Bombay Chest Makeover

Bombay Chest Before Veneer

Bombay Chest After Veneer

Earlier this year, Jim had removed the years of grime from this Bombay chest and prepared it for my client who happened to live around the block from us. She wanted to paint the chest and all she wanted us to do is get it prepared for paint. After she picked it up, she said she'd send a photo of the painted chest.

Fast forward two months, she contacted me again. The top was cracked and she didn't want to paint it, because she was worried that the cracks would eventually split the entire surface, so she opted for a new veneer that she would stain, then paint the rest of the chest. She supplied the oak veneer, which looked like the original oak. Amy and I worked together on the veneer. I applied two coats of contact cement to the underside of the veneer and one coat to the chest top. Once the cement was dried, we carefully picked up the veneer and began to align it to the surface of the chest. I was glad for her offer to help since it's much easier to do with four hands, to properly align the veneer into position before it makes final contact. Once it makes contact, that's it. You don't have a chance to reposition it. (That's why it's called contact cement!) 

Once we had it centered, we lowered it, and BOOM! It stuck. Oops! Unfortunately, the veneer didn't quite line up with the edge of the chest top, so I had to act quickly to remove it, so we could try again. I grabbed my heat gun, plugged it in and quickly aimed it at the sticky area while Amy pulled the veneer upward. Slowly, but surely, the contact cement released and we were able to carefully lower the veneer into the correct position, covering the entire surface of the chest with enough overlap to trim. The process was a bit nerve-wracking, but the end result was a brand new veneer surface, that looked like the original surface had looked many years ago.


After the veneer was in place, we smoothed out the bubbles and wrinkles, then we turned the chest upside down onto a table where I carefully sliced the excess veneer away, but allowed an 1/8" overlap. Next, we placed it right side up and I then used my corner sander to removed the excess veneer and smooth the entire edge to remove the chance for slivers.

Bombay Chest After Paint

Amy chose a lovely chestnut stain, which I applied after I had sanded the edges. The next day I applied the first coat of satin polyurethane. The new veneer came to life with the polyurethane! It was gorgeous. After I applied the second coat of poly and it looked even better. I sent Amy a text and she came to pick it up the next day.

The photo on the right is the finished Bombay chest that was a result of teamwork. Jim's sanding and prep, Amy and my veneer work and Amy's painting. It's so lovely to breathe life back into an old piece of furniture that someone had tossed out! Never underestimate the power of creativity!