How To Give New Life To Worn Out Wood Furniture

I love to look for quality wood furniture pieces at garage sales and thrift stores.  If you are persistent and keep at it you can find some really great stuff.  

For a quick reference quide of my top 10 Items to Grab for Unique Home Decor subscribe to my Postcard Cheat Sheet Series, today's postcard is entitled Thrift Store Gold.

I am working on some furniture pieces and playing with decoupage, I'm having way too much fun!  I love the two-tone furniture that is painted white and the drawers/door fronts are left natural wood.  I have been wanting to do a piece like that for a while and finally found a couple great pieces to play with.

Here they are when I started:

They are not in horrible shape with only minor issues so I think the wood can be refreshed and look fabulous.  The top of the lowboy has some veneer issues that I'll need to deal with in some fashion. 

My solution:

Decoupage!  I wanted something funky and I certainly got it.

The chest of drawers has gotten a fresh coat of white paint.

Now, we're ready to refresh the wood drawer fronts.  This is such an easy, quick process.  I have done it many times to give a facelift to a dated finish.  Works like a charm. 

I start by giving the wood a light sanding.

The wood looks "tired".  I chose a dark walnut stain and simply brushed it on, left it for a short period of time and wiped it off with a rag.  I wish the pictures were better, they simply don't do it justice.

The left drawer front has been stained while the right is still waiting.  It really is amazing how rich they look now.  So simple for such a fantastic result.

I have stripped and sealed pieces in the past and man, that's a lot of work!  Sometimes it can't be avoided but if it can, this is the easiest update and gives beautiful results.  Can't wait to get the poly on and get this baby completed.  I'm really excited about how its coming together and can't wait to show you a finished product.

Here are both pieces ready to go.  I am so in love with both of them and incredibly happy with the results.

Next time you see a great piece of furniture but think refinishing will be too much, think again!  Take a closer look, maybe a refresher is all it needs.

For a quick reference quide of my top 10 Items to Grab for Unique Home Decor subscribe to my Postcard Cheat Sheet Series, today's postcard is entitled Thrift Store Gold.