wood. table. varnish.

[gorie]

ok i'm shopping for a dining room set, right ?
so i go to this clearance store and see a table that was 'originally marked at $1100' priced at $500. most of the stuff in the store is marked down due to minor flaws or being discontinued items from their main store, but when i asked that guy if there were any flaws i should know about (didn't notice any and none were marked on the tag) he said they got that one on some discount deal so that is why it was so cheap,no flaws.

it's a pretty big table w/ leaf, and comes with 6 chairs. looks very sturdy and thick. not as pretty as i'd like (the one i really like is at another store for $1000 for a smaller set but thats too much [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] ), but it was very nice for the price.
the problem is that it's a really really light colored wood. really plain and dull looking. so i hate the color. other than that it is a nice table for the price.


if anyone knows about this stuff - how would i know if i could varnish this table ? my bf said he doesn't even know if it's real wood or could be varnished. but how do you know these things and how stupid would i be to spend $500 on a table and risk ruining it by trying to varnish it ? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

i realize there are better places to ask this question but i thought i'd try.