1940s Bedroom Refinishing Project

Low Dresser After

Low Dresser Before

This was one of several pieces of a 1940s vintage bedroom set which Jim recently refinished. It had seen some wear because it had been used for a few generations and needed some revitalizing and love. 

We were excited to take on this project which had two dressers as seen in this post. This bedroom set also had a mirror, bed with headboard and footboard and side rails (not pictured). It’s difficult to get photos of the items when they are delivered in sections. This furniture was in pretty good condition, had great bones, but the exterior had seen some wear and scratching, not uncommon for a vintage bedroom set. Luckily there was no structural or water damage which can be harder to rectify. 

Jim had blended two different stains to obtain a unique color that best suited the furniture. It turned out to be a perfect color for the dressers, resulting in a rich tone which best shows the woodgrain which was hidden prior to the refinishing. That’s one of the many perks of working with stains; custom blending which results in a unique color. It’s quite noticeable in the tall dresser (below) what a variation in color can be in the “before” photo. When furniture is made in a factory, the staining process is quite different from refinishing by hand. They use a spray stain that has a different look, more opaque so the woodgrain is not as visible as it is once it is stripped and refinished. One of the benefits of the hand stripping/refinishing process is that it exposes the natural beauty of the wood.

The scratches on the tops of the dressers were superficial, so they were easily sanded down once the dressers were stripped. Dressers require a great deal of work because each drawer is an individual section that requires removal of hardware and is treated one at a time while stripping, sanding and staining before finishing with polyurethane to protect the finishes. The low dresser (as seen in photos above) had six drawers with general depths. These older dresser have much more space than their newer counterparts and are made very well, so they are usually worth refinishing. It truly is an investment worth doing to preserve a piece of your family’s history.

Tall Dresser After

Tall Dresser Before

The taller dresser (shown left) had four large drawers and two smaller ones at the top. The oval hardware was original in the Federal style. Some customers prefer the original hardware and others like to give their furniture an updated look and replace it, but either way, refinishing a bedroom set is always worth doing because you already have made the investment in the furniture, so why not keep it for generations to come? It’s a wonderful way to honor your family’s history. 

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 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. 

Antique Dresser with Mirror

Antique Dresser Before

Antique Dresser After New Stain

Throughout the years we have done a good variety of dressers, each one different, with its own personality. Some of the dressers were tall, others were long and low with plenty of drawers. 

This antique dresser had three spacious drawers and a great looking mirror, with wood that was in excellent condition featuring a unique scroll design. The mirror itself had some age marks, but I always feel that this element adds to the character of the piece. 

The top of the dresser had

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.

Antique Desk Cabinet

Cabinet Before

This lovely old cabinet came to us in less than perfect condition. It had seen a lot of use over the years, judging by the scratches and wear, however, we were able to detect the high quality of the wood (tiger oak) and the overall structure of the piece and knew we would be able to breathe new life

into it making it shine again. 

Cabinet After

We determined that this cabinet once had a large door, likely glass, which had opened on left side where the shelves were located, but the owner no longer had the door and didn't mind not having one. The cabinet had only three of the four original wheels. Luckily we had the same style of wheels leftover from a previous job, so we were able to add the fourth wheel, making this piece much easier to move around. (It's a good idea to save hardware!)

Antique Vanity and Mirror Makeover

Vanity Before

Vanity After

We picked up this vanity at a yard sale in Algonac on one of our numerous camping trips there this summer. It had all the original pieces and hardware. All it needed was some good old-fashioned hard work. Total refinishing. Lots of labor and love. That's truly the only way to give an old beauty such as this another chance at life. My personal pet peeve is restoring spindle legs. They require a LOT of work and time in addition to detailing. This one had four spindle legs in front and four square legs in the back. Needless to say, I spent a great deal of time on the legs. The center drawer had a lovely scroll design, which was likely carved by hand sometime in the 1940s. (It also has a gorgeous mirror, which I'll add to this post one we complete it.) The legs had metal wheels, which proved to be wonderful as I was working on it.

Mosaic Table

Table Before No Top

Table After Mosiac

This table belonged to a friend who had passed away. It came to
me without a top. I liked the corner detail, which was hidden. My idea was to turn this little neglected gem into a work of art and as I looked at it, an idea came to mind.

First I assessed it. There wasn't much wood surface showing, so why not paint? I chose to paint it totally black. Next it needed a new top. The curved edges lent themselves to a different style. Something else other than wood would set this table off. Then it came to me. Mosaic. It was perfect! I knew I wanted it to have a bit of "bling," so I used mirror with a cobalt blue border.

Table Before

Table Before

When I got into the center area, I knew I wanted a design, and thanks to
my granddaughter, I came up with a peace sign. She was my inspiration for the peace sign because she loves them. Reminiscent of the 1960's, I thought it was also the perfect solution to my design. But that was not enough. It needed more, so I decided to paint the curved designs in the corners to bring out the flowers and make them match the colors of the glass mosaic I chose. The table was finally how I had envisioned it to be. The table had taken on a whole new look...from neglected and broken to a work of art.

Petite China Cabinet Makeover

China Cabinet Before

China Cabinet After

This beautiful little China cabinet was a petite, 54" tall. When we first found it at an antique shop in Lexington, something about its "quaintness" appealed to me. I was unsure what kind of wood lie beneath the many layers of stain that had been applied over the years. After many tedious hours of stripping, we revealed gleaming pine underneath all that stain and the wood grain was once again visible. This was a 2-month project in the making, between other projects and we wanted to do this piece justice. The original interior had ugly, hacked up wooden shelves, not original to the piece. Both Jim and I decided that glass shelves would make this special little beauty sparkle. Then Jim suggested we take it a step further and add some "bling" by installing a mirror onto the back. Since the back was recessed, this required Jim's special carpentry skills. He had to add a "filler" to the back of the cabinet, bringing it level with the shelves, so that the mirror fits in position, perfectly.

Cabinet in its new home!

On the day we installed the mirror, it was a nail-biting experience until it was firmly and safely in place. Once there, we knew she'd be just great. Indeed, this little gem turned out to be one the most gorgeous pieces we've done so far. Adding "bling" to any old piece of furniture can turn an ugly duckling into a sparkling, beautiful swan.

I ended up selling this cute little cabinet to another customer who had also purchased my oval table. She bought the table and I showed her this cabinet. A few days later she informed me that she just had to have it and came back yesterday to pick it up. It's now a part of her home, gracing her foyer. This is the part of the restoration process that most appeals to me; when the piece I've lovingly restored, finds a new home and has brought someone who cherishes it as much pleasure in owning as I had in restoring.

Good bye, my little treasure!

Display Cabinet

Display Cabinet

This display cabinet is my very first restoration project. I bought it at an estate sale nearby. While it's not an antique, it's a great reproduction and I particularly liked its cabriole legs and clean lines. It had a broken door, but otherwise, it was in great shape. I repaired the broken door (at the pivot point) and added a mirror to the interior back of the cabinet. Then I refinished the exterior with red mahogany stain and gave it two coats of semi-gloss polyurethane.

I ended up selling to a woman who had just moved into a house and needed a little cabinet or table for her living room. She was so happy to have found the perfect little cabinet and especially loved the mirror in the back! I also painted the tarnished gold knobs to a shiny silver, which I felt tied in nicely with the mirror. It also added a little "bling," giving this display cabinet a touch of elegance, while maintaining its functionality. Is it any wonder I get excited when I find these great little pieces of furniture??