Progress is at least being made.
After trying just about every red stain known to man, I gave up and went to paint. Stain was nice in that it let me keep the rings, but it also kept all the patchiness that comes with staining the edges of MDF.
We still had trouble finding a paint color we liked. 3 times we picked out a color to have it end up looking nothing like the sample at the store. Eventually we found this textured color & paint. It is still not perfect and the spottiness is still there in the picture, but it’s hard to see in person. Besides, it’s the imperfections that make it a work of art. (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it)
It does look kind of cool with all the gold sprinkles in the clear coat though. The picture doesn't do it justice. Once this dries, I’ll paint the base & legs black. Should come out nice.