Metro, actually it is a lot of fun to do this yourself. I probably did my first refinishing job before I was bar mitzvah, and with one exception, a pine door (see below re methylene chloride and soft wood) I’ve always had great results. I wish I had time to restore some of the historical furniture that you can get here for pennies or for nothing when people renovate.
The problem is that the methylene chloride paint strippers are dangerous dreck and the non-toxic substitutes that I have tried, which are admittedly older ones, are stam dreck that do not work.
Especially if the chair is a softer wood, don’t use any more methylene chloride stripper (the smelly, flammable stuff like ZipStrip which is best left for kiddush on Simchas Toyre in the Chanichei Otisville minyan). It softens the wood and you’ll end up gouging it with your putty knife when you remove the finish after it softens.
Wood bleach -> sanding and/or fine steel wool -> pre-stain conditioner from Minwax -> water based polyurethane varnish stain is your best bet.
No, arak cannot be used in place of either wood stain or paint remover. Rancid galle, on the other hand, takes off two coats of paint but it eats through wood.