I completely refinished this table in the summer of 1997. It had a very dark stain on it, and was hiding the beautiful maple grain. I gave it a coat of homebrew stain that is slightly darker than a natural finish, but shows off the beautiful grain of the maple wood. The chairs also got a complete stripping and refinishing, and have also been recovered. Of course the wife is never satisfied so it has been refinished again, this time with Minwax Special Walnut and about 4 coats of Minwax polyurethane, sanded with 220 grit between coats. It has a beautiful shine and is smooth as glass.
After the first refininsh (Below)
Now the second refinish (Below)
Close-up of leaf
I built a leaf for the table at the same time it was refinished. Now it seats five better.