OLD 
Old “NEW”
We recently bought a house to flip which came full of old furniture, old books, old “stuff”, well you get the idea – a whole lot of OLD homegoods. You would think the easy thing to do is throw the old out but you know what they say “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and true as it is, we kept any salvageable items and decided to refinish them; give them a second chance. So I’ll keep this post short, because you’ve got work to do!
This is the process and materials that I used, it worked for me and I hope it works for you too!
Materials
- Piece of furniture
- Wood Filler (if necessary)
- Sanding Paper 120 grit (if using filler)
- Sanding Paper 220 grit (sanding between coats of paint)
- Zinsser Primer: Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Interior/Exterior Multi-purpose Water-based Primer
- Furniture Grade Paint: Valspar Furniture Satin Latex Paint
- Paintbrush: Purdy Nylox Glide Nylon Angle 2-in Paint Brush
- Small foam roller
- Rags (aka old husband t-shirts) for dusting
Disclosure: We are not being compensated in any way for promoting any of these products, these are just the products that I happen to use and have on hand.
How to:
Step 1
Wipe down your furniture, put down plastic or some other covering to protect the area you’ll be working in. If it’s necessary to sand your item before starting, do this now, and be sure to vacuum/wipe down the piece afterward. Note: you’ll know you should sand before starting if you see any areas where the piece isn’t smooth).
Step 2
If there are any areas where the piece was dented, or a chunk of wood was broken off, and you don’t have the piece that broke off, fill it in with wood filler, sand when dried, refill if needed, and sand again. Dust again. Prime. Cut in all the hard to reach areas first with the paintbrush. Then on the larger areas, use the foam roller.
Step 3
If one coat of primer did the trick you can move on to painting. If any stain bled through, sand and then do a second coat of primer before moving on. Lightly sand before painting. When painting, again hit up the hard to reach areas first with the brush and then go over larger areas with the roller. Let dry and then lightly sand before the next coat.
QUICK TIP: To seal in the smell of old furniture I sprayed the inside of the drawers with Shellac Spray.
Step 4
Paint the second coat. If it looks good then you’re done, if you think it needs a third coat, go for it.
I know it’s a lot of ‘wax on, wax off’ type of deal but trust me, its worth it to know the piece will look amazing in the end.
So. there you have it, a fairly easy project to rejuvenate those old tired pieces of furniture in your home and give it new life. Let us know what you think in the comments below, and share if you found this helpful. If you tried it let us see how it turned up and if you have a preferred process let us know too, we would love to try it!