How to Refurbish Wood Furniture That's Been Painted Over
We here at Dilly Dally are creators as most already know, but what you don't know is we are creators in so many other ways than wedding invitations. Among us we have wood workers, oil painters, graphic designers, and cooks to name a few. You see outside the office we like to flex our creative brains in a different way and this is why we want to share with you guys some of the projects we are taking on outside of the store.
Today, we are talking furniture restoration. Here in south Alabama, there is nothing better than spending a Saturday digging through thrift stores and antique shops to find the perfect project.
One early Saturday morning, we made our way to a fellow locals barn sale that promised to leave your pocket book and your truck bed full. After making the first few rounds in the barn and finding many small treasures, we began to wrap up the trip and started to pay when our eyes fell upon a beautiful retro style buffet buried below trinkets and layers of old dust. After looking at the price tag of $15 we knew we couldn't leave without it.
The buffet had a few problems like 1. it wasn't all 'real wood' (meaning the wood didn't all have a grain) and 2. The paint on the piece was cheap and pealing in most places. So to restore this piece of furniture here is a step by step of our process.
Remove all paint while also not damaging the fabricated wood grain below. Yes this means use a paint scraper and just keep telling yourself you only paid $15.
2. Once all the flaking paint is removed, go in and remove small pieces of remaining paint with a delicate sander. I used a dremmel with an abrasive mounted stone head.
3. Once all paint is removed, clean all areas that were sanded and the surrounding area.
4. Once it is cleaned, begin staining with your choice of stain, a paint brush and a paper towel to wipe off the excess.
5. Use black paint of your choice to outline edges and highlight certain areas of the piece. I chose to paint the edges and the inside of the book shelf area.
6. I got glass cut for both shelves at my local hard ware store for $15 to finish the project. (That's right my total investment was $30!)
And that's it! The scraping process does take a bit of patience, but I think we can agree it's well worth it for this super retro piece for a $30 investment.
