Renovating old furniture

calleyw

There use to be a shabby chic thread that I can't find now. And refurbing stuff.

As the thread got so long people start a community here

I have some 1970's ercol dinning chairs. Only got 3 but keep saying I am going to strip them down and paint them and get new foam and fabric and do them up. Had they for last eight years and still going strong.

Yours


Calley

IFA_Barbara

Hi there, why dont you respray with an appropriate colour to match you other furnishings, my brother has just updated 2 sets of chest of drawers for his bedroom with 1 £5 spray paint from the DIY shop. They look brilliant. I have just upholstered my bedframe for £8 as it didnt match the new wardrobes I bought. I cant believe I am saving so much money a new bed would have cost me at least £500. Its catching this moneysaving and soooo environmentally friendly!!!!!!

ceridwen

silvasava wrote: »

Methylated spirit will also remove any wax/grease build up. Penelope & Dander are correct - dont remove the veneer! If the surface is damaged use VERY fine wire wool to get rid of the varnish - if the surface has been damaged by heat rings try sanding also with VERY fine sandpaper - I've sometimes used a coloured satin varnish to re-coat and the furniture has come up like new but the secret is as usual - take your time on preparation - Good Luck

Am I correct in thinking this sounds like a good way to deal with candlegrease droppings on the top of a pine chest I have? Looking at the above - I'm thinking: I suppose that means I use meths for the candle drippings, then very fine wire wool to sand the top, then coloured satin varnish? (er...daft question time - would I have to use that satin varnish ALL over the chest - or would it be okay just to use it on the top? - as its only the top that has been damaged).

Estimator1

I'm always getting candle wax on the dining room table, and have found the following method the best:
Try a warm iron, on top of a few pieces of kitchen roll. It'll melt the wax into the kitchen roll, and if there's still some left on the table, use your fingernails to remove the rest whilst it's still warm. Anything harder than that will leave scratch marks on the wood (I know, because previously I used a table knife, and it made a mess!). I didn't need to finish off with meths...........my table has danish oil on it and it was ok after the iron treatment.

Cacran

I got an old coffee table from a charity shop for £15. I liked it because it was similar colouring to an Ercol bookcase that I have. The top had a burn on it and the varnish was cracking. the legs were fine. I used one of those little mouse shaped electric sanders on the veneer. I managed to remove all the varnish with repeated sanding and cleaning off with white spirit then I waxed the top. It look great. I also got an old chest of drwers, years ago. Rubbed it down and painted it in white eggshell. It is the most useful bit of furniture that I have and goes wll with the white melamine bedroom furniture that I have. The benefit is that the dovetail jointed drawers do not drop to pieces. The other week I bought a teall boy from local ebay for £6.50. I intend to rub trhat down and wax it to mach my other furniture. Last week I got a mahogany table from ebay for £3.71 and I don't even need to do anything with that, it is gorgeous. Bargains are out there to be had. Free cycle is a great source, too.

maman

Thanks, calleyw. I visited the cafe and loved it. I've never been able to access the shabby chic thread (I can never get into really big threads I think it's to do with Vista) so this was great.

Now excuse me if I ask an ignorant question. Are there lots of communities on mse? how do you find out about them?

michael52

I just paint everything with paint from sales and cheap pound shops.Did a 70s sideboard white but highlighted areas of interest in black looks cool. Old sideboards painted in colours are great in kids rooms.Remeber to pick up free furniture try your local freecycle site.To seal paint on furniture I throw some varnish into the paint.Remeber the rule water based paint use water based varnish.Heavy high acrlic paints use same varnish.But no mix varnish in paint saves time and effort.

Horace

maman wrote: »

Thanks, calleyw. I visited the cafe and loved it. I've never been able to access the shabby chic thread (I can never get into really big threads I think it's to do with Vista) so this was great.

Now excuse me if I ask an ignorant question. Are there lots of communities on mse? how do you find out about them?

Hi there are lots of communities on MSE for all sorts of different things - to access them click on Forum and a list will pop up of all the different ones. Also if you scroll down past the last page on a thread then you will come to another box detailing the board that you are on and if you click on the arrow next to it you will be able to see the list of fora.

HTH

Most of my furniture is old, if I buy tatty bits of furniture cheap then I use a fine grain sandpaper (or rougher one depending on item and damage), white spirits or meths and then some varnish. Its great fun and the furniture looks fab.

bev1231

Hi, I have just been given a recliner chair, I love it but its the wrong colour. Is there any way I can spray paint the chair? Are there special paints for fabrics? Just a thought as I would love to change the colour. Bev

Gigervamp

You can get fabric paint, but they're only for painting small areas. You'll probably need to recover the chair if it's the fabric that needs updating.