One thing I get excited about (more than food), is refinishing wood furniture. Ooooooo, beautiful wood graining, where were you hiding all my life?!
Well, of all my refinishing projects to date, this was the longest...like, eons. Last winter, I bought this vintage mid century modern dresser set by Lane, from their Rhythm collection (made in 1950s or 1960s - I think 1960s), from a nice man who was selling it because they were not really his style. The set belonged to his mother, who had had it in her home when she was young. It was once a beautiful set (all hardwood with a thick walnut veneer - AMAZING), and his mother really wanted it to go to someone that could really appreciate its beauty. Well, at the time that I bought it...it looked like it had been to hell and back, and on the way back, someone splatter-barfed on it. So, to appreciate the beauty of the dressers, I had to look at their beautiful lines and just imagine their potential (like, with a LOT of imagination). But, despite my optimism, I still kept thinking...oh God, this is going to take FOREVER to refinish.
Scraping stripper from the long dresser top...ooooh, stripping!
The beautiful wood graining that had been hiding under years of abuse.....
Unfortunately, on the other end of that dresser is a lot of water and other types of damage. This is after scraping stripper off. There's sanding in my future.
Well, in Michigan, you can't refinish stuff in the winter, unless you're lucky enough to have a well-ventilated, heated garage or studio or something...which I'm not. womp, womp. SO, this sat stufed in my garage until a warm spring day finally came thru. So, beginning in May, I refinished the tops. A M A Z I N G. The wood graining was just spectacular. The drawer fronts were already still in gorgeious condition, they just needed cleaning, so I didn't have to worry about those, BUT, now, next to the beautful tops and drawer fronts, the finish on the sculpted handles looked, just....sad. So...more sanding (ug), more staining (ooooh!), more poly....and, the handles just GLOW now! And it's only taken 2 months..... :)
After lots of sanding and staining during the day (you can probably tell it is nighttime at this point from the pictures), this is the top of the long dresser and what's left of those previously hideous stains and marks. I couldn't get them out completely, but I'd say it looks pretty good!
After a coat of poly on top....ahhhhhh, sooooooooo nice! so happy!
the amazing drawer fronts in their original condition! HEART EYES for real! sigh.... no work needed, yay!
And this is what the drawer handles looked like......definitely need to refinish them now.......more sanding, more staining, more poly.....11 drawer handles!
and the g-g-g-g-gorgeous handles after a million years of work! so worth it!
the finished long dresser!
yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and finally, the finished tall dresser!
Anyway, as proud of myself as I am on this project (like, so proud! I feel like the wood master!), I'm going to sell this set now. I have no space for them, otherwise I'd be very tempted to keep them!
If you're interested in buying them, click here!