Antique Windsor Chair Refinished

 

Windsor Chair
Before

This is what is called the “Windsor” Chair. It has the classical round form with spindles on the top and bottom of the chair, with the center split and mounted on a curved flat platform that turns into the top of the armrest. These chairs come in plain or rocking chair styles. 

This chair was over 100 years old and original in its antique styling and manufacturing. It had a center split that had been repaired before we got it, however, the stripping on this type of chair is very intense and takes a long time. (We hate spindles!) Not only did it have spindles, it had two spindle bases, one in the center and one on the bottom seat, therefore making the stripping much more time-consuming. 

Windsor Chair After

One of the most difficult part of refinishing this type of chair is that no power tools can be using when sanding, therefore, everything is hand sanded which adds to the time spent removing the entire old finishing. Some chairs are easier to work on than others. This one was not an easy redo because of the spindles, upper and lower. The chair was made of sturdy walnut, so that’s the end choice color we used to stain it. 

Finished and protected with satin polyurethane, it actually turned out beautiful, despite the splotchy look on the bare wood, which is characteristic of old furniture once stripped. If you ever wondered why chairs cost so much to strip, try your hand at one of these and you’ll understand. It’s a very tedious process and takes many, many hours and lots of patience and of course, the right tools to do the job. The most important tool is patience and tenacity. 

Maple Table Makeover

Refinished Table

Nothing says family more than a large dining room table. And, because we love our tables, we use them a lot! Therefore, they take a lot of abuse and as a result, get worn, scratched and marred with the passage of time. This is a very large maple dining table with a leaf that showed signs of wear on the surface. 

Luckily there weren’t any super deep gouges, so it was doable to strip, sand and stain the table and bring back its glory. Choosing a newer, darker stain, mocha, brought out the natural woodgrain and tones of the table which seemed hidden by the wear previous to refinishing. Finished off with three protective coats of satin polyurethane, this worn out table was once again a shining star, ready for many family meals.

Table Before Refinishing

Antique Dresser with Mirror

 

Dresser Before

Dressers are important pieces of furniture with the important purpose of keeping your sweaters and other items handy and at your fingertips. Nobody said a dresser needs to be boring, so why not take a look at that old dresser in your grandmother’s attic and examined it with a critical eye and imagine it refinished. 

Dresser After

This dresser had been a family heirloom that had seen some wear. The mirror was original and had some marking on the back side, but was still serviceable. A fun aspect of obtaining and refinishing antiques is finding something that dates an item. This dresser had old newspapers on the back that dated back to November of 1913. Made of solid oak, this dresser was a lovely piece of furniture worthy of restoration.

As with most mirrored pieces, they are refinished separately, which requires a great deal of care. Especially with a mirror (because who wants seven years of bad luck?) The lovely curves of the side bars of the mirror really added character to the overall look of the dresser. It was indeed a special element that makes these antiques so special and individually unique. Two top drawers with a single larger drawer and a front curve mimics the curve of the mirror frame as well as the top, which had the most damage. After stripping, sanding and staining, we protected this dresser with two coats of polyurethane. 

Luckily, we are usually able to remove most surface scratches on furniture, so this piece had a great finish. The exception to that rule is when an item has veneer with deep scratches. You can only sand veneer so far before you remove it completely and end up with what appears to be a large patch where the plywood shows through. That’s why we love working with solid wood. It’s much more durable and sturdy and refinishes well, with a better final result. Anything made of particle board isn’t even worth refinishing because it’s not “real” wood. You can’t beat solid wood for furniture, that’s why antiques are always worth refinishing so they can be kept for another few centuries. 

Checkerboard Antique Card Table

 

Card Table Before

Card Table After

Every once in a while we get a totally unique piece of furniture that is one in a million. One of the many aspects of furniture restoration is the wide variety of items that come our way. It’s always a surprise! At times the surprise comes when we see it. Other times the surprise comes after we remove the years and years of grime to reveal the beauty beneath it. This antique card table with a checkerboard center was such a piece.

It’s hard to know origins of furniture, such as how old an item is, where it was made, what kind of wood is was made from. We have seen mostly oak, walnut, cherry and even some more exotic woods such as bloodwood and olive wood. At times we’ve seen wood we can’t easily identify. With this unique table we quickly realized it was made of many types of wood combined to create a work of art which ended with a center design in a checkerboard or chess table.

However, it was completely covered with years of grime, dirt and who knows what else. Hidden away in a garage for over thirty years, this table was likely overlooked and became part of the back storage of the space it occupied until my customer yanked it out with the intention of getting it refinished. It looked like a major undertaking since there were many pieces of wood missing that would have to be replaced as well as all that grim removed with stripper and carefully sanded so that none of the wood would be destroyed in the process. And yes, each piece of wood you see has been individually placed into the table! This alone makes it a highly unique work of art. 

Once stripped, the gorgeous wood beneath was exposed. It was comprised of maple, bird’s eye maple, walnut and mahogany. Since many of the original tiny pieces were missing, it was necessary to cut and carefully place each missing piece in its place so that it blended in with the table and look as if they were always there. As you can imagine, this was a very time-consuming process. After all those missing pieces were installed and glued, it was then stained and protected with four coats of strong polyurethane so it will hold up for another one hundred years at least. A timeless beauty can say, “Checkmate.”

Card Table Before

Card Table After

Antique Mahogany Swivel Table

 

Swivel Table Before

Another beautiful swivel table! This antique was made of mahogany with brass accents. The lower portion of this table had a unique “harp” design with three brass prongs, that cleaned up real nice. The top was in rough shape and had seen years of use, including water damage likely from placing a planter directly not the wood. It’s always a good idea to have a planter with a tray or aluminum pie tin to eliminate water damage. 

Swivel Table After

This table was in need of stripping, sanding and new stain. We chose special walnut stain and three coats of semi-gloss polyurethane to ensure protection from everyday use. All the brass accents, feet, harp metal and two small knobs (not seen in photo) were cleaned and polished. Polishing the brass, truly accentuates the refinishing process. It also adds a special “bling” to any piece of furniture, much like the right jewelry does for an outfit.

This style of table is used for playing board games or cards, as it has a “secret” swivel compartment beneath the top that is accessible by rotating the table 90 degrees, then opening one side to reveal the compact area beneath, just large enough to hold note pads, decks of cards and paper goods. When not being used as a game table, it folds in half and can be pushed right up against a wall and used for decorative accents such as plants, lamps or collectibles. Now that it has been refinished, this table will likely be used for many card games and other fun activities.

Antique 19th Century Caned Chairs

Antique Chair After

 

Antique Chair Before

Here we go with more chairs! This time it was a set of four (4) chairs, all in need of TLC. These chairs dated back to the late 1800’s, so they were 19th century chairs that had seen a lot of use, therefore a lot of wear and tear, literally. 

Originally the chairs had caned seats, but over time they likely broke and someone decided to cover the seat with stamped leather, or rather, a leather-look-alike that seemed more like a heavy paper between layers of very thin leather. Broken and no longer able to seat a person, it was high time to remove the leather “fix” and replace it with the original woven caning. But first, the chairs all needed to be stripped, which for this type of chair is very time-consuming because (you guessed it), spindles. Yup, spindles are what takes a long time to strip because there are many of them and they are rounded, making them inaccessible from one angle, therefore it’s necessary to rotate the chair continuously while stripping. 

A chemical stripper was the best option for these (compared to a heat gun), because it melts away the old, worn finish and reveals the wood beneath. Once all the old finish is removed, the chairs are then cleaned up by using soft rags (usually old t-shirts, which are excellent for this) and wiping away the residue left by the stripper with lacquer thinner or acetone. This is a necessary step prior to sanding or your sandpaper will clog up with the residue, making it difficult to remove. 

Starting with 100 grit sandpaper, the chair is prepared to accept the next grit, 150, until the final sanding, which is done with 220 grit. Once all surfaces are sanded, the chair is wiped with lacquer thinner on a clean cloth, allowed to dry, then it is ready for stain. This entire process (for this type of chair) can take from several hours to a few days. Again, spindles are a lot of work, therefore more tedious and time-consuming than flat surface chairs. Once the stain is applied with either a soft cloth or a brush, or both, you wipe away the excess stain, then enjoy the amazing transformation from raw wood to beautifully restored, refinished wood. 

We used "special walnut" on these chairs. The new stain brought out all that gorgeous woodgrain, which had been hidden by years of oxidation that happens over time. Once the chairs had dried from staining (we allow 24-48 hours), the first coat of polyurethane was applied. For these chairs we used a water-based semi-gloss, durable and easy to clean up after. That first coat protects the stain and prepares the wood for the remaining two coats that finish the chair. It is necessary to lightly sand between each coat of poly with a high grit sandpaper to give it “tooth,” which makes just rough enough to accept the next layer of polyurethane. Once the third coat was applied, the chairs were done and ready for the last and final step, install the new caning. 

These chairs had “press-in” caning, cane that comes in pre-woven sheets and cut to size, then installed and kept in place with spline. It’s necessary to soak the cane and spline for at least an hour (or longer) so that it is pliable enough to work with, otherwise it cracks and breaks. Caning “wedges" are used to “press” the edge of the cane into the pre-cut 1/4” groove in the chair. The chairs had a closely woven cane originally, so we chose the same style to keep it original.

It’s necessary to choose the right size of spline, which is based on the width of the opening, so that it keeps the cane in place while completely filling the groove. If the cane is too loose, it will not keep the cane taut. It’s a tricky process because once you have pressed all the cane into the groove, you glue it slowly, allowing the glue to run into the groove, starting in the back of the chair. Once it is glued, you push the spline into place, tapping it with a hammer as you go. If the spline has been adequately soaked, it will bend easily around curves. If not, it can break, especially if those curves are tight. 

Luckily these chairs’ curves were fairly wide, so it wasn’t too difficult to bend them around the edge. Once you reach the back where you started, make a small pencil mark and cut the spline to match the starting point at an angle and tap it with a hammer in place. After all the spline is installed around the entire seat, hammer the spline so that it is level with the top of the chair. There will be caning strands popping out that were left over from the placement after the spline is installed, so they must be trimmed off. I use a sharp chisel and snap them away by tapping on a hammer close to the spline, which removes the excess. You can also use snippers. This completes the caning process. Allow the cane to dry at least 24-48 hours before you sit on the chair.

Antique Oak High Chair

    

High Chair Before

    The very nature of a chair’s construction makes it quite time consuming

High Chair After

to work on. When a chair has spindles with curves and detail, the time spent stripping is even more time consuming than a relatively simple style. But the very best part of restoring any chair is the finished product, which always amazes me because of the drastic difference between how it comes to us and how it looks when it is restored. Yup, chairs are a lot of work, but the outcome is always worthwhile and successful.     

    A high chair such as this one was once used for a great-grandfather whom would have been seated in while his mother fed him mashed carrots. Needless to say if this chair could speak, oh what stories it would tell! Unfortunately, the most obvious story was that it was in need of restoration and repair. The seat was held together by panty hose (which works well in a pinch!)

    The center portion of the seat had split directly in the center as well as a minor split closer to the side. Therefore in addition to refinishing, it needed to be repaired first. The best way to achieve this and do it properly, was to take it apart, partially. Once it was separated all the way, it was cleaned and re-glued, then clamped overnight so that the glue would do its job and mend the splits. If this is done properly, the glue will hold for many years to come (providing a high school student that had long since outgrown the chair didn’t intend to sit on it!)

    After the chair was strong and secure again, the slow and tedious process of stripping and sanding was next. There are no shortcuts when it comes to stripping a chair, any chair. It simply takes a long time because chairs have a LOT of surface area. This chair had such pretty grain that had been hiding under many years of use. When this is stripped and sanded away, that original grain shines through, giving the chair a new life by revealing its original beauty. We selected “gunstock” stain and a satin finish for this high chair. I absolutely love the way the chair turned out! Once again structurally sound and the gorgeous wood revealed, this chair is ready for another century of being a family heirloom.

Check out the other high chair we’ve done by clicking on this link: https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2020/06/height-chair-before-height-chair-after.html

New Front Door

Door Before

Door After

A front door is most important feature of your home. It keeps out weather, makes a home secure, invites people inside and is a representation of the people living in the home. Therefore, a front door should be well maintained, weatherproof and attractive as well as functional. This front door had been exposed to the elements and over time it became weathered and worn. (We took the photo on our work table so we don’t have a “before” of the door in the home, but our customer sent us the “after picture.

The interior was in great shape, but the exterior needed the most attention. However, upon closer inspection, the interior had been affected by the exterior’s wear because the door had warped, therefore the trim surrounding each panel was lifting enough so that one could get a decent scratch at the least and broken or missing pieces which would be not easy to replace. Before we could start on the exterior, we needed to address the interior’s warping issue by carefully removing the “lifted” trim and sanding each piece down just enough so they could “curve" with the warped panel and would lie flat again. Then we could refinish the weathered front. This door was solid oak and weighed a ton. The door knocker was brass along, with the handle/lock, which carried a hefty price tag (quality costs money!) This door was begging to be made handsome once again. 

Because of the amount of trim and the narrow passages between the trim. stripping was intensely tedious and took a lot longer than expected (it always does!) Stripping took several days and sanding a few more. Since this was our customer’s front door (he literally didn’t have a front door for a week, other than the storm door), we needed to move as quickly as time would allow. We used a variety of hand tools in addition to the much-used orbital sander. Our favorite hand tools are a set of wood carving tools that allow us to get into the nooks and crannies and corners, so we can remove the residue that is left by stripping the old stain and varnish. Once that’s done, lots and lots of sanding prior to the fun part, staining. For this door we used golden oak stain which matched the existing interior color perfectly. To protect the exterior, we applied three coats of satin polyurethane. Once the finely crafted brass hardware was reinstalled, the door was complete, looking brand new again.

High Chair Before

High Chair After

This is our first high chair restoration. We estimate this height chair was at least 110 years old, based on the owner’s great-grandmother who had used it as a baby. It really look old (and rather creepy) with its dark greenish glaze that sort of, but not completely, covered up the wood. It was indeed a labor of love with all the spindles that neither Jim or I like working on as they are extremely difficult and time-consumimg.

The high chair had a center leather strap that acted as a safety measure to keep the baby from slipping out from under the chair. We were able to keep the original strap and incorporate it into the renovation of this oldie. Not 100% sure of the wood though. It didn’t have a lot of knots or movement so it may have been maple, but it was a hard wood to be sure.

The stripping process took an enormous amount of time to get between all those spindles! Jim took the tray off completely and had to replace a missing rung in the back of the chair. Luckily he could pull the back legs apart far enough to install the new rung into the hole and drill out the broken rung remains on the other side to make the new one fit properly. Once stripped and stained, he chose gunstock stain (our new favorite!) for the entire chair. The edging of the tray needed to be repaired since it had been broken right in the middle with a noticeable split. He added a piece and made it work. Once it was all put together with its new and repaired components, it looked beautiful. Who knew this old creepy chair would turn out so good?? (We did!) Lol.

Check out the oak high chair we also refinished by clicking on this link:

https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2020/10/antique-oak-high-chair.html

Mid-Century Stendig Chairs Refinished and Re-Caned

Stendig Chair Before

Stendig Chair After

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these photos are worth many thousands if time were a contributing factor. These are designer “Stendig” chair, made in Czechoslovakia, mid-century modern made with Beechwood, with several unique features; curved arm rests, a compound-curved back, matching curved seats and overall difficult to work on design. The customer wanted them refinished, with new caning to replace the broken cane areas (which are not easy to detect in the photo).

As of this writing, I can truthfully say that these chairs have been the most difficult caning project to date. Jim took them apart and worked on the refinishing. Once that was done, I started the tedious process of caning each of the eight sections (two per chair) of these unique mid-century pieces.

Photo 1 - Channels that
hide back of cane

Photo 2
Top front of chair before
cane removal

Each chair’s back had a channel that covered up the caning that is normally visible on caned chairs. Since these chairs’ original cane had been “hidden" beneath the channels, they had to be removed first before I could remove the cane from the holes and install the new caning. This proved to be an unexpected twist in the process because I simply had no idea how to accomplish this and no point of reference online or anywhere else, even in a caning forum.

I had done many caned chairs prior to these, but never had I expected the challenge this style of chair would present, not only in the refinishing, which required them to be taken apart, but removing the channels (see photo 1) that covered up the caning on the back of the chair and were glued in place. How do I remove them to access the caning without damaging the chair?? I researched it, but could find no information of how to achieve the removal of these channels, which meant there was only one solution. I had to figure it out myself, so that’s exactly what I did. I snipped off the sheets of caning from all backs, (see photo 2) leaving only the front edging (see photo 3) before I devised a way to remove the channel. For the seats, this was much easier because there was no channel to cover them, so I was able to remove the cane in its entirety, as I had done with many previous cane chairs in the past.

I realized that since the channels were glued in place, I would have to find a way to dissolve the glue so I could gently pry them apart from the chair’s curved border in order to remove it, which would expose the original cane beneath. But how to do that...carefully. Well, a bit if creative thinking and the right tools solved the problem. I figured if I could get to the inside of the holes and gently tap them, I could loosen the channel enough to remove it. The only problem was, since the channel was glued, this would likely break the channel as well as the chair in that area, so there had to be an additional step.

Photo 3
Top  of chair border
only remaining

Photo 4
Using eyedropper filled with
lacquer thinner to loosen
glue on front side of channel

After I had cut the body of the cane off the chair, the only thing left was the edge that filled the holes (which were not visible due to the channel). I carefully snipped them all away and removed as much cane from each hole as I could, using an awl to poke away at the hole to create an opening. This was a long and tedious process in itself. Once all the holes were exposed, I used an eyedropper (see photo 4) and filled it with lacquer thinner, allowing the liquid to fill each hole, which would eventually flow to the underside of the hole and into the glue that held the channel in place.

Once I was assured that I had enough lacquer thinner in each hole, I gently tapped each hole with another, duller awl (see photo 5) so as not to damage the exterior of the curve or the channel. After a lot of dropping, tapping and more lacquer thinner, eventually the channel loosened enough for me to remove it, exposing the caning beneath (see photo 6). Then, finally, I used a drill to clean out the remaining bits of old cane so that the holes would be free of debris to better accept the new cane (see photo 7).

         

Photo 5
Using a dull awl to gently
pound thru holes
that pried channel away

 

Photo 6
Channel removed, exposing
original cane tie-off
on back top of chair

Photo 7
Drilling holes to clean out old cane

Photo 9 First Weave

\

Photo 8
Steps 1-3 tied together

The first one was the “learning” chair, where I used thread to tie the loose strands together to keep them in a somewhat orderly alignment so that when I started weaving, I could work with the strands easily, though the process was anything but easy (see photo 8). The first horizontal weave was very time-consuming, taking one to two days. That was also the hardest part because I had to make sure the chair was tightening exactly enough for the diagonal weaves to look good (see photo 9).

I soon learned that it was impossible to keep the rows straight in a curved chair back, so I “went with the flow” and allowed the chair to evolve as it was woven, and indeed, it wasn’t half bad. Each chair back that followed I go a little bit more confident and found a few more tricks to keep the vertical and horizontal rows aligned so that they were easier to work with. This also made the 5th and 6th steps, the diagonal weaves, flow much better. Photo 10 shows the last diagonal weave going to the upper left corner. The last and final step was binding the cane with a border binding cane that finishes off the top. Then the tie-off finishes the bottom. Many steps with a lot of work and time involved in these chairs, so I enlisted my granddaughter’s help by teaching her a new skill which she learned very quickly.

Photo 10 Last Diagonal Weave

My helper

My cat, Chelsea keeps
me company

Chairs in customer’s home

Antique Parlor Cane Chair Refinished

Cane Chair Before

Cane Chair After

This was a lovely antique parlor chair with a broken seat that needed new caning. A few areas also needed to be regaled and tightened, otherwise the chair was in great shape. I had done a similar chair in size a couple of years ago and knew this one was of the same era, approximately 1870’s,  making it a true antique. It had nice lines and was a great accent chair. Its soft curves made it perfect for a ladies boudoir.

The first step was to remove the old, broken cane then open up and glue the loose joints, leaving them in clamps overnight. Although the customer didn’t require this chair to be refinished, once it had been glued I removed the cane and determined there was so much grime on the chair from handling over the years that I would go ahead and surprise her with a full strip and refinish. There wasn’t much to it so it didn’t take that long and turned out to be all worth it, a perfect canvas for new caning.

I chose early American stain with a semi-gloss polyurethane (two coats). I always allow the poly to dry completely before beginning the long, tedious process of caning. This I do indoors in winter but love to do it outdoors on my deck in the warmer months. Luckily I have a lovely sunroom with three window walls and have plenty of natural light which is necessary to work on any caning job.

The most difficult part of this is keeping my two cats, Chelsea and Sadie from biting into the cane while I pull it through the slots. Cats think that anything longer than 3” is something worth playing with, i.e. batting at it with their paws or grabbing it between their teeth and tugging in the opposite direction that I need it to go. They absolutely love the scrap cut pieces I toss at them while they jump a foot off the ground to paw at it. But no worries. I don’t allow them to actually bite the cane I’m working on as I don’t want it to break halfway through a pull-through. Caning requires to be soaked, so the kitties also enjoy watching that process. I call them my two “Snoopervisors,” an adequate description for their careful observation with large, green eyes not missing a thing.

All in all, it’s a good system and the end result is as great as it is time-consuming. The customer was very happy with the chair and was surprised at the “bonus” refinishing job. This chair was completed on Christmas Day, after gift opening. Why not work on Christmas? It’s not like I had to cook since my daughter did that. It was indeed a relaxing yet productive Christmas!

To see a couple other small caning chairs, click on these links:
https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2017/05/caned-parlor-chair.html
https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2018/11/antique-parlor-chair.html

Century Old Maple Courtroom Chairs Makeover

Maple Chair Before

Maple Chair After

This is one of two courtroom style chairs that were once owned by a
friend’s grandfather and used in his print shop. We estimate the chairs to be approximately one-hundred years old (possibly older).

He had been wanting to get these chairs refinished for years, but finally got around to it approaching last Christmas as a gift for his wife (it belonged to her grandfather) to surprise her. Evidently he had them hung in his garage for over fifteen years after they had relocated to their current farm house on nine acres of land.

These chairs were very sturdy, made of solid maple which was hard to see beneath so many years of oxidation and grime. It never ceases to amaze me how gorgeous wood is hidden under all that worn finish and dirt. I was pleasantly surprised that once the chairs had been completely stripped and sanded to discover the wood was actually light and could be stained a lighter stain per his request. I have been using “gunstock” stain on a few projects lately and found it is one of my new favorite stain color choices. It is a mid-tone color with warm, rich tones, much like cinnamon and brown sugar (makes me think of cookies). It works well with any type of wood, depending on how light you prefer it to be. I used it on a very long handrail in my own home and it matches the existing railing and woodwork perfectly. If I ever get around to refinishing the stairs and railing, that will be my color choice for stain.

While the chairs were is great shape with a very solid structure, the only thing I had to repair was one of the chairs’ back section (behind the slats) had been popping out of their spots which required the wood to be removed, reshaped and glued before pushing back into place. Once the glue was dry, I gently sanded the area and filled in the small spaces with matching filler. After it was stained and polyurethane was applied, you couldn’t even see where the damage had been. I did it and it took close inspection to see where those spots were broken through. The end result was two lovely refinished chairs in a lighter tone that displayed the beautiful wood grain.

Antique Child’s Rocking Chair

Rocking Chair Before

Rocking Chair After

This antique child’s rocking chair had been painted white many, many years ago. With painted furniture, you never know what is hidden beneath the paint, so removing the paint from this special little chair would prove to be quite time-consuming, involving a lot of work and much, much detailing.

This type of restoration job generally uses my personal arsenal of tools including many types of sanders, wood carving tools (which I used to scrape away hard-to-reach painted places), a small dremel tool with an assortment of miniature sanding discs and diamond drill bit heads that work extremely well for tiny projects such as this. Of course, my most useful tool, my hands.

Any type of stripping/sanding work requires a lot of hands-on use, but the smaller the project, the harder the hands work. This causes super dry fingertips, sore finger joints, along with cuts, scrapes and bruises; all par for the course. Thus are the “hazards” of furniture restoration. I use a product called “Ghost Glove,” which is a lotion you apply prior to doing any type of hands-on work. This “invisible” lotion protects your skin from drying out and makes it easier to wash off in the event you are a mechanic working on a greasy engine. It’s one of many little things that makes the job just a bit easier.

Anyway, back to the chair. You’d think a small project is a quick one, well think again. This little gem took an entire week to strip clean of the old paint. Every tiny crevice, dowel end, edge and other hard to reach places had to be completely free of paint residue, or it would be visible when applying the stain. After a week of stripping, I spent an afternoon sanding the chair thoroughly, using folded sandpaper to get into the edges and grooves. Finally it was ready to be stained! I used “gunstock” stain, as I had for a few other jobs. This is a lovely golden tan color that really brings out the highlights of the wood.

This chair was actually my third “bloodwood” chair. I had done two other ones, so I recognized the signature “bleeding” red at the chair’s joints. You can see my other bloodwood chairs by clicking on these links: https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2019/05/bloodwood-rocking-chair.html
https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2018/10/sturdy-cherry-chair.html

Since it had only one coat of white paint on it, I knew this red I saw was the wood itself. It actually took the stain very well and I was happy with the results. I used two coats of satin polyurethane to protect it, let it dry for two days then began the tedious process of weaving new cane into the seat. The previous seat had a herringbone style weave. I chose a “New England Style Porch” chair design, which was perfect for this size rocking chair. Once the caning was complete, this little rocking chair was complete, with a major transformation.

Antique Oak Cabinet

Cabinet Before Refinishing

Cabinet After Refinishing

Oak is one of my favorite woods to work with. This antique
cabinet was made from solid oak, which had been previously stained in a medium golden color. While it wasn’t in terrible condition, it needed to be fleshed up, thus refinished. The first step as in most restoration jobs is to strip off the old finishes, including old stain and any lacquer or varnish.

The top of this piece had a bit of water damage as some one had left a planter on top and didn’t place anything beneath it. This is a commonly seen problem with wooden furniture if it is used to keep plants. If you don’t have something to protect the top from water, eventually even the most protected furniture will begin show signs of water damage, including a milky looking top coat to a deeper, darkening of the wood beneath the top layer which is harder to mask as it affects the fibers of the wood and is usually deeper than the surface. Either way, it’s always best to keep your plants on a porous barrier such as a plastic or aluminum pie pan or plate to properly protect your furniture from water damage.

Old Drawer Lining

New Drawer Lining

Once this cabinet was stripped, I chose “gunstock” stain, followed up with two coats of satin polyurethane.

The inside of the cabinet drawers and door area had been lined with outdated 1960’s era contact paper (it had to go!) I opted for wallpaper that had been used for a great replacement of headboard when we added a half bath to our upstairs. It worked well for drawer liner and mimicked the headboard front of the cabinet door. I used this for the three drawers and the shelf inside the cabinet. The final step is polishing the hardware and viola! We have a newly restored, lovely piece of oak furniture which will look great for many years.

Old Mahogany Desk

Old Mahogany Desk Before

Old Mahogany Desk After

Antiques are simply the best furniture to refinish and restore
because they are well made, have plenty of character and solid wood. This old mahogany desk is a great example of those characteristics as it was in supreme condition with everything still intact, no broken pieces. This is uncommon for such an old piece of furniture, estimated to be built around the early 1900’s based on the design and materials used. As with many antiques, this one had also seen some wear and a refreshing would bring back its original beauty.

The amount of detail on this desk was incredible. It had a wooden beaded border which surrounded the bottom edge, and again on the top portion of the legs. The drawer, which had no handles, did not stand out. In fact, unless you realized it was a drawer, it was easy to overlook. The fluted legs, carved rosettes and rippled crosspieces show elements of the time and craftsmanship that went into the process of building this old desk. Made of mahogany, it was also a sturdy and somewhat heavy piece of furniture.

The same elements that make an item of furniture beautiful such as all those details, also make it quite challenging to refinish and restore. We utilize many hand tools to remove the old finishes that accumulate between the details of each finely carved piece of wood that creates the unique design of an item of furniture, differentiating it from mass-produced pieces. This desk took several days to strip, sand and remove the residue of old finishes.

Staining was also a tedious process because there were many nooks and crannies that needed careful application of stain, as not to be missed. I chose chestnut gel stain which worked well on the vertical surfaces. Gel stain is great because it doesn’t drip onto everything beneath it and you have more control to where the stain ends up. I chose to spray two coats of semi-gloss polyurethane instead of brushing because of the many vertical surfaces. Spraying mush be carefully applied to avoid runs and drips, but is ultimately much faster than using a brush. The end result was a beautifully refinished antique, which once again glowed with its inherent character.

Maple Plant Stand

Plant Stand Before

Plant Stand After

Once in a while we get a small job, such as this solid maple plant stand, which was custom made by my customer’s husband. This plant stand resembled a giant chess piece and was made from three solid pieces of maple, which must have been cut from the actual tree, using each section as a whole piece as there were no splices within the piece. While smaller by comparison to most jobs we do, it was nonetheless very time-consuming to sand down to the bare wood. This was due to the nature of the hardwood itself as well as the finish used, which was varnish. I estimate it was made sometime in the 1960’s by the color and style, but I’m not sure. I used my favorite tool, my orbital sander for the top and bottom and a small hand sander for the posts in between.

Unfortunately, the hand sander wasn’t adequate to smooth the grain sufficiently to make it smooth enough to stain, so I ended up using the orbital sander on its side to get access to the sides. It took a long time and by the time I was done, my right hand was quite sore from holding the sander with one hand and supporting the object with the other hand. I chose Varathane Walnut stain which brought out the natural tones and colors of the beautiful maple. After two coats of satin polyurethane, it was done. Short and not too simple, but nice looking when completed.

Bloodwood Rocking Chair

Bloodwood Rocking Chair Before

This chair was the rocking chair version of a chair I had done previouslyhttp://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2018/10/sturdy-cherry-chair.html This chair was identical to the first one, except for it being a rocking chair. I made an interesting discovery while stripping this chair. I  thought the first chair was made of cherry, thus the extreme reddish tones and variations of color throughout the chair.

Bloodwood Rocking Chair After

for the same person. You can read about that chair by clicking on this link:

This rocking chair had even more differential color tones in red, yellow and gold, so after some research, I was able to identify the true wood as bloodwood, an exotic hardwood grown in Brazil and Australia. I had never actually worked with bloodwood, but was familiar with it just by working with various woods over the last seven years. As you can see by the “before” and “after” photos, the old stain was hiding the glorious colors and tones of this unique wood.

The stripping process was tedious and very time consuming for this rocking chair, but necessary to expose the beauty beneath. Once stripped and thoroughly sanded, I chose red mahogany stain, as I did for the first chair which brought out the natural beauty. It seemed like the best choice as it worked well before. As with the first chair, I applied two coats of semi-gloss polyurethane for a smooth, even finish.