Oak Rocking Chair Refinished

Rocking Chair Before

This solid oak rocking chair had seen some wear and needed minor repairs, but

Rocking Chair After

otherwise in great condition. The arms had the most wear, which is not uncommon as they get plenty of use and the oils from our hands tend to wear down the wood finishes on furniture, especially chairs.

The chair was heavy as it was solid wood. Once the refinishing was complete, the woodgrain became much more visible on the chair. Usually, aged furniture hides the lovely woodgrain beneath the years of grim and wear, so a good strip and a new stain application with the polyurethane to protect it, this is a great way to restore the original finish and bring it back to life.

Approximately thirty years old, this rocking chair was still very durable and had plenty of usage left and since it was refinished with patience and dedication, it will last a long time.

Dining Table Upgrade and New Cushions on Chairs

Dining Table Before

Dining Table
and Chairs After

This lovely Queen Anne dining table had a well-worn top, but was overall in great condition. Our customer had wanted to have the top refinished and the legs painted black. I completely stripped the top in an afternoon and Jim took care of the side edges, preparing them for paint. 

Once it was primed, I painted the side of the table edge while he spray painted the legs. You simply can’t beat the look of spray painting furniture when able to do so. It isn’t possible for everything, but when we can, we chose spraying. Brush painting isn’t too bad though and with black, it is an easy color to blend well with any color stain you decide to use with it.

Chair After

Chair Before

She had purchased the table alone and needed chairs, so she found four chairs separately that matched the table perfectly. The chairs were in great shape, but she wanted the seats reupholstered and chose a black vinyl with a diamond shape, a small rectangle of gold accents to finish off the design. The material was very elegant and made a great seat cover to match the black portion of the table. Even though the chairs and table wasn’t a family at first, when all was done, they got along just fine and made a great addition to this lovely kitchen.

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. 

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.

Art Deco Vanity

Art Deco Vanity Before Refinishing

Art Deco Vanity After Refinishing

This was the second item in the art deco bedroom set we refinished. It matched the art deco dresser,  with the same wood and matching handles. It too was made of cherry. This vanity had two sections of damaged veneer; upper right front panel and lower left, beneath the drawer. It's possible to patch small sections of broken veneer, but other times it must be replaced, as it was here. The process of removing old veneer doesn't involve any special skills or tools, just a hot (no steam) iron, a pressing cloth and patience. The iron heats up the old veneer just enough to warm up the old adhesive so you can easily slide a putty knife between the veneer and wood beneath, gently lifting it off until it's removed. This was the process I used to replace the veneer on this lovely vanity. Once the old veneer was completely removed, I glued the new veneer in place, then used a sharp utility knife to remove the excess, then my mini dremel to smooth the edges.

Dining Table Top Refinished

Table Top Before

Table Top After

We all know how much we use our tables, therefore the top of them tends to get plenty of use, which is okay, because that's what they're for. This solid oak table was purchased twenty-five years ago and got plenty of use, so the top had some wear on it. Nothing too bad, but enough to justify a refinish, top only. It also had two leaves, so the owner wanted those refinished as well.

This great table was made by the Amish and the quality of the workmanship showed. Amish are known for their precision and attention to details as well as simplicity in structure so their furniture is easy to use and guaranteed to last a long time. The woodgrain of this table was beautiful, which became apparent after I totally stripped the top.

I kept the leaves on the table and stripped them in place (much easier) and made sure the sides of the

Solid Cedar Chest with Copper Accents

Cedar Chest Finished

I've refinished many cedar chests since I began working on furniture, but I don't often get cedar chests that are solid cedar. This is actually my second cedar chest. Take a look at my first one by clicking on the link below: (http://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2014/10/solid-cedar-chest.html).

Like the first cedar chest, this one had no veneer and was made of solid cedar, although it was a bit larger than the first one. It also had a unique feature, two copper straps on each side, attached with furniture tacks. The copper had been quite tarnished, a natural process which happens over aging, therefore it needed its own restoration.

Cedar Chest Before

To clean the copper straps the proper way, I carefully removed them by using my vice grips and pulling off the tacks that held the straps in place. (Unfortunately eight of the original tacks snapped when I removed them and couldn't be salvaged). There were two long straps on the top and two shorter straps that continued down the front. I cleaned them individually, using copper cleaner, a toothbrush, a wire brush and a lot of elbow grease.

Left Strap Before

Eventually I removed the tarnish to reveal the beautiful original copper hidden beneath it. For the tacks, I used my handy dandy wire brush which is attached to my bench grinder and cleaned them up enough to paint them black, (making a mental note to look for new ones to replace the ones that had broken).

Like all my other stripping projects, I used a strong chemical stripper to remove the old finish on the chest, liberally applying it and using a metal putty knife to scrape away the messy brown goo and swiping it into an empty plastic container. I find this to be the most effective way to get rid of the first layer of

Left Strap After

old finish, then follow up with as many applications as needed to remove as much residue as possible.

Right Strap Before

Working with solid wood is so much easier than veneer, because one, it is easier to strip and two, it looks amazing when you get to the bare wood hidden beneath all that dull old grime. After the surface is no longer sticky with residue, I used steel wool dipped in acetone to remove any remaining chemicals before sanding. I always start out with a 100-150 grit sandpaper, eventually working up to a 220 grit, which gives the wood a smooth surface which will better accept the stain. After the sanding was complete, I wiped it down with a rag dipped in acetone or laquer thinner and it was ready for stain, my favorite part! This cedar chest didn't need stain, so I left it natural, but applied three coats of semi-gloss polyurethane to protect the surface.

Quick Tip: don't skimp on brushes when applying polyurethane! A cheap brush will not give you the quality and look your furniture deserves. Use a good brush with thick bristles and keep it clean between uses by soaking it in acetone and wrapping it in a paper towel. This will prolong your brush for many applications.

One of the rear legs was split in two, so I removed all the legs and refinished them each separately. The wheels had to come off, so Jim cut them with a bandsaw because they were impossible to pull out. The split wheel was attached with a "molly bolt," which expanded into the pre-drilled hole, making it impossible to remove without further

Right Strap After

damaging the leg. They too were made of cedar. I glued the broken leg back together, clamped it with my bench vice and screwed it securely back into the cedar chest after it was refinished.

Reassembling the individually restored components of any furniture project is always my favorite part, this one being no exception. The shiny, clean copper straps added a special feature to this old trunk and the painted black tacks gave it character. Luckily I was able to locate the exact same tacks at my local hardware store! They were called "furniture tacks," which are different from household tacks because they have a longer tack point and a rounded head.

Working on this cedar chest was quite satisfying, because hidden under years of old finish and scratches, was a gorgeous piece of aromatic furniture. The most confusing part of the restoration process though, was I didn't know if I should be hanging in a closet or running on a hamster wheel...😉