Antique Washstand, Easy Furniture Repairs

Today, I have for you, this super cute, antique oak washstand.

Before indoor plumbing, washstands would hold a ceramic pitcher and bowl and be used for brushing your teeth, and washing your hands and face. The lower cabinet may conceal a chamber pot. Soap and toiletries would go in the drawers.

Nowadays, with their sturdy design and great wood, washstands make great side tables.

This was the washstand that I picked up from an auction for the low low price of only $1. He had been stored in a basement and he had a few issues that may have scared away any other interest.

You can see he has great bones.

First up, one of the boards in the back was broken.

There was a big ol’ white spot on his top. Actually, the top is in great shape considering his age. I would expect a lot more glass water rings.

While there was no peeling varnish, the overall finish was rather flat and lackluster.

There was also a nice long split on his side and the top was extremely warped. Can you see how it bows up in the front?

I think that’s all of his issues, but they are all fairly easy repairs. We’re bringing this guy back to his former glory.

I like to tackle the easiest repairs first so it looks like I’m making progress.

First up, I’m prying off the broken boards on the back of the washstand.

Replaced with a reclaimed wood piece about the same thickness as the one I tore off.

Any color differences can be remedied with stain or vintage wax.

Most of the varnish, while dull, was still in great shape. The one exception was the top.

Take a medium to fine sandpaper and strip off all the existing top finish. I recommend an 80 grit or finer. Any coarser and you’ll have to deal with the sandpaper digging into the wood.

Once the top is sanded and cleared of any remaining sawdust, with a rag, wipe on a layer of Watco danish oil ( I use tung oil often as well) in a dark walnut finish.

Let the oil dry, then repeat.

While you’re at it, use the same oil and apply a light coat to the rest of your piece even if you haven’t previously sanded. The wood will say thank you. 🙂

Once the oil has dried, buff with fine steel wool. This will remove any little bumps in your finish.

If your furniture piece seems tacky to the touch, just let it dry in the bright sunshine.

And now for the warped wood top. I made a quick trip over to , what my son calls, Youtube University, where I found a nice little how to get rid of warped wood video.

Initially, I wasn’t even going to tackle the top, I figured it was a lost cause, so I was excited to give the Youtube guy’s how-to a try. Basically, you spray a towel with water and let it sit on the cupped wood a few hours. My warp was pretty bad, you could feel the wave with your hand, so I introduced some heavy weights on top with the sprayed towel and repeated the process a few times.

I was pretty happy with the results. Instead of a wave, I now had a gentle ripple. I could totally live with that.

As for the split wood side piece, I thought it would just be a matter of sliding the wood back into place and gluing. That wood was not moving.

As with all projects and furniture repairs you just might need a Plan B, cut a thin piece of oak and insert it into the hole, gluing wherever you see something to glue to, which happened to be the drawer supports.

The oak wood was a piece cut from some old oak hardwood flooring.