Furniture Refinishing
Refinishing Furniture And Creating Unique Decorative Items
Refinishing furniture is not only a great hobby, but it has many other great benefits too. There is nothing like coming home from a stressful day at work and going out to a quiet and peaceful garage. Making a beautiful work of art out of an old piece of junk gives you relaxation and a sense of accomplishment. Making decorative furniture is also a relatively inexpensive way to create the perfect item of furniture to match your style and personality.
classic wood furniture design
The Benefits of Creating Personalized Furniture
First, personalized furniture is a great way to create the perfect piece of furniture for your home. When you find the right piece, it adds to the décor in your home and it is something that no one else in the whole world has. It also will work well for what you need it for, not having to work with it like commercially purchase pieces. Refinishing furniture is also a great way to let out some of the creativity and imagination that other mediums such as drawing or painting do not allow for. Working on a three-dimensional piece also makes you think differently about your project. Kids also find creating their own unique furniture fun and exciting. The sense of pride they have on giving their opinion and helping along is a priceless life lesson that other hobbies simply do not offer. Your children will value the quality time spent with you and will not soon forget those hours spent working on a piece.
The Downfalls of Refinishing Furniture
There are a few downsides to refinishing furniture, but luckily, they are problems that are easily solved. The first problem often encountered with furniture finishing is the initial costs. Brushes, paint, sanders, sandpaper, and even the cost of the furniture pieces can quickly add up. This is relatively simple to get around, especially if you are not sure that it is a hobby you would like to do long term. Discount stores will often have cheap supplies such as brushes and paint trays for a few dollars. When looking for stains and paints, the hardware stores often sell miss-tints and discontinued colors for a few dollars each. If you get a few different colors, you can mix them together to make new colors. Furniture items can often be picked up pretty cheap if you go to a few yard sales a couple of hours before they close.
Modern style of wood furniture
What to do with the furniture can also be a problem, after all, your house or apartment can only hold so much before you start to feel crowded. Give them as gifts to friends or family members. Shelters, hospitals, and many other organizations are happy for the donation and these pieces are great for brightening up the otherwise dreary interiors of these buildings. Daycares and schools love large decorative tables or shelving units.
The Best Way To Get Started
The first step is to decide what type of hobbyist you are. If you chose a project that you have no interest in finishing, all of the work you put into it will be wasted. Deciding on which of the two types of personalities you have will help you to decide on a project you would most enjoy working on.
Some people like to start a project and finish it the same day, otherwise they find that they lose interest in doing it. For these people, large intricate projects will get off to a good start and end up in a pile in the back of a storage room with other unfinished projects. For these people small basic projects such as a trinket box or a plant stand with straightforward pieces are a great place to start.
Wood Furniture
Other hobbyists like something that looks challenging and hard to do and look forward to the hours of time spent working on the project. These people often like large pieces that have a variety of pieces and require a lot of patience and attention to detail. Buffets, intricate mirrors, curios, and writing desks are the perfect opportunity to test their newfound skills.
Once you have chosen a project, you need to decide where you will work on it. For those who are fortunate enough to have a shop or garage, it might be a matter of rearranging a few things to make the area easy to work in. In apartments or townhouses, feel free to work in the parking lot, porch, or deck. Just be sure to check with neighbors and the property owner so that you do not get into the middle of a project and have someone throw a fit at you over the noise and dust. Generally, any well-ventilated area can work. One thing to keep in mind: If you work in front of an open house window, you will have some cleaning up to do when you go back inside.
The How-To of Furniture Refinishing And What You Will Need To Purchase
Once you know the what and where of your new pastime, you just need to get some supplies to get started. Sand paper, wood filler, a putty knife, and a sander are pretty much all you will need to get your item ready for finishing. By the way, don’t wear any clothes that you want to wear out and about. You will only have to run over the front of your shirt with the sander or spill a can of stripper once to figure out why.
Once you are ready to start finishing, you will need to decide on how you will finish the project and what you will need to get it done. Basic items like a paintbrush, drop cloth, and fine sand paper are the staples of any project. You will also need to collect the pictures, stains, paints, and varnishes and other materials you will use.
time to relax
After the finish is dry, reassemble your project. Do not forget to add on things like hardware, closures, hinges, and drawer slides. Then, you just need to put it where it belongs so that you can ooh and ahh over your handiwork. One word of advice here too. If you are working on an extremely large item of furniture, you might be wise to put it together in the same room you plan to use it. A lot of hair pulling goes on when you carefully put everything together only to find out you have to take it apart again to get it up the stairs and in a doorway.
Furniture refinishing is a great hobby for everyone to enjoy regardless of where you live. It is a hobby that is fun, easy, and rewarding. You will also find that you learn a lot about the work you are doing and maybe even about yourself. A great amount of pride comes from looking at the finished piece and thinking, “I did it!”