refinish furniture?
July 23, 2010
I want to update my oak entertainment center and computer desk. It is solid oak with a medium varnish. I would like to update it to look more contemporary and paint it or stain it with black paint/stain. How can I do this without the hassle of completely stripping the finish and starting from scratch? Any help out there? Thanks
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first, clean it really good with something that will remove any old furniture polish (like liquid gold–that stuff will cause anything you put over the piece to peel off like you won’t believe), then sand with fine paper, sand thoroughly, but lightly, this gives the surface tooth so your new finish will bond adequately. apply the new finish in thin THIN even coats (i said coats, that’s plural, means more than one, like two or maybe three but no more than three unless you are doing something exotic like gilding or a faux stone look).
use a regular varnish or oil-based enamel do NOT use polyurethane, as it is made to go onto polyurethane, and not over something previously finished (if you put polyurethane varnish on this piece it will peel like crazy in huge sheets)(or you don’t have to learn from my "learning experiences" you can have some of your own)
do NOT completely strip this piece, it will damage the wood and the glue holding any veneers and joints together will go away and your piece will fall apart in 6 months (again you are free not to learn from other’s mistakes)
Just give it a light sanding so the paint will stick.