Raise your hand if you have an old chest of drawers, a slightly damaged table or some other relic of your grandmother's era lurking in a moldy corner of your attic or garage. If you do -- and I know there are probably thousands of you out there -- then you've probably been harboring a belief that there's antique value or at least hidden beauty in the piece. That all you have to do is resurrect it.
Hold on to that belief. Old neglected furniture can indeed be salvaged if you're willing to invest some time and sweat equity. And if the piece is well made, sturdy and has design appeal, it could be worth the effort -- especially considering the price of a new, and maybe not-so-well-built, alternative.
The road to reclamation doesn't necessarily dictate a serious restoration. Depending on the value of the piece -- and we're not above including borderline junk here -- you might want to consider a number of choices. Vintage furniture without a period pedigree can still have a useful life if it's refinished, painted or otherwise transformed to become a thing of beauty rather than an object of neglect.
Painting as Panacea
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There are a variety of different methods you can use to refinish old furniture.
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Rachel Ashwell, of course, would be advising you to paint your old piece white, along with every other piece of furniture in the room and in the house -- plus white walls, white upholstery and white window coverings. The look is called Shabby Chic, and if you've never heard of it you haven't tuned in to the Style network lately. Rachel is ubiquitous. Shabby Chic is undeniably trendy (although fading fast), and its uniform approach to style can cover a variety of sins. Check out shabbychic.com for an overview.
Before you settle for white or any other solid color, however, you may want to consider a more decorative, custom finish. Any paint store or paint department carries kits for applying a variety of special finishes. The crackle look, for example, is popular and appealing for an old piece of furniture because it adds texture as well as color.
Decorative painter Susan Goans Driggers, a strong advocate of crackle, advises stripping the piece before you begin the painting process. Step two is a thorough sanding (with the grain, not against it) to ensure that the new finish adheres evenly. She applies the crackle medium next, using a specially designed product from Plaid Enterprises. After letting the medium dry thoroughly -- generally 20 minutes to an hour -- she applies a coat of water-based paint. Whatever color you chose will emerge as the dominant color of the piece. This artist likes to "lay it on a little thick," using a foam-tip brush for heavier application. Thick paint produces larger cracks, she says. For finer, webby cracks, she advises applying the paint in a thinner layer, using a brush.
The results are immediately gratifying, she promises, giving your piece of furniture an aged, distressed look that's both chic and appealing. If this sounds like a paradox, have faith. Dirty and grimy is not the same as artfully distressed.
If you decide to skip the custom finish and go for a simple color makeover, all you'll need are the minimal tools and some paint. Start with a thorough sanding to prepare the surface. (Even easier, use a liquid sandpaper and/or deglosser, available in any paint store.) Clean the wood surface well before applying a coat of wood primer. Sand with fine sandpaper after the primer dries thoroughly, then clean the surface again -- with a damp cloth if you're planning to finish with a latex paint. Latex is preferred because it's easier to use, is environmentally friendly and doesn't emit noxious fumes. Apply one or two coats of finish paint, depending on how well it covers. Be sure to use a nylon bristle brush (best with latex paint), and sand lightly between coats.
Although latex paint used to be less durable than oil-based paint, manufacturers insist that is no longer true. If you have any doubts, you can finish your piece with a layer or two of polyurethane over the paint, sanding lightly between layers, of course. The level of gloss is up to you.
The Road to High Art
Feeling more adventurous and confident? Then why not try a more artistic approach. Wilmington artist and DCAD (Delaware College of Art and Design) instructor Lynda Schmid has reclaimed many pieces of old furniture by repainting them. She has turned trunks, small boxes, chairs, tables, children's furniture and toys into objects of great beauty and artistic value. However, she warns that the process is somewhat intuitive, and that a knowledge of color is helpful. Still, she advocates a trial-and-error approach, which can lead to very satisfying results.
"I work with layering to create an aged look," says Schmid. "The finished product has a richness that you don't get with one layer of paint. But the process invites experimenting, so be open to changes as you work." Sanding between layers is an option she favors; but, again, she advises experimenting.
If the piece you've selected is already painted, or if it has a seriously compromised finish, you can either strip it to bare wood or just sand it before applying an acrylic polymer called gesso. "Gesso is an emulsion that seals the wood and provides a 'tooth' for successive layers of paint," Schmid explains. She adds that you also can apply up to five coats of gesso for a much smoother surface before putting on the paint.
The paint you choose can be either oil or water-based; she has used both. But she recommends Golden Paints, a brand with more pigment strength than the norm, for richer colors. Use one color or multiple colors; this is where the creativity comes in. You may even want to paint images or designs on the surface, as Schmid does, after the finish coat has dried. Hand-painted furniture is not only highly prized, it is also very expensive to buy. The advantage of working with a cast-off piece of furniture is that you have nothing to lose but time and the cost of materials.
For the final step, Schmid adds a finish coat of clear Liquitex, an acrylic gel medium that comes in both a gloss and matte finish.
As an alternative to the gesso-paint technique, you might want to try applying layers of stain, either oil or water-based, to wood that has been stripped. The kind of stains Schmid uses are transparent glazes made from acrylic artist's ink, thin acrylic washes, thinned Golden's paint or Dr. Martin's liquid watercolor. She has experimented with all of them.
"I apply as many as 10 layers of different color stains, sanding between each layer," says Schmid. "Essentially you're layering your colors to create new colors and depth." She likes to finish with Minwax paste finishing wax. All the supplies she uses are available at Michael's, an arts and crafts supply store at the Christiana Mall and the Brandywine Town Center.
You might also want to check Border's for excellent books on decorative painting and faux finishing. And if you're reluctant go adventuring into the world of decorative painting without a guide, DCAD offers an excellent course on furniture painting.
Help for the Marginally Damaged
Mar-Stan's, a well-established local purveyor of new, unfinished furniture, carries products that can help restore beauty to a piece of furniture too good to paint, one that displays hints of a quality hardwood such as cherry, walnut or mahogany beneath layers of grime. Before you resort to stripping the finish, a process best described as laborious and messy, consider using Briwax, a product Mar-Stan's sales assistant Joanne DeSantis calls a restoration wax. "I love the stuff," she says, explaining that Briwax works best on furniture that has fallen victim to fading color, has a dull finish or is scratched and dirty.
"Briwax combines a color substance with canuba wax and beeswax," says DeSantis. "You apply it with very fine steel wool, let it dry, then buff it with a soft, clean cloth." The results are often astonishing, she claims. Briwax will even remove water rings from a wood surface, although don't expect it to make gouges disappear. "A lot of people save a lot of money using this stuff instead of refinishing," she adds.
Should you decide to paint rather than restore the natural finish, Mar-Stan's recommends either acrylic- or oil-based Stulb Paints. The Old Village line features a colonial look, with 14 muted colors in a matte or satin finish. Stulb also offers a Williamsburg buttermilk paint that simulates the look of early painted furniture.
Whatever furniture makeover process you decide on, the results are sure to be gratifying. Especially when the cost is so low.
