Saving Vintage Furniture with Damaged and Scuffed Tops

Saving Vintage Furniture with Damaged and Scuffed Tops

Lately I’ve found myself refinishing a lot of thrift store finds.  Just look at my last few posts, one of which was removing water marks and rings.

I do love the look of painted furniture, but there are those times when I just can’t bring myself to cover the beauty of the old wood.

Trends come and go with paint , particularly chalk paint, ruling the refinishing market over the past 10 years.  But are people moving away from painted furniture and towards old sturdy solid wood statement pieces?  The kind of pieces you definitely won’t find in your local IKEA.  But you just might find at your local thrift store.

These next 3 finds were all under $10 at my local thrift stores but they did need a little TLC, not the entire piece, just the flat surfaces.

I’ve been refinishing furniture for 50 years.  My mom and I would love the hunt for a solid piece of furniture and would immediately strip off the paint or old varnish.  Most of the furniture got a complete stripping, sanding, staining and reoiling. The sanding was manual, no electric sander here.

It was probably 10 years into our refinishing adventures before we started to hear about removing the value of a piece by stripping.  That’s about when the shabby chic trend came into being.  Did we ruin the value of everything we stripped.  I didn’t thing so, but you never know.

I’ve been hesitant to completely strip a piece ever since.

Having said all that, I’m bringing 3 pieces of furniture to you today that I’m only going to strip or sand as much as I have to.  First up, this side table with 2 built in book shelves.

This was the bottom of the bookshelf/ side table.  Looks pretty bad right?  Nope, that’s just mildew spots, and probably a little dirt.  Nothing a spritz of vinegar or all purpose cleaner couldn’t clean up.

After cleaning off all the mildew, there really was no reason to take the rest of the finish off  the legs and shelves.

The top of the table was another story.  It  really did need another coat of something.

But before this table got a new finish I would have to remove the old stain and varnish.

Out came my random orbital sander.  I started with 120 grit sandpaper and finished with 320 grit.

Well who put that stain there?

I thought my dark stain would hide the water mark but just in case I spritzed the stain with bleach water and let dry.  It did lighten the stain somewhat. Enough for me to move on.

This is the new tabletop with a coat of dark walnut stain, let that dry overnight. The stain was followed by 2 coats of Watco Danish oil, also in dark walnut.  I always apply my oil with a soft rag wiping off excess as I go.  Buff between coats with fine steel wool and you’ll end up with a beautiful finish.

While you’re at it, give the rest of the shelf a light coat of the oil as well and let dry.  The oil will perk up the old wood and make it look as good as new.

Gorgeous, right?  Perfect compliment to todays decorating style.

Second project, an old tea cart.  I spied this one as I was standing in line checking out at my local thrift store.  I don’t know how I missed it in my initial swing thru the furniture section, but this one had to come home with me.

 

A close up of the top does not look so good, but I know there is beautiful wood hiding under there.

The drop leaves were in better shape than the top but they still had their own share of wear and tear.

The bottom shelf needed help as well.

The top looks so much cleaner with a thorough sanding.

And the bottom shelf does as well.

Once again, I am not stripping or sanding any of the spindles or wheels.  They had no water stains or fading and the varnish was in great shape

One coat of the Danish oil transforms the top.  Since I’m using the dark walnut Danish oil, each subsequent coat will darken the tea cart until it is close to the color of the spindles and wheels.

The lower shelf was a different wood but still shines with the oil.

Another light coat of oil refreshes the rest of the tea cart as well.

Yes, that is the same tea cart I started with.  Now it can be used as a serving cart, as a bar cart , coffee cart or wherever your imagination takes you.

One more side table with a messed up top but the legs and even the  bottom shelf this time are in great shape.

If this table had stain in his past life, it hadn’t penetrated the wood.

 

A close up of the peeling varnish.

Sand, sand, sand.

Stain, and at least 2 coats of the Danish oil.

Don’t forget to reinvigorate the rest of the table with the oil.  Let dry and buff with the fine steel wool to smooth out any bumps and burrs.

To paint or not to paint, that is the question.  I think all 3 of these pieces benefited by not painting and just restoring them to their former glory.

Until next time, stay inspired.