I LOVE a good restoration challenge. When my client originally contacted me, she was interested in having the tops of her bedroom set (two dressers and a nightstand) refinished. She had originally purchased this Heywood-Wakefield set from her grandfather’s furniture store, so they hold sentimental value. They had significant wear, but not uncommon for pieces that had served a family for several decades.
When I picked up the furniture, we discussed refinishing the drawer faces as well, since they were also showing signs of wear and tear. In the end, we decided that a complete makeover was in order for all 3 pieces.
I stripped and sanded each piece down to bare wood. As this bedroom set is SOLID wood, I was able to sand out all of the damage to the tops without fear of sanding through a veneer.
I had Sherwin Williams create a custom match stain to bring it back to its original warm-maple tone. I sealed each piece with several coats of satin-finish poly to provide protection and add a soft sheen.
The hardware was original and (naturally) period-appropriate. We discussed replacing them since they were in rough shape and the paint on the interior of several of the pulls was chipped.
I asked for her permission to try to save the original hardware. She was on board and gave her blessing. I wanted to see how they cleaned up with brass polish and was delighted to see them return to their shiny original glow. I still had the problem of the chipped paint on the indent of each pull. I cautiously applied paint stripper to each pull and wiped it out with a plastic scrub pad. VOILA! One more final shine with brass polish and we were in business.
The finished dressers and nightstand are back to what I imagine they looked like originally. I can only hope that her grandfather would be proud.
Hold My Wine, I’ve Got This…
Amy
