We all have at home that furniture that cries out for a change or special care. Wood is a living thing, and is more than appearance. You should experience the wood. In this article we present some tips to learn to varnish and restore the furniture that you like so much and transform an old piece of furniture into a completely new one.
To learn to varnish and restore your favorite furniture you must keep in mind that to make any changes in our spaces it is not necessary to spend a lot of money. If you have old, damaged furniture or even in perfect condition but you want to change the aesthetics of your house, here you can find some ideas to transform them.
Caring for the furniture may seem simple, but many times we ignore them and they suffer blows, weight overload, scratches … Sometimes we neglect them and leave their paint jumped, their handles or loose handles, among other oversights. If you want to increase the life of your furniture, it is necessary to give them the appropriate care.
If you want to varnish and restore an old piece of furniture like a wooden dresser, for example, the first thing you should do is sand the entire surface, then clean it with a damp cloth and your furniture will be ready to be subjected to its new coating.
It is the final step to presenting your home to friends or finalizing your woodworking project. It is used on water based coatings, oil based polyurethane or varnish, film finishes like lacquer or shellac, lacquer and other coatings. A wax rub gives wood a richer look, an even finish, a warmer feel and resists water, not to mention a great shine
Varnish a piece of furniture
You can choose to paint your furniture and then varnish it. Or, simply, if you want to maintain the color of the original wood, choose a matt, satin or gloss varnish (depending on the finish you want) and apply several layers of it with a medium brush, always in the direction of the wood grain .
The main functions of varnishes are to protect the wood against any possible damage, provide greater resistance and achieve a certain visual finish. There are satin, matt and shiny varnishes : choose the one you like best for your furniture.
Restore furniture
If what you want is to restore a piece of furniture in greater depth, these are the materials and techniques you may need.
Apply paint
If you want to change the aesthetics of your furniture in its entirety, it is recommended to paint a neutral color that matches the spaces of your home. If it is a bedside table, for example, you can play with colors: you can paint most of the surface black, white or gray, and highlight other parts of the furniture with warmer or contrasting colors.
The combination of white furniture with pastel colored details in its drawers or doors is a trend. Thus, you can play with pastel or white colors on pillows that combine with the new furniture.
You can also choose to dye the wood and “deteriorate” your furniture with judea bitumen to get a vintage effect . This technique is ideal for antique furniture, since you don’t need to age them too much.
Change hardware, handles and handles
Both bedside tables and cupboards and dresser drawers suffer daily pulls. Their handles or handles tend to loosen and even fall, so you should try to adjust them frequently . If you want to make a change in your furniture but do not want to use any product, there is a wide variety with colorful designs and extravagant shapes of handles.
There are wooden, glass or acrylic, with many different shapes . You can even get wooden handles and paint them as you want, or restore the ones you already have.
Use the decoupage technique
A very original technique that gives a vintage look to any piece of furniture is decoupage . This technique consists in wallpapering a wooden piece of furniture with napkins, papers or fabrics with the designs that you like the most and then finishing it with a varnish.
The decoupage is very simple to perform. You will need vinyl glue to adhere the paper to the surface and a medium brush. Try to stretch the paper or fabric on the surface well and not abuse the glue , as this may leave lumps or wrinkles in the applied material.
Remember that to keep your furniture you must be constant: do not expose them too much to moisture or sunlight. Clean the dust every day, apply a little wax or a slightly damp cloth. If it is outside, cover it with rain and sun.
And remember, varnish is our first ally . Without fail, once a year apply a few layers of the chosen varnish to your furniture. This will increase the life of our precious furniture.
Take care of them and save; If we want to keep that piece of furniture that a relative gave us and we want them to last forever, this is possible. With the necessary attention and care we will have that piece of furniture that we like so much at our side for many years.
Most people hate the sanding process but it is neither hard nor tedious if done correctly. Sanding should be done in sequential steps starting with coarser (low #) papers to start and moving through two or more finer (higher #) papers to achieve the desired finish.
The biggest benefit
Restoring helps to take care of the environment , to renew the aesthetics of our spaces and is a highly recommended creative process to let our ideas flow. It is not necessary to be a specialist to perform these types of restorations .
With imagination, desire and a little time you will have a new piece of furniture overnight. A little wood, paint, varnish, fabrics, brushes and … Get to work!
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