As I posted last week in Redecorating – Paint It!, painting furniture is an easy and economical way to add pizzazz to a room. An alternative to painting is refinishing the furniture. Of course, practice makes perfect and the more pieces of furniture you refinish the seemingly easier it becomes. If you have never refinished furniture, give it a try. It is surprisingly, not difficult and the results can be beautiful. Whether it is an antique, a yard sale find or just a piece needing a face-lift, refinishing it yourself could be the solution to your problem.

I chose to refinish a dresser and two nightstands that had been in storage. They are part of a bedroom suite which belonged to my parents. The furniture itself is very good quality but the finish was worn and cracked.

While there are many chemicals on the market to dissolve and remove the finish, I have had good results with scraping the finish off. I use a stiff putty knife held perpendicular to the surface.

With even pressure, I pull ithe putty knife toward me scraping the finish off.

Even pressure is very important. Without it, ripples can be made in the wood. Normally, the ripples can be sanded out, but it is much easier if they are avoided.

Once the finish is removed, sand the surface using fine sandpaper. Fine steel wool may also be used. Once the surface is smooth, clean and dust it to remove any residual dust.

You are now ready to apply stain, if desired. I am using Early American stain by Minwax. Dipping a small rag into the stain, cover the raw wood evenly. According to the can directions, leave the stain on the desired amount of time. The longer the excess stain is left on, the more is absorbed into the wood and the darker the finished piece will be. I left the stain on about 10 minutes and then wiped off the excess. You may reapply to darken if you desire. Allow to dry for 24 hours before applying a protective finish.

I use polyurethane in a satin finish as my topcoat. It is durable and adds a richness to the appearance of the piece. The method of application is similar to staining. Using a small rag that can be thrown away, dip into the polyurethane and apply a very thin coat evenly to the surface. One coat is usually sufficient but if you desire another coat, allow it to dry 24 hours. Once dry, use a piece of steel wool and very lightly rub over the entire surface. This is to knock off any bumps that may occur due to dust or other foreign debris. Once smooth, brush off and vacuum to remove the residual steel wool. You may now reapply polyurethane as desired. Since these pieces will be in the girls’ room, I only applied one coat.

Both stain and polyurethane must be cleaned up with mineral spirits.

Redecorating can easily mean spending lots of money, but, it does not have to. With phase one of our home completed, I felt it time for some sprucing up in the interior design area. One very budget friendly way to add pizzazz is to start with pieces of furntiure you already have or a yard sale find and paint it!

You can see the difference in an old dresser before:

After painting it is ready to hold our 6 year old son’s clothes:

There are a few things to be aware of before you begin.

1. There are 2 types of paint commonly used on furniture, latex and oil based.  If the piece of furniture is already painted, you need to know what type of paint is on it. To do this, take a cotton ball wet (but not dripping) with nail polish remover. Gently rub the painted surface in an inconspicuous spot. If the paint is latex, a small amount of color will show on the cotton ball. If the paint is oil based, the cotton ball will be clean.

Why is this important? If you use a latex paint over an oil based paint – it will peel. The pink trunk below was the toy box  from my childhood. It was painted with an oil based paint.

This does not mean you must use an oil based paint which seems to take forever to dry and smells terribly. But, the surface must be primed. I use a primer product made by Kilz for oil based paint. It is available in a spray,  a paint can, and either of these are available in a regular or an odorless version. The same pink trunk now primed with Kilz primer for oil based paint. I also taped old newspaper to the inside to protect the surface not to be painted.

Finally, the “new” blue trunk painted with latex paint is better suited for the boys’ room.

I personally prefer using latex paint because there is very little odor, drying time is much faster and clean up is with soap and water rather than mineral spirits.

2. The surface should be clean and smooth. Gently sand the piece with fine sandpaper to roughen it up. This allows the new paint to adhere better.

3. Work in a well ventilated area. The wind here in west Texas makes painting outside many days almost impossible. I painted the furniture pictured in the middle of the kitchen with the windows open. I did use the spray primer on the toy box so the priming was done outside.

4. Protect your work surface. I always spread newspaper or plastic on the floor.

5. You will need a paint brush and an old rag to wipe up any drips.

6. Read the back of the paint can for specifics about drying time and time needed between paint applications.

7. Clean up your brush with soap and water if using latex paint and mineral spirits if using oil based paint.