My Experience as a First Time Furniture Refinisher

Tips for first time furniture refinishers and inspiration for re-purposing an old sewing table

When I was getting ready to move out of my parent’s house for the very first time, it was during the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic. As you can probably relate, I was desperately seeking new hobbies to fill the endless amount of time it felt like I had. This, paired with my need to furnish a whole apartment and desire to do so sustainably, fueled my new found hobby: furniture refinishing. It began when I found a small 3-drawer dresser at a yard sale for $3 that had approximately one million coats of paint on it. I spent weeks sanding and then staining the piece, and it turned out even better than I could have imagined! Then the next piece I did turned out beautifully, and the next, then I started selling pieces I didn’t need and made some money, and the rest is history!

This $3 refinished dresser was the first piece I refinished. Before & After

At the peak of my furniture refinishing, my whole family was in on the ordeal, to the point where my aunts and uncles would pick up furniture for me from the end of the road that they thought had potential.

I’ve listed some basic tips I learned along the way that may be helpful for other first time furniture refinishers:

• Diversify your search! There are so many placed to find inexpensive, second hand furniture that has a ton of potential. Some of my favourite places to find furniture are thrift stores, yard sales, hand-me-downs from friends and family, Facebook marketplace, estate sales, and yes, the end of the road. When I started paying attention, I was shocked by the amount of perfectly good furniture that gets thrown out.

• Yes, sanding takes that long, you’re not doing it wrong.

• Wear your proper PPE. Sanding creates a ton of dust and I couldn’t recommend enough wearing the recommended face masks. I would also recommend some protective eyewear so your eyes don’t become irritated.

• Applying paint on furniture goes on the smoothest by using a foam brush rather than a bristle brush. If you use a bristle brush and the paint dries with visible streaks, you can use a fine sand paper by hand to smooth it out.

• My favourite furniture paint that was the easiest to apply, had the nicest finish, and required fewer coats than other types I tried was BEAUTITONE Cabinet & Furniture Interior Acrylic Paint. If you can’t find this one, I would recommend looking for a 100% acrylic interior furniture paint that is paint and primer in one. I found chalk paint very challenging to apply due to how thick it is.

• Gel wood stain is the easiest of the various types of wood stain to apply, and I found using an old rag the easiest method of applying it.

• If you don’t like the existing hardware, try spray painting it! It will probably look better than you think, and for handles that have two holes, will save you having to drill new holes to fit new handles. I spray painted the handles for my $3 dresser pictured above and loved how it turned out. I’ve been using the dresser for 3 years and have had no issues with chipping or sticky spray paint.

• Just try! If it is a piece that was inexpensive or free, and already destined for the landfill, you have nothing to lose.
  

Photo 1: A 1960's or 70's sewing table I found at the end of the road (Before)

Photo 2: Using wood filler to seal the open grooves (with my helper, Emmie!). I also reinforced the opening underneath with scrap wood to ensure it stayed in place.

Photo 3: Primed

Photo 4: The finished product!

My first apartment was even more special because I filled it with pieces I had a hand in making. There is nothing quite like receiving a compliment on furniture and getting to say, “thanks, I did that!”