How Furniture Restoration – Professional furniture restorers and hobbyists all have one thing in common: the desire to pluck a piece of furniture from the side of the road and restore it to its former glory. What’s not to like? You save something from a landfill and breathe new life into a forgotten item. The former owner saw only a table marred by broken legs and water rings. As a furniture restorer, you see potential.
Furniture restoration deals with any aspect of work required to get an old dresser or chair back to as close to original condition as possible. Often, this is more than a facelift – it makes the item reusable and adds value. Here are 10 tips to help make old new again.
How Furniture Restoration
You’ve just found the perfect end table at the right price: FREE. It’s sitting on the curb and all it needs is some tender loving care. You can already see what it looks like sitting in your living room.
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However, it’s important to remember that a small side project can quickly turn into a time-consuming chore, depending on your remodeling skills and how many free hours you have to devote to the work. The work is complex and takes a long time to complete, so make sure you have enough time in your schedule – or are willing to give up several weekends – to complete your piece. Deep carvings can take several hours to remove and carve. Repeating slats and loops is not easy. If you have to remove the rust, that step alone can take days of work, something you should keep in mind before deciding whether or not to haul the table home.
Do a little research to find out the value of your piece before restoring it. Check it for marks or labels that may indicate its origin. If you suspect it’s worth some money, consult a professional before proceeding with any work. Take photos of signs or tags for your records. Disposing of a collectible antique can reduce its value or waste it, so hold off on stripping or sanding until you know what you have.
If you’re not an expert furniture restorer, don’t worry. Some signs of aging are easy to look for. Feel under the dull inner corners. Loosen a screw partially and look at the threads. If there are uneven widths between them, the piece may be too old. Remove a shelf and check it for pigeon joints. If you see any of these things, the furniture is antique and well-made, and you should have a professional antique appraiser.
Once you’ve determined whether the treasure you’ve found is actually worth any money, you need to decide how much money you’re willing to sink into it. Yes, you may love the challenge of refurbishing furniture, but if the piece isn’t valuable, you need to figure out how much it means to you. One that can be repaired at relatively low cost? Will the project cost you less than buying a new piece? Worth your time?
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Some projects may require a few simple fixes that you can complete quickly. Others may be more involved and may end up spending more than you intended, which may cause the furniture to sit on the curb to begin with.
It’s happened to every restorer: pulling a wooden table off the curb, thinking its color will match well with the rest of the furniture in a given room, only to discover after restoration begins that the piece is actually made of lighter wood and isn’t. Doesn’t fit at all. Fortunately, with a little inspection, you can get an idea of the actual grain color. Find a place protected from everyday wear and tear, such as the front of a drawer. Seeing the unworn area will give you an idea of what the finished product will look like.
When starting a furniture restoration project, be sure to keep safety in mind. The last thing you want to do is accidentally get a splinter of wood or heavy smoke in your eye.
Be sure to wear long-sleeved clothing to protect your skin from the harmful chemicals found in wood chips and varnish. Use safety glasses to protect your eyes. If you are stripping or varnishing a piece, wear a mask and work in a well-ventilated room to keep strong vapors at bay.
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Clean the pieces thoroughly before removing your sandpaper and paintbrush. After years of neglect, it is likely to get dirty and dirty. Removing buildup can reveal a nice finish underneath, so an old table may need a good cleaning and buffing to make it look like new again.
Give the furniture a thorough scrub with a sponge and some vegetable-based oil soap and warm water. For detailed pieces, use a soft toothbrush to go into nooks and crannies. To get between tight spots, take a thin wooden dowel rod and sharpen it like a pencil. Then use a sharp tip to dig out the bitterness. If you must use steel wool on some stubborn wax build-up, go with 0000 grade (best grade available) and use a light hand. Excessive pressure will cause the coating to dull.
Next, repair or replace the broken parts. You might get lucky at an antique shop, estate sale, or eBay on a similar foot or knob, but don’t count on it. In most cases, custom parts are required for a perfect fit. Additionally, unless you consider yourself pretty handy, you may need the help of a professional for leg replacement or any difficult repairs related to the structural integrity of the piece.
However, tightening screws can fix wobbly tables and chairs. Find the culprit by turning the towel over and examining each leg where it meets the body. If it wobbles, look at the screws. If they are in good condition, tighten them. If they are rusted, carefully remove them and replace them. Plug small gaps with wood glue and fill small cracks with similar colored wood putty. If you plan to use stain as your finish, make sure you purchase a stain-resistant putty.
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Refinishing the piece means removing the old finish and creating a new one. It’s physically demanding, so be prepared to use some elbow grease for this messy and complicated job. It’s best to use a combination of chemical strippers and sandblasting to get the job done. Above all, be patient, some results may be stubborn to remove. Trying to speed up the process can lead to even more repair work.
Research the type of stain your wood needs. If it’s not worth staining, you can always paint the surface. Make sure it’s not a valuable piece, because if you paint it it won’t be. Before painting, sand the finish to smooth out any bumps. Regardless of whether you’re staining or painting, you’ll want to give the piece another good clean after stripping and sanding to ensure you end up with a professional look.
If you don’t do a lot of furniture redecorating, it’s helpful to have a guidebook handy so you can quickly find answers to questions that arise during your project. The library is an excellent source for manuals and other furniture reference materials. Of course, the Internet is a great source of information and videos where experts guide you through every step of the restoration process.
You will need some tools to implement your plan. Take a trip down the sandpaper aisle and grab a variety of grits. Buy both moderately coarse materials (80 to 120 grit) and finer grades (300 to 600). Get two putty knives, one plastic and one metal. Also grab some 0000 steel wool and a liquid removal gel.
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You will need Phillips head and flathead screwdrivers to tighten the joints and a small hammer and rubber mallet to allow you to fix the wood without leaving a mark.
Now that your toolbox is full and you’re armed with these tips, you’re ready to restore your furniture to its former glory. In this case, they are restored and renewed (if you insist on the third “R,” there is always reupholstering, I think). They both actually start with an “r”.
Restoration usually involves light cleaning and cosmetic repairs, while refinishing is a more involved process that involves stripping (upholstery; we recommend being fully clothed when doing this), sanding, and applying fresh stain.
For example, what we did with two old dressers is followed by more in restoration. On the other hand, our kitchen cabinets, when they are finished, are reorganized.
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To clarify, we’re talking about the fountain of youth, not jumping into a vat of toxic restorative chemicals.
Even if I jump into a vat of toxins in my Marvel Comics fantasy,
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