So we went for a shellac finish.

We have been very good at burnished shellac finish and we can now add a brighter spirited-off shellac finish to enhance our fine pieces of blonde furniture.

To revive a shellac finish roughen the surface lightly with No. 000 steel wool.

A Biedermeier vitrine, left, in cherry veneer with ebonized detailing and hand-polished shellac finish, made in Austria around 1820, is $16,000.

Most have a shellac finish but you can buy unvarnished items at Handicrafts Co-operative in place Moulay Hassan.

To revive a shellac finish, scuff the surface by rubbing it lightly with No. 000 steel wool, and wipe it clean with mineral spirits.

A shellac finish, however, is warm - ranging from almost transparent to dark amber - and it enhances the natural beauty of wood.

Alcohol, for example, can dissolve a shellac finish.

Fine old pieces are often French-polished, a variation of the shellac finish.

The door was oak with yellow shellac finish.