I want to make my great grandmas old furniture pretty again?

Question

Well my grandpas parents passed away and he inherited their house and everything inside. So they gave us most of the furniture. You know that beautiful old furniture? They dont make furniture like that anymore. Anyways I have a whole bedroom set with tall dresser, long dresser, vanity, kitchen table and chairs and all kinds of stuff. Anyways with the bedroom set theres alot of the wood that doesnt match. You can tell where it sat by the window and the sun shined through. Some of its faded. Some of its scratched. How do I make it nice again? I know you can stain it so they all match again but what are the steps? I dont want to ruin it.

Answer 1

hire a proffessional.. it needs sme staining sanding and a lil finishing = )

good luck

me 4 10 pts

Answer 2

First determine its worth.  If it is valuable you don't want to refinish it, you want a professional to do the work.  If it is not too valuable or you want to keep and use it because it is of good quality you should learn how to do a good job first and see if the furniture is worth the work.  Buy an inexpensive antique that needs a lot of work.  Get a book on furniture refinishing.  You will want to strip it with a paint stripper, sand it and repair any damage, reseal/stain it then varnish.  Learning the results of applying different stains to different woods is an art in itself.  You should actually get similar wood to try different stain combinations.  Its a lot of work but I did my grandmothers desk about 30 years ago and it has held up well over the years even if it isn't ideal as a computer desk.

Answer 3

With all furniture, you have different types of wood. Refinishing it, can be a problem trying to get it all the same color.  The first step you do is lightly sand it all down. The furniture with bad scratches, bevel sand the edges (scratch) so as it won't be noticed when you restain it.  When you sand all he furniture down, you'll see the difference type of wood. Note: you might notice that one type of wood is dark like oak or mahogany, as for pine, it will be very bright.  When you go to restain it all, you'll need three different types of stain to get it to look all the same.  Ask for advice about stain when you go to buy it as the person selling it will know what type you'll need.  Please note:(Staining is a process all in it self and if not done right.  It might look bad)  When you finish staining your furniture, you will need to put a poly coat on every piece as it will protect the wood.  Good luck , and check all the pieces before doing anything as you might have something wort money.  Good luck.

Answer 4

If it's a dark piece of furniture (and I mean dark!), make some strong, thick, instant coffee (no sugar or cream).  Clean the furniture first with a damp rag -- no soap.  Then get a new rag and dunk it in the instant coffee.  Rub the instant coffee into the wood.  This will give the wood a darker color almost instantly (no pun intended).

Answer 5

:D

Answer 6

I would recommend taking the furniture to a shop that specializes in refinishing furniture. You can do it yourself, but it takes time and tools. I have stripped several dressers, and it is difficult. I would  recommend you do some research first. Get some books on refinishing furniture.

Answer 7

I too had some furniture from my grandmother... you will love it when its done, but it is hard work.... but worth it.

The first step: find a good work area to work on each piece as you refinish it . It takes a little room and it is dirty work, because you have to sand it first.... then follow the steps for which ever brand of stain you chose. Here are a couple of sites to help you.... good luck and enjoy!

Answer 8

Well depending on how old and how valuable the furniture is, I would recommend that you not try to revarnish the furniture itself.  Though there are a lot of shows and articles out there that tout the benefits of DIY, if you don't know what you are doing and you are handling delicate furniture, you could end up damaging or decreasing the worth of a valuable piece.  If you really love these pieces I would recommend that you save up and take them one at a time to an expert that can restore them to their former glory.  It is somewhat expensive to take them to an expert but it will be worth it in the end :)

Answer 9

im not sure about not ruining it because in some cases this could but try sanding it down to make it all smooth and even again other than that I'm not suite sure

Answer 10

It's alot of work, if you want it done right. You need to sand it down to the bare wood, stain it and put a sealer on it. You can also find a place that can do it for you, but it will cost some serious money. Get a good furniture polish~not the cheap stuff like Pledge or Glade and see if it will bring out the finish. A hardware store could probably suggest a few things.

Answer 11

apply some thinner first then varnish it.

Answer 12

I do some remodeling. You would be better to strip the finish off, all of it. Use a "stripper" from Ace Hardware. Then a power sander wit lite grit to get all the scratches off.

        It would be your personal taste as to what you want to do from here, stain, leave natural, varnish, or ?

         Don't take on to much and, do a little at a time.

Answer 13

If this is antique furniture, you risk destroying its value if you refinish it...antiques are much more valuable with original finishes or finishes restored by an expert. Don't use sandpaper on it.  You can clean old furniture by using linseed oil mixed with turpentine.  Wipe with a soft cotton rag. Before doing anything, determine the age of the furniture and the type of finish on it.  If the dresser or table top has water rings from glasses or other liquids, mayonnaise rubbed into the ring will make the rings disappear.

Answer 14

you will need someone who knows about old furniture like that so they can give you an appraisal and suggestions on what can be done. If the furniture is old it may be worth your while to look into restoring it. lots of money in that old stuff. Dont be hasty.

Get someone who knows. Ask questions and do not restore it yourself or someone who thinks they know what they are doing.

That could ruin what you have and its worth in the long run. Even if you decide to keep it because maybe one day you could change your mind. Do your homework for sure!!!!

Answer 15

First determine if the wood is faded and or stained or just the sealant.  If it just sun dried the sealant on it could be yellowing from the sun.  The old furniture does not have the same quality of sealant as we have now a day. SO you MIGHT be able to rough up the sealant and reapply new sealant to eliminate the yellowing.  

I would use a very fine sand paper to take off the outer sealant part that has been yellowed and try a new coat of Polyurethane.  If this does not eliminate the yellowing then you will need to sand it deeper but not all the way to the wood.  The scratches will fill in with new Poly.

If it is stained then you need to do the whole project differently.  But you didn't say it was stained so I won't get in to it.

Answer 16

If it were mine, I'd pick up the Formbys products and try them.  They might be all you need.

If the results are not what I want, I'd get the furniture appraised.  Some, but not all of this may be valuable.

Then, based on appraised value, I'd determine what I want to do.  

Professional stripping and refinishing is VERY expensive.  I'd probably just sand lightly, prime, then paint the color of my choice, or leave it as it is and love the "character"