Mid-Century Chair Stripped / New Needlepoint Seat

Mid-Century Chair
w/Needlepoint After

 

Mid-century chair
before refinishing

It’s amazing how styles from the past tend to pop up fifty or sixty years later, as if the idea is brand new. This mid-century modern chair is classical 1960’s style, wide, low back and clean lines which were commonly seen in living rooms across America which mimicked the Scandinavian style. I loved the lines of this chair. 

This chair was extremely well made, quite strong and needed no tightening or repairs. The back had a few missing veneer pieces, which were easily filled in and stained so that it was hardly visible. 

I made the choice to completely strip this chair instead of touch-up because I felt that this is what it needed. In order to be true to the piece, you must determine what’s the best course of action to make it look the best it can. In this case, I stripped off the old finish, luckily wasn’t too difficult to remove as old stain mostly is. It came off easily and once that was done, I thoroughly sanded it, removing the excess stain and stripped. I cleaned it with lacquer thinner and sanded it smooth. 

I was very happy with the way the chair turned out. The light cherry stain was definitely the perfect color to offset the dark color of the needlepoint. A nice foam padding finished off the seat so that the chair is as comfortable as it is pretty.

I chose cherry stain to keep the color light which I felt complimented the lovely needlepoint seat that my customer made just for this seat. This was the third seat such as this that I had made for this same customer. The other two were benches. She is making a needlepoint seat for each of her grandchildren. She makes the needlepoint then finds the chair or bench which is the right size for the needlepoint. So far she’s been pretty lucky! 

To see one the previous needlepoint benches I made for this customer, check out the link below. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of the other one, but it had a blue background with a black bench.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5936537173467203420/24816612440806533 

1940’s Night Stand Restoration/Revival

Night Stand After

 

Night Stand Before

Some furniture has a lot more wear than others, therefore those most used could be in dire need of restoration and refinishing. Such is the case with this 1940’s night stand. It was made of solid mahogany, no veneer, which is a sign of a well-made piece of furniture. 

Most of the furniture we refinish has veneer. Sometimes it’s in great condition, other times it can be chipped a little bit or in major need of replacement. Not having veneer made this night stand much better to work on. It had definitely seen lots of use, especially the top, which was worn and scratched. 

It looked like someone tried to remove the finish on the left side of the top at some point in time, but never followed through with the rest of it. Not uncommon for someone to begin the stripping process and stop before getting too far into it once they realize that it’s a lot more difficult than they had originally planned. Using the right stripper is only part of the refinishing process. We always say, “if it doesn’t burn your skin, it’s not strong enough.” That sounds crazy, but it’s true. A good stripper is an essential part of furniture refinishing and restoration as it’s the first step before anything else can be done. 

Night Stand Drawer After

Night Stand Drawer Before

This night stand took me four days to strip from start to finish. Although the legs were Queen Anne style instead of spindles, they were still challenging to strip because they are curved. 

The tools we use to strip are straight, such as a putty knife and carving tools, so stripping a curved part of furniture takes a longer time than a straight section. And of course all the old finish must be removed or it’s impossible to sand and stain it. It’s all part of the process. The better the prep, the better the results. 

For this little gem, I custom-mixed red mahogany stain with a bit of English chestnut to give it a rich, natural color that was true to the original color. One of the fun things of refinishing/staining, is mixing two or three stains to create a completely new, unique color. Using your creative license is encouraged when working with stain colors. I chose a semi-gloss polyurethane to protect the stain. The drawer pull was pretty dull, so it got polished and painted with gold spray paint. The original pull was not brass, just metal, so painting it gold was a better look for the drawer. For a bit of whimsy, I painted the drawer’s interior and put a piece of glitter drawer liner on the bottom for a bit of “bling.” I was happy with the results as the refinished night stand was once again restored to its former glory.

His and Hers Twin Rocking Chairs

 

Rockers Before Restoration

Rockers After Restoration

Twin chairs! This was definitely a first for us, having two identical rocking chairs to refinish at the same time. The most surprising feature of these chairs was the size. Each chair weighed in at 60-70 lbs., possibly more. This required both of us to unload them from the customer’s van and bring them into our work space. 

Having chairs such as these as heavy as they were, made working on them quite challenging. They were not only heavy, they were huge! We have a large rocking chair in our living room with a similar style, but ours isn’t nearly as heavy as these were, nor is it as tall as these were.

The keyhole cutout design in the back center of each chair was a unique feature that gave them personality, adding a nice detail. The front of the chairs’ seat had a very rounded and thickness that I could hardly wrap my hand around. Yes, definitely massive. One of the chairs had suffered dog chew damage on the lower right leg spindle. The chairs had been repaired by someone else for the damage prior to us doing the refinishing. 

The chairs were both fairly worn and really cried out to be stripped, sanded and stained. This process was very time-consuming due to the sheer size of these mammoths and the detail, mainly the spindles, which if you’ve read other articles in our blog you know that they require a great deal of time and attention to remove all that old finish. We use work carving tools which allow us to get into the nitty-gritty of the spindles’ curves and tight spot. You’d be surprised at how much stain there is on any item of furniture even though it may look worn. There’s still a lot to remove. And that takes time. There’s simply no getting around that part of this work.

When the chairs were all stripped and sanded, Jim used English Chestnut stain, followed by three coats of polyurethane which will protect them for years to come. Refinishing really shows off the gorgeous woodgrain that was unseen prior to refinishing. That’s the beauty of a full refinish. You can see the woodgrain that is normally not as visible when furniture comes from the factory. Their process is different from hand finishing, therefore has a different look. 

If you've ever wondered if that special piece of furniture you’ve held onto for many years because you don’t know if it’s worth restoring, take a look at the wood. More times than not, once it is stripped, it is better than new because the hand stripping process restores it to its original beauty that was likely not seen when done on the assembly line. The value is already there so refinishing is always worth it. Unless a piece really is made cheaply and has no sentimental value, having it restored/refinished is a great way to preserve a piece of your family’s history or create a new family heirloom for future generations.

Corner Chair Painted Black, New Seat Fabric

 

Chair Before

Chair After

This little chair is called a “corner chair,” because it can go perfectly into a  corner and you can sit on it facing either way. It’s a perfect place to sit and put your shoes on (or off) or just for additional seating. This little chair was an antique, likely made in the 1920’s or 1930’s. 

It was in great shape, but my customer wanted an updated look so she opted for satin black paint. After sanding, priming and painting, it was ready for a new upholstered seat.

The seat was covered with suede, which had seen better times, so she chose a gray tweed fabric which worked well with the black paint. The seat had been reinforced with very old, likely original metal strips on the underside and had been nailed with 2” nails! They were way to long for the 1/2 “ wood, so I had to turn the entire seat upside down and pry up the nails before removing them. 

Once that was done, I replaced them with seat webbing, weaving three rows in each direction for extra strength and support. Foam and batting added, then the new fabric was stapled in place. A black cambric finished off the underside of the chair. The black was satin, and looked fabulous with the fabric, a perfect blend of color and texture. 

Ice Cream Parlor Chair Painted and Re-Caned

Chair After

 

Chair Before

These chairs were once popular in ice cream parlors across the United States. The familiar shape is reminiscent of generations before ours sitting in an ice cream parlor, enjoying a cone of their favorite flavor. 

This chair was quite old, an antique, that had been painted a few times. It was likely part of a set but was a lone chair that needed new paint and a newly caned seat. Many caned seats either got painted with the chair, or stained, depending on the  manufacturer or whoever refinished it prior. My choice is to leave the caning natural and allow it to age which gives it a unique patina that only time can create.

Caning a round chair is a completely different process from caning a square or rectangle chair. This is because you have to go through the same hole many times and skip holes with the weaving process because of the round shape. It’s a bit tricky, but follows the same principles of basic caning in every other way. The white paint was a great choice for this little chair which matches the little table perfectly. It will eventually be used as a place for homework or other projects for a little one.

Chair with table, finished

 

Mahogany Buffet Refinished

Buffet Before

Buffet After

One of my personal favorite refinishing woods is mahogany. Being a darker wood with a natural reddish tone, when refinished the woodgrain is more apparent, making it look fabulous. When furniture comes out of a manufacturing plant, much of it hides the natural grain of the wood. Unlike refinishing, furniture right from the factory woodgrain isn’t as prominent as it is upon stripping.

This buffet was a good, sturdy piece that had seen some wear, but overall was in great shape. There were minor scratches on the top, a few on the front legs and sides, but nothing that stripping and sanding can’t remove. Surface scratches are almost always removed when sanding, however, if the scratch is a gouge, sanding can only do so much. Especially with veneer furniture. If you sand too deeply, you will remove the veneer and go too far into the wood beneath (big problem!) That’s why we love working with antiques; the wood, even if it has veneer, is thicker and much more durable, thus better to work with on the refinishing end. 

That being said, the finishing product looks fabulous. Once it was stained and protected with satin polyurethane, Jim polished the original hardware, a Federal Style, and once again the piece looked like new (if not better!) I love the way hardware makes a piece truly stand out. Over time the brass will oxidize, faded and dull. But polished, it shines and adds beauty and freshness to any piece of furniture.

The beauty of working with a piece such as this mahogany buffet is that you have so many color choices with stain. Our customer chose “Carrington,” by Varithane. It’s a rich, warm color with no overly red tones. Mahogany can accept most stains, but seldom can you go a lot lighter with it because the wood is naturally reddish and darker, like walnut. A good tip to keep in mind when choosing stain is the wood itself. 

Darker woods usually cannot go much lighter than their natural color, but lighter wood, such as maple, birch or pine can accept both light and dark colors of stain. An example is if you were to put the same color stain on five different types of wood, each one would look different. Some wood has more grain than other wood, such as oak compared to birch. There are also different types of the same wood; tiger oak, tiger maple, birds eye maple, and so many more. The choices are endless as are the stain colors, so it’s not difficult to narrow down which stain is the right one for you.

Luckily we have plenty of experience in choosing the right stain for your project (unless you are 100% sure what you want). But no matter, the finished furniture item will always be the one you love the most.

Two-Drawer Dresser Makeover

 

Two Drawer Dresser
Before

This cute little two drawer dresser was original much lighter and our customer had wanted a completely different look, so she chose two stain colors, black stain on the body and a warmer wood tone on the drawers and top. It was a great choice. We used “Minwax True Black” and “Varithane Carrington” for the wood tone. The two colors married well to create a dynamically elegant piece of furniture. 

Two Drawer Dresser After

She had also wanted artistic gold tones to highlight the bottom decorative scallop and edging as well as the natural curves along the bottom front and side edges. 

After Jim finished with the stain, I applied a craft ink called “Vegas Gold,” to achieve the accent paint she had wanted. I used a small sponge to dab the ink on the scallop decorative area and switched to a tiny paint brush for the thin criss-cross lines on the drawer fronts. I love doing the “crafty” parts of restoration as this gives it a unique look that stands out from the rest. This one was a real beauty.

Sofa Gets Six New Box Cushions

Updated, New Foam w/Tweed Fabric

Outdated Fabric,
Saggy Cushion

If you’ve lived through the 1970’s, you’ll likely have owned or knew someone who owned a sofa with fabric that looked similar to the one on the left. I refer to this as “Brady Bunch” fabric, the popular rust, tan and brown used on the show along with bright orange, green and yellow tones. My parents had a similar style sofa and chair in their living room, but with more green and a smaller plaid than this one. Since the 1970’s, fabrics have changed and we have so many more options in the twenty-first century than we did in the 1970’s. The sofa had a total of six cushions, three seat and three accompanying back cushions.

The original covers had a center seam style with a single row of piping which surrounded the top and bottom seat, along with a rear metal zipper. Modern box cushions are constructed with a top, a bottom and a center “boxing” which includes a zipper placket. The best technique to make these box cushions is to measure the size of the foam and allow at least 5/8” seam allowance for each side. These cushions needed new foam which was 6”, so it was necessary to allow a 7-1/2” zipper placket and a 6-1/2” surround, which is sewn to the completed placket. If all seams are sewn properly and accurately, both fabric sections should line up for a nice, even continuous side boxing. 

For these cushions, it was easier to make the top and bottom portions, adding the piping to each one, then stitching the zipper placket in place using clips, which are easy to move when you’re fitting the placket to the top and bottom fabric. A piping foot is an essential tool for this project. Piping (also known as welting or cording) is comprised of a tightly wrapped polyester cord commonly used in upholstery projects as an insert, for a customized, decorative edge. In apparel, it can be used as a décor item or trim. Piping comes in various thicknesses for different applications. 

These were six loose cushions used on a wood-framed sofa. The foam itself had severely deteriorated (as 50 year old foam will) and was crumbling inside the fabric, leaving a fine, yellow powdery residue. Surprisingly the fabric was not torn or damaged, but was very loose and saggy, due to the cushion no longer holding its shape as a result of shrunken, deteriorated foam. Therefore six new foam cushions was a must, as well as new fabric. If you’re going to invest in new fabric, it’s recommended to get new foam to get the maximum comfort and longest wear. However, if your cushions are still in good shape, they can be used with new fabric. All new foam is then wrapped in Dacron for a nice crown and better shaping.

The customer chose a lovely gray tweed interspersed with off white, nicely woven into the gray. The color combination was great and the fabric was easy to work with, despite it being relatively heavy upholstery material. The stitches were practically invisible (always a bonus) therefore the cushions came together beautifully. They should last many years and provide comfort and support to all who sit on them. 

Dining Room Set Painted

China Cabinet Before

Wow! This was a big job. Lots of pieces and lots of work,

China Cabinet After

attention to detail and planning. A traditional dining set which was selected to be painted for an updated look to match our customer’s new home. The wood tone no longer suited and after selecting various stains in light shades, we moved into a different direction; paint. With thousands of paint colors available with as many names to match, we ended up with “Dorian Gray,” by Sherwin-Williams. It was a great color; light enough to look fresh but not super bright as white would have been.

Hutch Before

The China cabinet had a lot of curves and detail, so the doors and

Hutch After

drawers were removed and the entire cabinet was sanded, primed and painted, interior and exterior. The hardware was also painted in an accent gunmetal gray metallic, which looked splendid with the new paint in a high gloss finish. The hutch got the same treatment. The color really brought out the carving and details of the pieces.

The other challenge was the six chairs, including two armchairs. These had been re-upholstered many years ago with leather with decorative brass nail heads, but it wasn’t what our customer wanted, I suggested double welting instead of decorative nails. 

The chairs took a long time just to remove the fabric, three hours per chair. There were so many nail heads and beneath them, a million or so staples and smaller nails holding the previous leather in place. It was a very time consuming job leaving Jim and I both with sore hands and shoulders. After that each chair had to be masked off on the seat area, sanded, primed and painted. After they dried, they were ready for fabric, which was custom ordered. While waiting for the fabric, I added decorative detailing paint to the top center of each chair, to  highlight the scallop design. It tied both the light and dark gray colors together and matched the painted hardware. It’s fun adding “bling” to a project.

Armchair After

Armchair Before

The fabric our customer chose was a dark gray plush with a nap and was gorgeous for the freshly painted chairs. Cutting fabric has a sequence. First you need to cut a piece about 4” larger than the area you are covering to allow movement and positioning. 

If the fabric has a pattern, you’ll want to pay attention to the focal point and place the pattern in the center of the seat, working around it to center it prior to attaching it. You tack it in place then stretch it to center it. It’s essential to carefully cut around the arms of the chairs so that you aren’t short. You cut in a “Y” seam perpendicular to the chair’s arm. Precision is key here. Once the fabric is stretched into place, have a pneumatic stapler ready and loaded is essential to get the job done efficiently. It’s my new favorite tool. 

The dining room table had three leaves, which made it a fairly large piece. Painting large surfaces requires patience and a lot of skill. The glossy finish was perfect for this classic design. What a difference!

This was a lengthy job with many challenges, but we love how it turned out and that’s the ultimate reward.

Table Before

Table After

Chair Before

Chair After

Antique Caned Chair Replaced Seat

 

Caned Chair Before

Caned Chair After

This is an antique parlor chair which had a broken caned seat. It’s not uncommon for this to happen with old caned chairs. They don’t hold up well to a knee or an active child who decides to jump on the chair as if it were upholstered. Caning is pretty durable but does have its limits.

Caning comes in many sizes, so it’s important to measure the holes in the diameter of the chair’s seat and get the caning that fits those holes. This chair had 1/4” holes, so it used 1/8” caning, which is considered medium. Caning also comes in super fine, medium and larger sizes. The procedure is the same, but I prefer working with the medium size cane since it is stronger than the finer sizes and holds up to the pulling and tugging that comes along with installation. 

Chairs get a lot of use, so the upper portion tends to get dirty from the oils from our hands, so they require cleaning and polishing for them to look fresh again. This one needed a good cleaning and a touch up of polyurethane instead of a complete strip. If a full strip isn’t in the budget, a partial strip usually works well. Either way, the chair is always better than it was prior to the restoration. This chair was made of maple, a hardwood, so it will hold up for many more years to come. If you have a caned chair that is a big saggy, simply lay a damp towel on it overnight and it will tighten the caning again to its original tautness. Just a little tip that allows you to get more use out of the chair before investing in a complete cane renovation. 

Art Deco Vanity Better Than New

 

Vanity after w/o mirror

Vanity Before without mirror

Jim picked up this old vanity from the 1930’s, "art deco style," at an antique shop in Port Huron. It’s got the classic curvy waterfall style as we commonly see in cedar chests. It had five drawers but only four drawer pulls. I had envisioned something completely different, a
refreshing update, so I opted for paint. I chose Sherwin-Williams “Cotton White,” which is one of my favorite off-white colors. This painting preserved the antique look, but with an updated, twenty-first century functionality.

Vanity painted with mirror

Of course, as with every wood project, it’s essential to use a good primer so that the paint will adhere as it should. I actually used two coats of primer for the vanity and mirror. When Jim brought the vanity and mirror home, they were detached, so I had to take the photos separately since we didn’t put it together just for photos. Mirrors are super hard to photograph because they reflect whatever is opposite them, therefore I used a white sheet to block out the basement background (my workspace) but you get the idea. 

The mirror had some really cool design features. At the top there was an inverted curve of wood that had a carved flower motif in the center. That piece of wood, along with two metal brackets, held the mirror in place. 

To prepare the mirror for painting, I removed the mirror by removing the decorative piece of wood along with the mirror brackets, set them aside to be painted a different color. I sanded and primed the mirror and painted it to match the vanity. The bottom of the mirror had a decorative piece of wood that mimicked the front legs with an inverted curve. Both top and bottom wood accents were painted silver glitter. I opted to hand paint the flower in the center of the top mirror wood insert and it was the perfect little touch of glam. I painted the center drawer a bright tangerine and lemon yellow for the rest of the side drawers. I lined the bottom of the drawers with a super sparkly silver drawer liner. It was that perfect special touch that adds a bit of bling.

Once everything was done and the paint had dried sufficiently, Jim installed the new nickel drawer pulls which were the perfect finishing touch to this spectacular old piece of furniture.

Drawer liner center drawer

         

        Drawer liners

   

New nickel hardware

Antique Bench Trash To Treasure Showpiece

Antique Loveseat After

Antique Loveseat Before

Everyone has heard the term “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” This is one example of it. Our customer had told us his wife had found this bench on the side of the road. Evidently someone had tossed it out, with the trash. Luckily she saw the beauty hidden beneath a century of grime, dirt and stains. It had been in his workshop for a while so he decided to surprise her for Christmas and get it refinished.

This loveseat had a strong structure. Nothing was broken, just old and stained out fabric. This was going to be a challenge both of us would welcome. Little did we know just how gorgeous the wood beneath would become and present us with a showpiece.

After Jim removed the old fabric and springs, he began the tedious task of stripping the old finish. He discovered that this bench had never been re-upholstered, all was original, hence the stains and saggy seat. The underside of the bench had a vertical support board in the center on which a spring was mounted that was much higher than the other springs. This caused it to lift up past the rest of the springs. More likely the case was that the spring that was installed was a bit too large for that area and a smaller spring should have been used since it would have a different tension than the springs which were attached to the webbing. This wouldn’t be a problem because my plan was to use webbing with foam and cotton batting instead of springs. 

Jim was rather unsure of how the wood would accept the stain once he had the old finish completely stripped and sanded. He discovered the wood was quite “splotchy” and he thought it would maintain that look after it was stained. I realized that I’d seen this before, this type of reddish splotchy look in a couple of chairs I’d done before. They were made of bloodwood, which has this type of appearance. Bloodwood can be found in southern Africa. It is very unique because once the tree is cut, it “bleeds” with a reddish sap. This tree has medicinal qualities that can be used for healing. If you’d like to read more about bloodwood, check out this link: https://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/05/the-bloodwood-tree.html

We mixed two stains to create the perfect mix for this bench and wow! The color was perfect for the look we’d envisioned! The splotchy appearance was no longer visible. The stain flowed and covered the wood beautifully and we were very happy with the results. After Jim worked his magic with the stain and polyurethane, I could work mine. We chose the perfect fabric, a lovely gold threaded diamond pattern on a burgundy background. This is traditional fabric which we both agreed would be perfect for our customer’s décor. I used time and true upholstery techniques and lined the bottom with new webbing. (My pneumatic stapler is my favorite new tool!) 

Once the webbing was in place, I secured burlap over the top to strengthen the seat and maintain the tension. I had a 2” section of high density foam which was cut to size and placed on top of the burlap. Followed by Dacron, which was securely stapled around the perimeter. This added thickness and a firm seat. This was followed up with layered poly batting, creating a “crown” so the center of the bench curved with nice, rounded lines. Once everything was secured, I was able to install the beautiful fabric. We we right, it worked great. The last and final step was stapling the dust cover to the bottom to cover the webbing and finish off the bench. 

This was truly a gorgeous piece of furniture. And to think, someone tossed it out with the trash. Now it’ll become someones treasure for another century. Long after I’m gone, this bench will be gracing the home of future generations. I’m thrilled to be a part of it! This was definitely one of our favorites, a showpiece.

To see the other bloodwood furniture, check out this link: http://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/search?q=bloodwood+chair