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Before you try anything more extreme, try an application of Howard Restor-A-Finish. This often makes rings and stains vanish, leaving the finish looking shiny and happy again.

More important, it's cheap, easy, fast, and doesn't prevent you from trying something else if it doesn't solve the problem.

Try orange-oil for wood furniture cleaning and conditioning. Probably can be found at most general hardware stores.

I bought a walnut console from CL. It had been sitting in a sunny spot and the wood looked dried out and had some odd water spots.

Orange oil did the trick to restore the appearance of the wood and minimized the spots of wear and tear. Good luck!

I've had reasonable success sanding and refinishing beat-up Danish teak. Just sand lightly, by hand (I used fine steel wool), and follow it up with a couple coats of teak oil (I guess walnut oil, in your case).

I won't claim this made my stuff look good as new - but it went about 90% of the way - and hey, if you don't like the results you can still lacquer the tables. It made a lot more difference than I thought it would, though.

Classic Pieces. SAVE THEM.

Try the above solutions and if those don't work, by all means have them restored. If not for you then your children or grandchildren. I'm serious.

Like above, I'm with them on the orange oil. It's worked like a charm.

You can generally identify veneer by looking closely for seams at the corners (where veneer pieces would meet). Older pieces are usually a little bit easier to identify because as the veneer and adhesive age they tend to separate a bit.

Wende's recommendation of Howard Restor-A-Finish is a good one as it generally provides instant gratification with minimal effort. Apply with fine steel wool-voilá! It hides A LOT. The only drawback ever I've experienced with this product is that once dry, the surface attracs dust like nobody's business.

If you're going for something more conservation-minded and closer to the original finish (READ: more effort!) than your best bet is an oil finish. The original finishes on most mid-century pieces were soft, 'hand-rubbed' oil (or wax) finishes. Not orange (or lemon!) oils so much as Danish or tung oils. (Orange and lemon oils are okay for surface cleaning because they sit on top of the wood, but they don't offer any protection against stains. Danish and tung oils are penetrating and actually absorb into the pores of the wood, in turn protecting your furniture.) Applying an oil finish is definitely more involved, but still totally do-able, as lola explained in her post. (You can wipe down the surface with mineral spirits inbetween sandings, just to eliminate any fine, residual dust before applying your oil.)

Whatever you do, don't let ANYONE convince you into polyurethaning them! They're too nice, and that's a sure way to ruin any piece you value ; )

Good luck!

you might be able to tell whether the walnut is a veneer or what by turning the tables upside down and seeing what the wood looks like on the underside. i have a dresser from the same era that is "teak", but when you open the drawers you can tell that it's actually a combination of particle board drawer fronts and cheaper solid wood construction, with teak veneers.

also, looking at the photos, it would seem that if the walnut were a veneer, you'd be able to tell at the edges of the table tops, so you might want to check those, too.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice! I appreciate it.

Erin

Restore-A-Finish is a miracle product! Just don't put it on too thick, and you shouldn't have a dust problem. After my beloved kitty died, I got down on my hands and knees and used it on each board of illness-impacted parquet floor. Worked wonders.

Funny--I inherited furniture like that too. What if you got some new veneer? Is that just too much work?

I've recently received a Danish teak dining room table (3 extra leaves) and six chairs from my grandfather. What is the best way to refinish them? I don't want to hurt them, and I've never done anything like this before.
HELP!!