While applying a new coat of paint can be a quick and easy way to make over a piece of furniture, refinishing a quality wooden piece is often worth the added time and patience. And it's often not too hard — a little light sanding and a few simple restoring products is often all it takes to breathe new life into old pieces, and bring out the beautiful grain of wooden furniture.
1. A Revamped Kitchen Table, from Door Sixteen
2. An Old Dresser, Apartment Therapy
3. A Pair of Craigslist Dressers, from Apartment Therapy
4. A Salvaged Antique Ladder, from Design*Sponge
5. A Childhood Wood Bed, via Apartment Therapy
MORE WOOD REFINISHING POSTS ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• Refinish Or Repaint: The Great Wood Makeover Debate
• How to Quickly & Easily Spruce Up Wood Furniture
• Howard Feed-N-Wax Wood Preserver
• Vintage Furniture: When to Leave the Finish As-Is
• Preserving the Finish (and Value) of Antique Furniture
• MORE BEFORE & AFTER PROJECTS ON APARTMENT THERAPY
• SUBMIT A BEFORE & AFTER PROJECT
(Images: as Linked Above)






Z2 iPod Dock and Wi...
I LOVE these kind of round ups! And I just got a wooden rocking chair from the Goodwill that I was thinking of painting . . . now I'm thinking again!
These are gorgeous. I would trade my firstborn for the kitchen table; it's that alluring.
I've refinished a couple fo wood furniture pieces, and while it can take a while it is very much worth it. Very little can beat the natural beauty of wood.
Here is my Craiglist dresser: http://sweetsuite10.com/2012/02/my-thank-god-its-finally-finished-dresser-rehabilitation-project/
And here is my Craiglist console: http://sweetsuite10.com/2012/08/refinished-living-room-media-console/
I love how both turned out.
Thanks for posting this! Im looking for an old dresser; lots of ones I see have good bones but have painted over. It's nice to see people embrace the original wood.
I would never had looked at that beat up ladder and thought, lets clean it up. I'm so glad that someone did! It is so lovely next to the bookcase.
Refinishing wood is both the easiest and most frustrating adventure/task in restoration. Power tools, especially random orbit sanders and oscillating detail sanders make it a whole lot easier (but not quieter). Hand sanding is a must, especially for nooks and crannies. Wiping the wood down with a damp cloth, letting it dry and lightly, lightly sanding with extra fine sandpaper (320 grit) gets the fuzz off. Then, for me, multiple coats of wipe on oil based polyurethane gives the smoothest finish.
I wish I could recommend the "green" finishes, but I haven't found any that take the wear and tear than the oil based finishes do. And water based poly is tough to apply well, so I stick with oil poly.
I've refinished a veneer dresser and am so happy with it. http://turningithome.blogspot.com/2012/09/refinishing-veneer-dresser-twice.html
I actually am considering refinishing dressers that I have painted to show their natural wood again.
wow i love this furniture and art .. and i am a student too i own a online store its about handicraft u can visit it thanks
www.pakistanhandicraft.com