apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Start sanding in an area that is not very visible so you get a feel for it. Do it by hand. It only takes a second to go too far with the sanding. I'm not sure what # paper you should use...perhaps 80 or 100.

Can't you just sand it and re-stain it? I didn't know that this was a difficult concept. The color should come up to the point where covering it with a darker color won't leave it uneven.

Question: is the veneer real wood? Not all veneers are.

I thought you're not supposed to sand veneer. That does increase the difficulty, unless you are supposed to sand veneer, in which case stop before you sand it all off.

It depends on the veneer - is it real wood, or the cheap plastic-y kind? If it's the better quality (real wood) veneer, you can sand (lightly, carefully) and stain. I've read that sponging wood lightly and letting it soak a bit before staining helps the colour to go on evenly.

The problem is not the staining (veneer takes stain just like any other wood), it's the sanding. Use a paint stripper (there are eco-friendly ones) to remove the old finish; then when the surface is clean, scribble over it lightly with a #2 pencil. Sand lightly with very fine sandpaper until the pencil marks are gone, then don't sand any further. Stain as usual. Just be sure not to soak the veneer, which could loosen the glue. Good luck!

Don't worry about sanding or stripping. Try this on an unseen area (the underside of a drawer, for example): Minwax brand "gel" stain (it comes in very dark tones, among others).

Sometimes paint stores don't carry all the "gel" colors, but it's worth tracking down, more control and heavier coating than the liquid (ie, runny!) stains.

Once it sets up for a few minutes, it is wiped off, but you can do several coats if you like. Really lets the grain show. If you want, you can seal it with a Minwax clear finishing coat, but you really don't need to.

perfect timing - I just decided to stain my oak-finish sewing table dark. I'll try that Minwax thing because I see the sanding going terribly awry...

I have spent a bit of time looking into this process as I regularly find items that are structurally what I am looking for but are the wrong color. The conclusion I have come to is that any effort to restain a veneered piece will probably put the piece at significant risk. That is to say that the result is very likely to be worse than just being the wrong color. If this piece is essentially worthless, then go ahead and give it a shot. Use it as a practice attempt. Or buy one of West Elm's floating shelves, and practice the sanding and staining on that and see how you like the result before you dive in with the whole desk.

If the way your desk looks is important to you, I would suggest the obvious: sell the desk on craigslist, and use the money to buy a desk that will match your decor. This is the quickest and ultimately least expensive way to get a nice looking desk that is the right color.

Sorry, after looking at the desk in question, I take back my earlier instructions and agree with RichardinLA. That desk looks like it'd be hard to refinish; I'd either paint, live with, or sell it.

I actually just sanded and stained a table with veneer. First off it is not difficult but you need to go slow when sanding. Use a 150 grit paper with an orbital sander for the larger areas. Take your time and be careful not to go all the way through the veneer. I would recommend painting the more intricate areas because it will be a real pain. If you are going darker and some places don’t completely sand off don’t worry because you stain may even it out. After staining use polyurethane with a satin finish. I did 4 coats and it came out great.