Changing wood colour

[username#132]

Mum want to change the colour of the sideboard to match the mahogany TV stand my friend's parents gave us. I'm confused about what we need to do.
I think we can get woodstain, and then put varnish over it, or we can just get coloured varnish and that will change the colour?
If I use woodstain, would I use a clear varnish afterwards?
Would it be better to just use a coloured varnish, so as to save on varnishing it afterwards.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Freddie]

you can never stain one wood to look like another wood, all you will get if you are lucky is something that is vaguely somewhere near the same colour

 

[big-all]

mmmmm things you have to concider is your sideboard wood or just chipboard with a wood finnish

now if its a propper old fasion sideboared made of wood and ply it will be going on for years after the tv unit has bit the dust assuming the tv unit is wood effect on chipboard and as said above by freddie exact matches are not easy

if the furniture is self assembly or uses words like pine effect or light oak effect or antique finnish they are coverd with plastic laminated printed effect and stain wouldnt work coloured varnishes would colour but you would have to treat as you would when "painting kitchen cabinets"which involves special primers which excludes varnish as primer is coloured

although you may get clear primer subtable for kitchen units i dont know