Sometimes making over furniture isn’t about a complete overhaul and hours of work. Sometimes it’s a single surface that needs refinishing, like Kate’s nightstand, which looks like new with very little work.
Good morning!
Countdown to the weekend is on, and I’m just popping in with a quick project – a partial makeover really – to show you how to save furniture that might otherwise be in great shape – except for a spot or two.
Actually, I’m not sure what happened to Kate’s nightstand, but she called me asking for what tools she’d need to refinish the top. I’d guess there was some water damage or a scratch that was a bit of an eyesore.
Kate got to work on refinishing the nightstand herself – but sometimes having the right tools makes the job easier.
As it was, Kate brought me her started project:
Poor Kate, she said she’d been sanding it for hours.
All she wanted refinished was the top and I won’t lie – I was nervous.
Depending on the age of the piece of furniture, whether furniture polish has been used on it over the years, and even where it was sitting in a room (UV damage) all make a difference on how easy/difficult it is to match an older stain to a new one.
I set to work with my handy-dandy DeWalt random orbit sander and 120 grit sandpaper and managed to remove the rest of the old finish.
The stress came in trying to match the old finish to the new one.
I lucked out with this piece though – one coat of cherry stain and then a second coat of cherry with just a touch of special walnut and I was pretty close to the body of the nightstand.
Two coats of Triple-thick poly in satin and Kate’s baby was a beauty again.
The rest of the nightstand was already gorgeous, so a small refinishing job (just the top) was all it needed to bring it back to it’s glory.
One hour project (not including drying time).
NEVER throw out a piece of furniture that is solid wood. NEVER.
There is always hope for an end-game like this one.
Have a great one!