Restoring old wood furniture is an art. An art i clearly don't posess lol

Remodeling Maidiac

Remodeling Maidiac

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Jun 13, 2011
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Dug out my childhood desk today. Its about 47 years old and never been worked on outside of both my kids using (abusing) it as toddlers. It had about 20 stickers all over it. At least 3 coats of stain & paint. Magic marker drawings and dozens of pencil holes in the top. One drawer is in terrible shape and I'm trying to clamp it back together with wood glue before drilling and nailing it.

Now I see why those guys get paid so much to restore old furniture.

20210406_134106.jpg
 
Grampa Murked U said:
Dug out my childhood desk today. Its about 47 years old and never been worked on outside of both my kids using (abusing) it as toddlers. It had about 20 stickers all over it. At least 3 coats of stain & paint. Magic marker drawings and dozens of pencil holes in the top. One drawer is in terrible shape and I'm trying to clamp it back together with wood glue before drilling and nailing it.

Now I see why those guys get paid so much to restore old furniture.

View attachment 476878
Click to expand...

My brothers gutted my Mom's house and put in new kitchen and baths; my son in Barcelona and his partner redid their apartment, I asked if the picture they sent was from Architectural Digest.

I put up a new mailbox! I feel speshul!
 
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CrusaderFrank said:
Grampa Murked U said:
Dug out my childhood desk today. Its about 47 years old and never been worked on outside of both my kids using (abusing) it as toddlers. It had about 20 stickers all over it. At least 3 coats of stain & paint. Magic marker drawings and dozens of pencil holes in the top. One drawer is in terrible shape and I'm trying to clamp it back together with wood glue before drilling and nailing it.

Now I see why those guys get paid so much to restore old furniture.

View attachment 476878
Click to expand...

My brothers gutted my Mom's house and put in new kitchen and baths; my son in Barcelona and his partner redid their apartment, I asked if the picture they sent was from Architectural Digest.

I put up a new mailbox! I feel speshul!
Click to expand...
Pics or it didn't happen....the mailbox lol
 
My oldest DIL redid my coffee table which is prob'ly 42 years old- the boys mom and I got it before the oldest was born and he turned 40 last Oct- she did a great job- I'd been wanting to re-do it for 30 years- she did it in a week- stripped it down to natural wood (it was a fashionable yet garish reddish brown stain) and put a clear satin coat on it- I am proud as punch with my new 40+ year old all wood coffee table-
 
I found a very old piece of wood furniture and restored it as best I could.

1617762349117.png

I think I did a pretty good job.
 
I was able to get the rocker from my grandparent's homestead. It had been stored in a barn for decades and was a big mess, especially the horsehair upholstered seat, and the woven cane back had broken. But anyway, first I stripped off the old blackened varnish, bird droppings and 'granny sweat' with a combination of turps and (alcohol? Don't recall) using steel wool and a putty knife. Soused it down good to remove the chemicals and when it was dry, I applied linseed oil which brought out the beautiful stains but to my surprise, they were mixed woods, so it looked kind of odd--one arm was cherry, the other walnut, the rockers maple. LOL So then I understood why it had been covered in a dark opaque varnish. I left it natural though.

I bought an uphostery remnant and paid an upholsterer to redo the seat--had big iron springs, and a thick layer of horsehair padding that had to be replaced. Got the cane back replaced. It was a beauty. Unfortunately, after awhile, one arm weakened and kept snapping off in the front where it had a very slender turning. After several repair attempts, including an inserted metal rod, I gave it away before I moved. Hope they figured out how to fix it. It was an oversize rocker, just like my Gram, and had a lot of character.

I hunted and hunted online but can't find a pic of one similar.
 
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