UPCYCLING VINTAGE FURNITURE NEAR EDINBURGH
Creating the curved sideboard
Furniture is usually dark because of the varnish that has been applied. This can also become more orange or darken over the years.
This piece of furniture had a lovely structure just waiting to be revealed. I was delighted to remove the varnish and sand down the top and find such beautiful wood grain.
I decided to keep the frame and the top as bare wood, whilst painting the drawers and doors. This would allow me to update the handles.
As usual, I started with a deep clean then checked for any repairs required, using wood filler to fill any scratches in the body and drawers. I also filled in the hardware holes as I was planning to update the handles.
After sanding the top and frame, I applied a green paint wash to counteract any red/orange tones in the wood. Then I added several coats of polyutherane varnish to protect it. Without the paint wash, the wood would appear dark red.
I then buff sanded the body, drawers and doors. This gives the primer a better surface to grip onto. 3 coats of shellac based stain blocking primer followed by 3 coats of Fusion Bedford paint with a light sanding in between each coat, gave a beautiful smooth painted surface.
Dovetail joints are a sign of quality in wooden furniture. With a little patience they can be painted precisely to make them a feature of the piece.
The use of masking tape, an Exacto knife and a little care and attention produced the desired effect.
Before reinstating the drawers, I gave them a treatment of Feed n Wax to ensure they looked their best and smoothly slided in and out.
It took a while to find just the right hardware to finish off this piece, but I think I made a good choice.