood come to the already-finished sections? If they are very close, you should be able to use just a clear finish in the appropriate gloss.

I agree with Chibimimi. I would just go with a clear finish, but then, I always prefer that to a stained finish.

Thanks for all the feedback, I'm rethinking this. I did use paint thinner to clean the table once I finished stripping it. It appears the original stain was applied to the top coat when it was finished.
The wood grain is so tight that it makes me doubt that it is oak. Usually with oak when you sand it you can lift the grain a little. When I sand this is just gets slicker no matter what grit I used. I removed some of the finish on the bottom of one chair rail and I have some different stains. I will try one or two of these and see how it absorbs the stain.
I agree the wood looked nice once it was stripped but it is much lighter than the rest of the table and the chairs. I'm really concerned that it will be blotchy if I try and stain it or that it won't be close enough in color. I'll give it a try on the bottom rail and see what happens.

Once you find the right stain, put minwax Pre-Stain on it before you stain it. That will keep it from being blotchy when you stain it. and the nice thing about rustic is that mars actually enhance the look!

I agree, a clear topcoat may be all you need. Did you strip or sand under the edges of the top? If so, you can put a little clear topcoat there and see if it matches the apron.

There are some very good restore products you can use on the legs and chairs to bring back the finish then you will just need to try to color match the top as closely as possible. It doens,t need to be a perfect match though because the top is horizontal it will always catch the light a little different and there are no visible matching edges where the top touches the legs.Just having the legs shine and finish looking the same as the top will go along way to making it look right.

This post was edited by madeyna on Tue, Jun 3, 14 at 17:10

If you do restain, I'd recommend a gel stain from General Finishes - much easier to control the intensity of the color and/or correct any mistakes along the way. It's a nicer quality stain than the minwax brand. Looks like candlelight or any darker maple color will match the legs as they look now.

I haven't been able to test the stain just yet, maybe a little later today. I went to the General Finishes web site to see who carried their brand here in Atlanta. I'm considering myself lucky because the store close to me is a wood craft store and they give classes on all types of woodworking. I think I will take a chair with me and see what they think and quite possibly they might be able to match the stain for me.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will keep this post updated.