Anyone else out there ever take a stab at restoring an old peice of furniture? I'm looking for any tips/advice that would make the job easier.
To date, I've done two projects. The first one was 8 yrs ago. I had bought my grandfather's old home which had dark oak cupboards. They were installed in the early '80s and were still in good shape but I found they darkened up the room too much. Painting them was not an option due to 20 yrs of dirt and grease caked on them. I decided one day that I would take a door down, apply some stripper to the surface and see if I could remove it. It worked. I then whiped the surface clean and gave it a light sanding to reveal the natural wood surface. I liked the looks of the wood. I tried applying some honey oak stain to it and whipe it clean for an even finish an it looked real nice. I then thought that this surface wouldn't be prottected so I applied a semi-gloss varnish to it and it turned out nice. It looked like a new door with an antique touch to it. Two weeks later and lots of elbow grease, I had completely given my kitchen a new look for a cost of about $150 in materials.
As a kid growing up, I remember gowing to my grandmothers house and seeing this old linen chest sitting in the corner of the basement that looked like it was meant to be destined for the dump. My parents ended up with it and it sat in their garage for a few years until they moved. They were going to throw it out as it looked pretty sad with about 6 layers of grey paint over roughly 4 layers of white paint that was all pealing. I took it off their hands and it sat in my garage for 4 years until I moved last year. Last fall, I decided to put some paint stripper on it to see was kind of wood was underneath. What I found was a beautiful mahogony wood that cleaned up real nice. I decided to completly strip the surface of the lid. I was originally going to repaint it but what I found was totally amazing! A real hidden treasure was underneath all that paint. I sanded it all smooth and refinished it and what I ended up with was a beautiful finnish which I gave a gloss varnish to reveal the beauty in the wood grain.
Here's a picture of one I found on ebay which is very similar to the one I refinished. The one I have looks to be of a higher quality with different legs which held a bottom drawer(which has gone missing over the years)
I did some research on it and it is a Lane cedar chest which was made sometime between 1900 and 1940. Mine looks to be an earlier model which has no dates or stamps to identify it but from what I can tell, they started marking their peices sometime in the 1920's.
The interior is made of cedar and looks like new and still has that new wood cedar smell to it. It is identical to the following picture but doesn't have to identifying marks.
After seeing the work I did on this chest, my other family members have been coming out of the woodworks(no pun intended) with other projects for me to take on. My next project it most likely going to be a mid 1800's dresser which was also destined for the dump but has been kept for sentiental reasons. I will get pics of the actual chest that I restored along with some before pics of my next project for those who are interested.
To date, I've done two projects. The first one was 8 yrs ago. I had bought my grandfather's old home which had dark oak cupboards. They were installed in the early '80s and were still in good shape but I found they darkened up the room too much. Painting them was not an option due to 20 yrs of dirt and grease caked on them. I decided one day that I would take a door down, apply some stripper to the surface and see if I could remove it. It worked. I then whiped the surface clean and gave it a light sanding to reveal the natural wood surface. I liked the looks of the wood. I tried applying some honey oak stain to it and whipe it clean for an even finish an it looked real nice. I then thought that this surface wouldn't be prottected so I applied a semi-gloss varnish to it and it turned out nice. It looked like a new door with an antique touch to it. Two weeks later and lots of elbow grease, I had completely given my kitchen a new look for a cost of about $150 in materials.
As a kid growing up, I remember gowing to my grandmothers house and seeing this old linen chest sitting in the corner of the basement that looked like it was meant to be destined for the dump. My parents ended up with it and it sat in their garage for a few years until they moved. They were going to throw it out as it looked pretty sad with about 6 layers of grey paint over roughly 4 layers of white paint that was all pealing. I took it off their hands and it sat in my garage for 4 years until I moved last year. Last fall, I decided to put some paint stripper on it to see was kind of wood was underneath. What I found was a beautiful mahogony wood that cleaned up real nice. I decided to completly strip the surface of the lid. I was originally going to repaint it but what I found was totally amazing! A real hidden treasure was underneath all that paint. I sanded it all smooth and refinished it and what I ended up with was a beautiful finnish which I gave a gloss varnish to reveal the beauty in the wood grain.
Here's a picture of one I found on ebay which is very similar to the one I refinished. The one I have looks to be of a higher quality with different legs which held a bottom drawer(which has gone missing over the years)
I did some research on it and it is a Lane cedar chest which was made sometime between 1900 and 1940. Mine looks to be an earlier model which has no dates or stamps to identify it but from what I can tell, they started marking their peices sometime in the 1920's.
The interior is made of cedar and looks like new and still has that new wood cedar smell to it. It is identical to the following picture but doesn't have to identifying marks.
After seeing the work I did on this chest, my other family members have been coming out of the woodworks(no pun intended) with other projects for me to take on. My next project it most likely going to be a mid 1800's dresser which was also destined for the dump but has been kept for sentiental reasons. I will get pics of the actual chest that I restored along with some before pics of my next project for those who are interested.