Hello, new to this forum and actually pretty new to woodworking in general. I'm getting ready to start my first project that will be find its way to a highly visible area of the house. I'm going to make a dog crate for a puppy that will be here in a month. It's going to go at the end of a couch to also serve as an rather large end table. I'll also be building another "normal" sized one for the other size with the same stylings. I pretty much have the design all worked out & the plans drawn up, but I want to figure out the finish before I began any work. I plan to go with a dark finish (wenge, espresso - something along those lines) but want to make sure it is safe for the dog. Does anybody have any suggestions on any products that would be good for an application like this? If not then suggestions on products you know I should avoid would be great also.
Thanks