Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Refinish Old Furniture – Enhance Appearance and Value



Pine cabinet resprayed in off-white
 Look out for cheap furniture at auctions, yard sales and flea markets. You can refinish old furniture and greatly enhance the appearance as well as the value. The only important consideration is that the piece must be structurally in good condition. Smaller repairs are ok but as soon as you have to replace parts and do major repairs, the costs will quickly be more than what the piece is worth.

I recently got a pine cabinet for a really good price and refinished it as shown in the picture. After removing the old varnish and filling up scratches and small nicks with white wood filler, I sprayed on a good wood primer. After leaving it over night, the next step was to sand it down with a 360 grit sand paper to a smooth finish. Then I sprayed two coats of an off white enamel paint (eggshell for a matt finish) and it came out really good. I used Plascon’s Afternoon Shower Super Enamel Pastel and it was thinned 10 parts to 1 part Thinners.

SA Pine sprays really well but because it tends to have a lot of knots, these should be treated and sealed before painting. A good knot sealer and wood filler will do the trick.

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