Refurbishing Old Furniture

[KLJ77]

Back in 2014, I went to an estate sale and they had this old (maybe 50 years old, at least, maybe much more) desk with a mirror for sale. It was in pretty bad shape with shellac and dark stain, but still a solid piece. This was a piece of furniture that one sees in the old western movies that the 'ladies of the saloons' used in their rooms to 'clean up' with afterward. You may have seen these with the pot and the pitcher of water on them. Some had mirrors, some didn't. The "pot" was actually called a "chamber pot" back in the day before toilets came about.

Anyway...I purchased this piece for $90.00, knowing that I could make this piece look attractive again. I worked on restoring this piece for six weeks straight in my garage. I took out the drawers, disconnected the door and the drawer handles and worked each piece on its own. I used varnish remover on all the pieces to get most of the old decrepit stuff off. From there, I went to sanding, and sanding...and more sanding. The stain was imbedded into the wood quite deeply and it got to the point where if I continued sanding, I was going to ruin it to no avail.

So I said enough is enough and went with the new look I had obtained. I bought new drawer pulls and a knob for the door. I then put three light coats of polyurethane on it. I purchased a really nice pitcher and pot that matched at a thrift store and used them as an enhancement to the piece itself.

Below are the BEFORE photos (less the mirror, but it was in the same shape as the desk part). Then I posted the AFTER photos of the completed piece. The piece is solid oak and the mirror is beveled on the edges...indicative to its age.

Now, I'm no furniture maker or elaborate carpenter, but I do enjoy working pieces like this. For a layman, I'm very content with how this turned out. I've been offered $400.00 for it, but I declined. It has sentimental value for me and I put too much work into this piece to be rid of it. There's a bit of pride involved in all this too. So there's that...

For your viewing pleasure...

Before photos:

[KLJ77]

End result AFTER photos:

If you've a mind too, show some of your work you have refurbished / restored.

[KLJ77]

Another piece I made look much better than the original was an old desk / table that had been on an old WWII Yard Oiler. The Yard Oiler was a training platform we used for Shipboard Security Engagement Tactics (SSET) at my last duty station in the Navy from 1994-1998. I went through proper protocols, asking if I could have this desk. I was granted permission to take it home.

The only thing I did with this piece was to cover the top, for the original top was in bad shape with scratches too deep to sand out, and it had dents in the top where 'things' had been dropped on it over the years...decades. I did not rework the legs or the side pieces...I kept them original. I purchased a really nice piece of wood for a new top, then trimmed the edges with corner round and embellished the top of the corner round with a dark walnut trim and tacked them into place with brass nails.

This piece now makes a nice table to hold a CD player and a few other menial items. I placed a piece of leather designer round in the center as a nice visual. This piece only took a couple of days to work. It too is a solid piece. No drawers, just a table.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

LJ, what a great job you did on both pieces. I really like how that wash stand turned out. It’s beautiful. I’ve done a few projects like this in the past but nothing this nice. Good job, well done.

[KLJ77]

Okay...one more piece me and my daughter are very proud of.

Back about 25 years ago, my daughter was living in my area of Virginia Beach and was visiting one day. She wanted me to help her look for a coffee table...so off we went. I don't recall the venue where we found this piece, but the seller wanted to get rid of it pretty bad. This piece had been painted with a putrid white paint. However, what other people who looked at it didn't see what I did. They only looked at the ugliness of it. I went over and lifted up the edge and realized this table was made of pure oak. What kind, I did not know. But I knew this was a solid piece. It also came with four heavy glass sections.

I asked the seller what he was asking for it, and he said...I'll let it go for $15.00. SOLD! We wrestled this into my truck and off to my garage we went. For three weeks, my daughter and I worked on this every day. Again, we initially used paint remover to get the THREE different colors and coats of paint off. Then we started sanding. We finally got down to the raw wood and discovered that the table was made of White Oak. I told my daughter....ohhhhh, this is going to look beautiful when we're done. She was so excited.

We got every inch of this piece sanded down to original wood. Not a lick of paint left anywhere. However, there were grooves along the edges and along the top that, if we tried to sand them, it could ruin the design. So I took a dark walnut stain, a Q-tip and carefully ran along the grooved portion to make it dark. This tended to 'highlight' the entire piece. We were very pleased with the outcome.

To this day, this coffee table adorns my daughters home. It has been moved from home to home over the years, but is just as attractive as the day we completed this father/daughter project. It is her pride and joy, because we worked on this together and took a terrible ugly piece and and turned a frog into a prince.

Unfortunately, I did not take 'before' photos...but this lone photo gives one the view of what we completed.

One of the original four glass sections got broken, and my daughter was not able to locate or find another piece that matches the other three, so she bought a large one piece to cover the table in this photo. Even back then, a piece like this brand new would have cost $300.00 or more. Today...probably $800 - $1000.

[KLJ77]

Thank you, Mark for such a nice compliment. I appreciate it. Glad you enjoyed viewing.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Another beauty Ken. It’s amazing what some people will do to a fine piece of furniture, nice restoration.

[FRJ]

Back in 2014, I went to an estate sale and they had this old (maybe 50 years old, at least, maybe much more) desk with a mirror for sale. It was in pretty bad shape with shellac and dark stain, but still a solid piece. This was a piece of furniture that one sees in the old western movies that the 'ladies of the saloons' used in their rooms to 'clean up' with afterward. You may have seen these with the pot and the pitcher of water on them. Some had mirrors, some didn't. The "pot" was actually called a "chamber pot" back in the day before toilets came about.

Anyway...I purchased this piece for $90.00, knowing that I could make this piece look attractive again. I worked on restoring this piece for six weeks straight in my garage. I took out the drawers, disconnected the door and the drawer handles and worked each piece on its own. I used varnish remover on all the pieces to get most of the old decrepit stuff off. From there, I went to sanding, and sanding...and more sanding. The stain was imbedded into the wood quite deeply and it got to the point where if I continued sanding, I was going to ruin it to no avail.

So I said enough is enough and went with the new look I had obtained. I bought new drawer pulls and a knob for the door. I then put three light coats of polyurethane on it. I purchased a really nice pitcher and pot that matched at a thrift store and used them as an enhancement to the piece itself.

Below are the BEFORE photos (less the mirror, but it was in the same shape as the desk part). Then I posted the AFTER photos of the completed piece. The piece is solid oak and the mirror is beveled on the edges...indicative to its age.

Now, I'm no furniture maker or elaborate carpenter, but I do enjoy working pieces like this. For a layman, I'm very content with how this turned out. I've been offered $400.00 for it, but I declined. It has sentimental value for me and I put too much work into this piece to be rid of it. There's a bit of pride involved in all this too. So there's that...

For your viewing pleasure...

Before photos:

Very nice work on your furniture.
Hats off to you and your daughter.

Many years ago my sweetheart and I were perusing yard sales and she bought this dresser for me. I think she paid $40 for it.
It wasn't in too bad of shape but it needed going over for sure.
I was maybe 52 years old and had never had any drawers at all to put clothes in. When I was younger we had cardboard boxes.
When I was married we had cardboard boxes and open shelves. That's just the way it was.
This dresser has dovetail drawers and dust shelves. I was overjoyed and I treasure it. My mothers picture on top.

[woodwalker]

Back in 2014, I went to an estate sale and they had this old (maybe 50 years old, at least, maybe much more) desk with a mirror for sale. It was in pretty bad shape with shellac and dark stain, but still a solid piece. This was a piece of furniture that one sees in the old western movies that the 'ladies of the saloons' used in their rooms to 'clean up' with afterward. You may have seen these with the pot and the pitcher of water on them. Some had mirrors, some didn't. The "pot" was actually called a "chamber pot" back in the day before toilets came about.

Anyway...I purchased this piece for $90.00, knowing that I could make this piece look attractive again. I worked on restoring this piece for six weeks straight in my garage. I took out the drawers, disconnected the door and the drawer handles and worked each piece on its own. I used varnish remover on all the pieces to get most of the old decrepit stuff off. From there, I went to sanding, and sanding...and more sanding. The stain was imbedded into the wood quite deeply and it got to the point where if I continued sanding, I was going to ruin it to no avail.

So I said enough is enough and went with the new look I had obtained. I bought new drawer pulls and a knob for the door. I then put three light coats of polyurethane on it. I purchased a really nice pitcher and pot that matched at a thrift store and used them as an enhancement to the piece itself.

Below are the BEFORE photos (less the mirror, but it was in the same shape as the desk part). Then I posted the AFTER photos of the completed piece. The piece is solid oak and the mirror is beveled on the edges...indicative to its age.

Now, I'm no furniture maker or elaborate carpenter, but I do enjoy working pieces like this. For a layman, I'm very content with how this turned out. I've been offered $400.00 for it, but I declined. It has sentimental value for me and I put too much work into this piece to be rid of it. There's a bit of pride involved in all this too. So there's that...

For your viewing pleasure...

Before photos:

Very nice work on your furniture.
Hats off to you and your daughter.

Many years ago my sweetheart and I were perusing yard sales and she bought this dresser for me. I think she paid $40 for it.
It wasn't in too bad of shape but it needed going over for sure.
I was maybe 52 years old and had never had any drawers at all to put clothes in. When I was younger we had cardboard boxes.
When I was married we had cardboard boxes and open shelves. That's just the way it was.
This dresser has dovetail drawers and dust shelves. I was overjoyed and I treasure it. My mothers picture on top.

Very nice Joe!! All you gentleman are showing some fine pieces. It does a heart good to see these old well built pieces being brought back to life. I also had cardboard boxes to keep my clothes in as a child and as a young adult. Good stuff guys!!

[FRJ]

Very nice Joe!! All you gentleman are showing some fine pieces. It does a heart good to see these old well built pieces being brought back to life. I also had cardboard boxes to keep my clothes in as a child and as a young adult. Good stuff guys!!

Thank you, woodwalker.

Most pieces of this era were factory made and accurately made. Quite nice furniture actually.
Hand made pieces are another game especially if they were made by a serious craftsman.
Mine, of course, is factory made.

I love tossing cardboard.

[KLJ77]

Joe, that is a fine piece of furniture your sweetheart purchased for you. You've kept it looking very good...like brand new. I too, can share your cardboard storage unit experiences. Me and my four brothers shared a 'sock box', and many other different sizes of boxes. It wasn't until I was out of high school before I experienced a locker with many shelves to put my personal things in...it was called 'bootcamp.'

Thanks for sharing your dresser drawer and your experience.

[KLJ77]

Woodworker,

So, you're another "cardboard box veteran". I believe those early years of our life taught us how to truly appreciate the better things of life as we grew older. It's a humbling experience, but an experience that had value. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[FRJ]

It wasn't until I was out of high school before I experienced a locker with many shelves to put my personal things in...it was called 'bootcamp.'
Thanks for sharing your dresser drawer and your experience.

Ha, I think I can closely identify with that.

Woodworker,

So, you're another "cardboard box veteran". I believe those early years of our life taught us how to truly appreciate the better things of life as we grew older. It's a humbling experience, but an experience that had value. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

True words of experience.

[KLJ77]

Woodwalker,

I apologize for the "woodworker" name. That darn spell checker thingie struck again.

[bestgear]

Y’all are very talented, it’s a pleasure to read this thread. I seemed to have a knack for getting pieces like these ready for finishing but failed at that last step. I was always heavy handed with finishing products and the end result was always middle school shop at best. Keep saving those furniture pieces, our generation may be the last willing to devote the time & energy in doing so