What I Learned About Refinishing Furniture

I learned this is something I should have done sooner in my life.  I loved it.  It was more work that I thought it would be, but I loved the process.  

And reeeeeally love the reward. 

Success

Since I posted about the how-I-did-it already: finding inspiration, stripping, sanding, staining & painting and the reveal...I've decided to share what I learned from beginning to end.  It's the next best thing I can do beside turning back time and telling my younger self to do this immediately. 

Oh the bad side tables and nightstands I've had...they could have been so much more!!!

1) Find your inspiration.

This Room

This Dresser

I'm a visual person, so I thrive on seeing things.  I found these pictures and kept coming back to them.  When the dresser started to go off course, I thought about changing direction.  But looking at them reinforced my focus and paid off in the end.

2.  Strip or sand?

Ha!  First figure out if it's solid wood or veneer. 

Dresser Side

This is a successfully stripped piece of wood veneer.

Dresser Top

This is not.  This is actually sanded veneer after being stripped poorly. 

Well, I don't know if it was done poorly.  It was my first time stripping anything, but I followed the directions to the T.  So I'm blaming the veneer. 

Drawers

This, however, is a successfully sanded piece of wood veneer.  It turned out so much better than the best part of the dresser.  So if I was refinishing a veneer piece of furniture again, I'd sand.  Skip the strip. 

3.  Condition, condition, condition.

(Red Can On Top)

I didn't do a comparison stain between conditioned and non-conditioned veneer wood.  I wasn't taking any chances with the blotchy dresser top.  In the end, I think this really helped the stain absorb evenly.  It's not just for hair.

4.  The darker the stain, the more it really hides.

1st Coat: Light-er Stain

2nd Coat: Dark Stain

3rd Coat: Dark Stain

I almost didn't go here.  I was in give up mode after the first coat was a bust.  But the extra $9 for a little can of ebony saved the day dresser.  Don't give up.  Go dark.

5.  Millions of polyurethane bubbles are ok.

Now You See Them

Now You Don't

All I read anywhere about sealing was "get rid of the bubbles before it starts to dry."  I can't explain how heartbreaking it was to see a million bubbles that would not go away after I finally hid the blotches!  So I walked away.  And returned to find them gone.  Hallelujah.  The fine print should say: microbubbles are ok.

6.  Benjamin Moore Advance paint is worth it.

Gold

This stuff is expensive and it should always be used when painting furniture.  I got a tip from one of my favorite bloggers here and didn't look back. 

I resisted the temptation to "re-roll" because the paint looked almost clumpy and bumpy after a minute or so.  And good thing I did.  It self-levels and ends up looking flawless. 

7.  Splurge on the jewelry. 

The handles were not cheap.  But they make the dresser.  I truly believe that investing in them here makes this piece of furniture look and feel stunning. 

I've heard this rule of thumb over and over.  Never a regret.  Always a must. 


So that's all I'd say to a younger me.  I'd show her these before and after shots, too.

I'd say -I know- I can't believe I did that either.  But you totally can and you totally will.  And you totally should. 

Because this is what it cost:

$100 - Dresser (Kijiji)
$9     - Stripper
$9     - Pre-stain Conditioner
$16   - "Lighter" Stain
$9     - Ebony Stain
$30   - BM Advance Paint
$9     - Polyurethane
$68   - 6 Pulls
$250 TOTAL

(Ok, I bought a sander, too, which I was meaning to buy anyway for other projects...and used a store credit that I kept forgetting I had...so that would add $67 for a grand total of $317)

Or...I could just buy this similar dresser.

$699 USD

Nah.  I'll keep the difference and find some more furniture to refinish.

Out With The Old, In With The New...Dresser!!!

This project took too long.  Either I didn't realize how much time it would actually take or I'm a perfectionist.  The answer is both.   

Since I've never done any furniture refinishing or painting, I have lots of learning to share.  But this is just the reveal.  I have to sort through a million pictures of a dresser-in-progress, first. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have seen the sneak peek.

Before/After

Which looks pretty darn close to the inspiration when I started this whole thing...

Inspiration Success

Want to see more?  I thought so.

Before

After

No, the legs have not disappeared and, yes, I need to hang that picture.  Just finishing the dresser was achievement enough for me.  That and I need to swap out the picture because all three boys are sleeping in here now. 

Smallest room, most humans.  At least they're the smallest humans in the house.  So it works.  For now...

Before

After

The dark stain worked out perfectly with the floor and the rug.  And although the drawers aren't exact, they don't scream crooked. 

Before

After

The handles are my favorite.  Not just because they used to be so bad.  But because they just look. So. Good.  They were the biggest indulgence of this little makeover, but worth their weight in gold.

And here's the last little look.

November

December

Worst pictures.  (Ignore the unmade beds and crib crammed in the corner)  But best view.  I can't not look at it every time I walk by the door. 

I got this dresser done just under the New Year's wire.  The perfect ending to an amazing year in this house!

Update On The Veneer Dresser

Less than two weeks until Christmas.  I'm so unprepared and have less than 5% of my shopping done.  Perfect time to get on that dresser!

But it must be done.  The boys have been living out of bins on the floor for over a month now.  So, finishing the dresser will be like a Christmas gift to them.  And to Steve, too, who can't stand the chaotic mess in their bedroom...as well as the staining/painting/sealing mess in the basement.  Plus, being able to spend kid-free time doing the dresser is like a Christmas gift to me.  I love it.

It's Christmas all around!

We last left off with sanding the dresser on the porch and not knowing what will happen.  The top was so badly marked up.  So the plan was to stain and see what happened...

Ready To Go

We brought it into the basement and propped it up on a few canned goods. Whatever works.

I used a pre-stain conditioner and chose a darker (not darkest) stain.  We used this product in a similar color on our basement stairs a few years ago, so I already trusted it.

Conditioned

The conditioner REALLY brought out the blotches.  Awesome.  So I stained.

One coat.  The sides looked good, but the top?  Horrible.  Not working.

Here's where I almost painted the whole damn thing.  I pinterested.  I shared with my husband.  I tried to make myself believe that I liked the completely painted look better than the stained/painted look that was my inspiration.  But I couldn't.

So I decided to give it one more go with the darkest stain I could find. 

It worked.  IT WORKED!  Two coats of "Ebony" stain and I was in love.  The blotches were gone.  The wood grain looked normal.  So. Happy.

Before

"Light" Stain

Ebony Stain

 And then the dresser sat for weeks.  With these...

Drawers & Legs

Busy?  Fatigue?  Holidays?  A little bit of all that.  Until this past weekend when my husband had enough.  And took the kids.

I did my homework and the biggest caution was to brush it on LIGHTLY and avoid BUBBLES.  Paper thin.  Ok, I can do that.  Then this happened.

BUBBLES.  Those millions of bumps are bubbles.  I used two different brushes.  I stopped dipping the brush at all and just spread it out tissue paper thin.  Nope.  Still bubbles.

So this is what it looked like when I thinned it out as best I could and finally put down the brush (and crossed my fingers).

Really?  All this hard work and it's going to come down to this?  A billion miniscule bubbles that I can't get rid of?  

Then this happened.

PHEW.  I almost kissed it.  But no touching for 4-6 hours. 

So, instead I got to work on the drawers.

I follow Lindsay's blog and she highly recommends Benjamin Moore Advance paint for furniture.  Say no more.  I do as I'm told.

It rolled on thick and a little bumpier than an orange peel.  But before I was finished with the second drawer, the first looked so much better.  The paint has a self-leveling element, so thank goodness I didn't go back and re-roll it.  Restraint!

Here's where I've left off.

Waiting for polyurethane, paint and stain (on the legs) to dry.  And more coats to come.  Then pulls to drill.

I think she's gonna turn out just fine...Merry Christmas to me!!

Sanding A Veneer Dresser

Yup.  Surprise, surprise.  It's veneer. 

If you're dropping in today and wondering what I'm talking about, I'll catch you up.

I got all inspired to finish the boys' room.  Found a dresser on Craigslist and decided I should try refinishing & painting it.  Then I started stripping and sanding on the weekend.  Drawers look great.  But not all the finish came off the dresser itself with the stripper.

Ok, you're up.

I picked a warm-ish day this week to sand the remaining finish off the dresser.  It was warm, but it was rainy.  So I set up shop on the front porch.  (Warning: this is a post-renovation porch that hasn't been replaced or really even tidied up yet)

I started with a sandpaper block but it wasn't doing much.

Before Sandpaper

After Sandpaper

Yeah, no.  So I brought out the big gun and sanded away. 

Which is when I found this.... 

VENEER!

Ugh.  I had a bad feeling about this.  It was in my gut.  I should have looked closer.  I just didn't think about it...I got too excited about turning it into my inspiration. 

So I did what any DIY person does.  I googled. 

Turns out you CAN strip and sand veneer, but only if it's thick enough.  Seeing as how I already stripped and was part way into really sanding this puppy, I crossed my fingers and forged on.  Knowing that, thick enough or not, I can always paint this sucker and call it a day. 

Back to sanding.

After Sanding

Aha!  Much better than before!

Before Sanding

There is hope.  Moving on.

It was at this point that my neighbor came home.  I didn't know he was gone.  But anyone who has worked with a palm sander knows that thing is loud.  So I sanded and didn't stop until I was done...cringing the whole time.

Done Sanding

The left side looks just like the right side.  Great shape.  The top, however....

Uh.

I don't know what that is.  The only thing I can think of is this: the stripper penetrated the veneer and discolored it from below.  :(

I'm still forging on.  I'm going to try staining it and see what happens.  The plan was to stain it dark anyway, so maybe the marks will disappear. 

If not, I can always paint!

Stay tuned...