Vintage Home Furniture

Refinishing old furniture?

I have to take up two furniture re-finishing projects and I thought I could use some help from the folk on this forum. Here it goes... Project #1 I recently added a new cherry colored computer desk & a bookcase in my study room. I have an old chair & a writing desk in that room that are maple finish. I want to stain the old furniture to match the shiny deep cherry finish of the new furniture. Project #2 I also added an entertainment center, coffee table and a sofa table in the family room. Even though all furniture in this room is cherry color, the wood accents of the old sofa set look really dull in front of the shiny surfaces of new furniture. So, I want to re-finish the sofa-set to bring it on par with the shiny new items. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

Public Comments

1. use the stain that has the varnish with it already and save yourself a step
2. Stain-there are two types-water base-and oil base. oil is the easiest to work with as far as the best finish is concerned. dont worry about the clean up-you want the best job. you say project #1 is a maple finish but not what kind of wood it is.anyway you have to get all the old finish off the wood before you stain.
3. project 1 you have to get the old stain and finish all the way off with paint stripper or a whole lot of sanding. After the stain is off you need to re-stain until it matches maybe one coat Maye more? If you take a drawer or small piece from the new furniture paint stores (Sherwin Williams did it for me) can exactly match the finish and give you the correct stain. You can get the stain and finish in one can or I prefer putting the finish on separately. You can get not to shiny matt or really shiny gloss polyurethane. Project 2 if the couch wood is just not shiny enough but the correct color just clean up the paint finish with soap and water then add a poly coating in either Matt or gloss. This will shine it up to match the rest of the furniture. Make sure you tape off the areas to poly urethane so the poly doesn't get on fabric. Verathane is water based and does not have the bad smell but the oil based is much better in the long run for durability.