When my wife and I got married some 38 years ago Danish Modern furniture was all the rage. We splurged and bought a rosewood dining table and six chairs and long sideboard. Over the years these sat in our sunny dining room and we watched the color fade over the years. The table has self storing leaves. When we pulled the leaves out for Thanksgiving dinner we were shocked to see how different they were from the rest of the table and chairs. The leaves look like new but the rest of the table and chairs look light a very very light teak. Originally we were supposed to use teak oil but never did. We would like to give the set to our newly married son and his wife but it needs some real attention.
Does anyone have some suggestion about what to use to try and restore the rosewood color and finish in a way that will allow it to blend with the leaves?
Your help would be appreciated
Carl B.
Replies
Hello
First of all - 38 years - good job. lol
Anyway even if you could find someone who could selectively re-color faded areas and blend to match - you will still be left with a 38 year old finish.
Consider complete refinishing and you're good for another 38 plus years,
SA
I'm assuming that the rosewood is veneer, is that right? Is the surface smooth with no checking or dings? Do you remember of brand or maker?
I doubt the teak oil would have made any difference, I'll bet the color change is just the natural one of rosewood under light.
Top is otherwise in good shape. No idea about manufacturer. Probably imported from Scandinavia. Purchased at SCAN a Washington DC cooperative that specialized in Danish Modern. Long since out of business. It is a combination of solid wood and vernier.
Ah yes, I know SCAN well. Much of the SCAN teak that we purchased in almost that very same era now furnishes my son's home. I also know SCAN's veneer is thicker than most but know all too well (there is an end table that always had to have a lamp on one particular spot) that sanding the veneer is a very limited option. I probably have learned enough that I could mostly make the sandthrough disappear now, but it's not a project I would risk having to do. Trying to sand the wood back to newness would be very risky, not only due to sand through risk, but also risk of getting an awkward unevenness in the coloration.
Of course leaves never match the tables. In a more formal era, when the leaves were needed it was for an occasion meaning that the tablecloth went on. And, frankly the mellowed patina of older rosewood is very attractive.
Restoring to orignal color without sanding means stripping and then dying to reestablish the color. It would take a very good eye. To maintain an almost "in the wood" finish would limit the colors to dye colorants.
It might be easier to do multi-step process that begins with dye to establish the basic hue, that would then be sealed and glaze applied to restore some of the depth of rosewood. Again, a very good eye would be needed since it is more of a challenge to work when the only test panel is on the furniture itself. And, the look would be quite a bit different than the SCAN original look which was no apparent film finish except that the rosewood had a higher sheen than the teak.
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