Mid-Century Modern Nightstands

Pair of Mid-Century Nightstands Before

Nightstand After Refinishing

Twin nightstands designed in the mid-century modern style have clean lines and classic styling, but needed freshening up and refinishing. It was common in the 1950's to apply a coat of glaze over stain for an extra layer in addition to modifying the overall appearance of the wood. The downside of this procedure was that it is extremely difficult to remove the additional top layer of glaze as well as the polyurethane and finally, the stain that lies beneath it all.

These nightstands had layer upon layer of glaze which took a while to remove. Unfortunately, it was difficult to tell exactly when we had stripped the last of the glaze until we began staining. A good indication that you haven't quite removed all the previous finishes is when the wood repels the stain. When that happens, you can tell, trust me. The areas surrounding the spots where the finish hasn't been completely stripped will accept the stain, leaving the rest blotchy. It's frustrating because once you spend hours and hours stripping and sanding and sanding more, you expect that your hard work paid off and you can now enjoy the "fun" part of the process, staining.

The extra layer of glaze is hard to detect as it is practically invisible. Only when stain is applied does it become painfully obvious that the piece still requires a lot more stripping, sanding, and ultimately, labor. There's  no way to avoid it, so you may as well accept it. Stripping is hard, tedious work, but it must be done. The end result was a pair of lovely, usable nightstands that will indeed withstand the test of time for another fifty plus years...or more.