Do you have a family heirloom, or an old piece of furniture that you just don’t love anymore but aren’t ready to get rid of it? Or maybe you have a new house looking for some budget decor and thinking refinishing furniture might be the way to go. Regardless of you reason, refinishing furniture is a great way to go!
I will cover what to look for in a potential refinishing project, how to refinish furniture by stripping it, how to paint furniture, bleach wood, and so much more. I have a love for DIY projects, particularly ones that fall into the budget decor category. That’s why I’m sharing all my tips to help your budget home decor, refinishing furniture dreams come true. My first piece of advice, this beginner’s guide is long, so pin it now because you’re going to need to refer to this again later!
Disclaimer: Please remember that I am a DIY enthusiast, not a professional. This article is for general information use and is not a substitute for professional advice. Before taking any actions, consult a professional! Additionally, this may contain affiliate links where I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using my link. All opinions and recommendations are my own. I appreciate you taking my suggestions and using my links. Thank you for being so supportive!
Why You Should Consider Refinishing Furniture
If you were to ask me, any reason is a good reason to refinish furniture. But, if you need something a little more concrete than that explanation; here are 4 good reasons refinishing furniture is a good idea:
4 Reasons Refinishing Furniture Is A Good Idea:
- Budget Decor– it doesn’t cost much to refinish furniture. Even if it’s not something you already own, odds are you can pick up something pretty inexpensively second-hand or even for free off the side of the road. Facebook marketplace is also an excellent source to score furniture to refinish. I have an eye for seeing the hidden potential in things, which is why I’ve been able to haul home furniture from the curb and transform it into something I’m proud to display in my home. I’m here to show you refinishing furniture is easy to achieve and doesn’t mean cheap or ugly!
- Personal Satisfaction– after your first furniture flip, you’ll understand! The feeling you get from taking trash and making it treasure will never get old. Years’ experience has trained me to crave this feeling!
- The Environment- by refinishing furniture and furniture repair, you are essentially creating less wasteful. I’m definitely note one of those uber, over the top concerned with environmentally safe practices; however, I am an educated and careful consumer so keeping things out of a landfill is never a bad thing in my book.
- Uniqueness and the Story– refinishing furniture takes common furniture and turns it into a one-of-a-kind piece for your home which will continually receive glowing compliments from friends and family. It also never gets old sharing the story behind each finished product.
How To Get Started Refinishing Furniture
The first step to refinishing furniture is to determine what you will refinish. Do you already have a piece of furniture that no longer suits your style, and you want to change it up? Or are you going to find a new piece of furniture and refinish this? Or maybe you’re like this frugal home decorator and recently brought home something from a curbside free pile and are now ready to do something with it. Any free pile pickers out there? Can I get an “amen”! You are my people!
Where to find furniture to refinish
My favorite sources to find all types of furniture are:
- Second-hand stores (such as Resource Store, Goodwill, etc.) You would be shocked at how many people donate their antique furniture to these places!
- Facebook Marketplace.
- Garage sale or barn sale
- A curbside free pile
My tips for shopping these budget-friendly home decorating sources are:
- Check back often
- Be patient while you wait for the perfect piece
- Act fast when you find something (because odds are it will sell quickly)
- Thoroughly examine any item to make sure you fully understand the original shape you are working with (hint-damaged items are harder to work with!)
It’s also helpful to have a general understanding of what an item should cost. That way, you know when you’ve stumbled upon a good deal or when you should pass because something is overpriced. Keep in mind the item that you find will need a bit (ok, a lot) of love and your DIY touch, but the time you invest in refinishing furniture will be well worth the reward.
What to look at when refinishing furniture
- Ideally, you’re looking for real wood furniture piece versus particleboard. Depending on how you want to refinish this piece (which we’ll get into all the options in detail in a minute), particleboard may or may not work. If you’re going for natural wood or a stained finish, you’ll need to ensure that you’re working with natural wood.
- Next, when considering a piece for refinishing furniture, you’ll want to take a good look at the overall condition of the piece. If you’re just starting out, then something in better condition and solid wood furniture are ideal. You are trying to determine what are the necessary repairs and if the furniture restoration project is going to be worth it. The amount of acceptable damage will vary based on your DIY skill level and your plans for the piece. If a table has a loose leg and some surface scratches on the top, you can quickly repair these things versus, say, an entire leg is MIA, and an entire chunk is missing from one of the corners.
- In your overall assessment of the piece, you’ll also want to consider any smells the piece may have. Yes, smells. There are ways to get things such as cigarette smoke or pet scents out of furniture, but just be aware, this adds to your work and, in my opinion, can be pretty irritating to work with. Now, if I absolutely loved the piece, it was a killer deal, and in decent condition, I’d probably be OK working with the smells. You just have to weigh all these things out when refinishing furniture.
My 2 Secret Tips To Refinishing Furniture
- This next suggestion actually has no impact on how to refinish furniture; it does, however, give you a tip to finding high-quality stuff! When you are considering refinishing furniture, if the item has drawers, you’ll want to check the side joints to determine if it has dovetailed joints. Dovetailed drawers mean the joint is well built and extremely strong, which means you have yourself a great find!
- Lastly, this is a personal preference, but my favorite refinishing items have tiny (real or faux) boxes resembling an old library card catalog. Keep scrolling, and I’ll show you some of these types of pieces I’ve refinished!
How To Refinish Furniture
There are many different methods to refinishing furniture; you can use chemical stripper strip off old paint and get down to the natural wood. You can also paint, bleach, stain, or gel stain the item. These all are options to consider when refinishing old furniture. Each process has a few easy steps, but each are a bit different, so I’m going to break down how to refinish furniture using each of these techniques.
Personally, my favorite is doing a combination of stripping down to the raw wood and painting. You’ll notice my furniture flips mix natural wood with painted borders. The best part about refinishing furniture is that there is no right way; it simply comes down to what looks good to you! In my mind, there is no more fantastic win than hauling home a free pile find and turning it into a one-of-a-kind showpiece for my home. That’s what I call budget decor at its finest.
Refinishing Furniture Tips
Regardless of which method you end up going with when refinishing furniture, I will say my best tip is to approach this as what I call a “putter project.” There is a lot of working and waiting involved in this type of DIY project, so when refinishing furniture, don’t expect to go start to finish in one sitting. Don’t get me wrong, it is possible, but I find I get tired and frustrated and enjoy the process much less when I do.
Instead, I putter with it. Meaning, I’ll work on it in between other things. For example, right now, I’m working on a coffee table. It’s in my basement, and I’ll go down for short periods in-between taking care of the kids or after work. In my mind, this is another bonus to refinishing furniture; it’s a creative outlet that I can chip away at even with a hectic life as a single working mom.
Refinishing Furniture: Stripping
Before we go into the steps of striping furniture, I want to elaborate on paint stripper and tips for use. CitriStrip a commonly used product to remove old paint. Depending on the surface, you’ll use the spray or gel. I have found the gel is best for flat areas such as a tabletop, and the spray is best for vertical or round areas such as table legs and more intricate spaces such as groves.
The downfall to the gel is how messy it is to apply. I have tried several application methods when refinishing furniture and honestly found that using a paper towel is the most affordable and efficient method to spread this stuff. If you are using the spray for refinishing furniture, make sure you shake it well and apply a generous coating.
How To Strip Furniture Steps:
Stripping wood is one way to bring antique pieces back to their original beauty. Follow these easy steps:
- Prep
- Strip
- Sand
- Finish
- Here is a link to the tools and supplies you’ll need when refinishing furniture.
Stripping Furniture Step 1:
- Using my go-to cordless drill (which comes with many handy accessories and a carrying bag!) I remove all the old hardware.
- Clean the entire piece using Krud Kutter and a clean cloth followed by wiping everything down with warm water. When refinishing furniture, even if you didn’t pick this item from a free pile, you should remove residue on the surface before you start. And if you did get this item second-hand, one can only imagine where it has been, so spray and wipe away!
Stripping Furniture Step 2: Strip
- Apply your first coat and generous layer of stripper to the entire surface and let it sit. For best results, give the stripper enough time to work. Walk away and forget about this project for a bit. The trick is to let the stripper do the work, not you! The longer it has to soak and sink in, the easier it is for you to remove all those layers of paint and shellac. Just don’t let it dry completely. You’ll want the stripper to be still wet when you start scraping. Two common mistakes are not letting the chemical stripping products sit long enough, and letting it sit too long.
- When you are close to having removed all the old layers, you’ll need to be careful about how long the stripper is on since it will not only remove the current finish, but it can eat away at natural wood. At this point, you can apply your stripper in thin layers, or switch to using a power sander.
- Now, take your metal putty knife, go with the grain of the wood and start scraping! Some people suggest using a plastic putty knife for refinishing furniture, so you do not dig into the wood. In my experience, the plastic putty knife is worthless (especially if there are multiple coats of pain you’re removing) and as long as you are not using too much force, you’ll have better success removing layers with the metal putty knife.
- On that note, you should use a bit of elbow grease, but not excessive pressure. Let the stripper sit longer if things are not coming off relatively easy. I’d compare the ideal amount of pressure to what it’s like spreading cold butter on untoasted bread.
Tip: You know you’re on the right track when the words “what have I gotten myself into” come out of your mouth. Keep going!
- After you’ve scraped all that off, go ahead and apply a thin layer of stripper and repeat the applying, waiting, and scraping until you have removed a majority of the old finish.
- Do not be discouraged; when refinishing furniture, it is typical for this step to take three to five applications of the stripper, depending on how many layers of paint and shellac you need to remove.
- If the words “what I have gotten myself into” come out of your mouth, you’re on the right track and know you’re getting close. Even with years’ of experience working on wooden furniture, I am familiar with this feeling. Keep going!
- You’ll know you’re finished with this step once the scrapings look more like the gel you applied versus gel mixed with chunky dirt.
Stripping Furniture Step 3: Sand
- You’ve made it this far, yay! It’s time to sand, which means the fun is really just beginning. Are you regretting asking how to refinish furniture yet?
- Start by wiping everything down with mineral spirits (to remove any residual stripper) and letting your furniture dry. I generally give it at least 24 hours before I start sanding.
- Using course sandpaper (I generally start with 60 grit) you can start sanding your piece with a little bit of pressure. Make sure you’re going in the right direction (with the wood grain!). An easy way to sand is using an orbital sander. This one is not expensive, but it absolutely gets the job done!
- You’ll also have to get a little creative to get in grooves. A sanding block, folding sandpaper or using this super handy adjustable flex sander to get into those smaller tricky spots!
- After you’ve sanded most of the existing finish, go back and sand with a medium grit sandpaper followed by a fine grit sandpaper (220 grit).
Stripping Furniture Step 4: Finish
- Using a tack cloth or clean rag give your piece a quick clean to remove all the sanding dust, and that’s it! Happy dance time!! Now that you’ve done all the steps in refinishing furniture, you’ll have to decide on whether or not to apply a topcoat or leave it as is.
- If you want to leave it as is, you’ll need to be aware water could penetrate and damage the surface.
- When refinishing furniture, the last step is deciding on whether or not to apply a protective layer. Be aware that more often than not a clear coat will darken wood and depending on the type of wood it may turn slightly orange (particularly Oak). To reduce these unwanted effects, you must use a water-based sealer. I like a matte look versus something shiny and have found this Polycrylic protective finish to be the best.
- Lastly, you could opt to apply a new stain color to your stripped wood, but keep in mind this is a little harder to achieve. If you’re just starting out with stripping furniture, then save this idea for your next project! There are more steps to this process, and it includes ensuring you’ve removed ALL of the original surface evenly and then apply a wood conditioner before staining.
Find out if my latest technique using the oven cleaner method actually works as a wood stripper.
Refinishing Furniture: Painting
How To Paint Furniture Steps:
Painting furniture is one way to give old pieces a new lease on life! Follow these easy steps:
- Prep
- Sand
- Prime
- Paint
- Finish
- Here is a link to the tools and supplies you’ll need when refinishing furniture.
Painting Furniture Step 1: Prep
- Using my go-to cordless drill (which comes with many handy accessories and a carrying bag!) remove all the hardware from your piece.
- Clean the entire piece using Krud Kutter (or a mixture of dish soap and water). When refinishing furniture, even if you didn’t pick this item from a free pile, you should remove residue on the surface before you start to ensure new paint adheres. And if you did get this item second-hand, one can only imagine where it has been, so spray and wipe away!
- Since you’re painting your furniture piece, you can fix any damage to the surface with wood filler or epoxy putty. Follow the directions on the product label for specific application and use!
Painting Furniture Step 2: Sand
- For this step of refinishing furniture, you’ll absolutely need a sander. Applying a generous amount of pressure sand your piece until you’ve scuffed up the original surface and smoothed any rough spots. My go-to cordless orbital sander is not expensive, but it absolutely gets the job done!
- You don’t have to worry about removing multiple coats of paint, just make sure to remove any chips and smooth out uneven surfaces.
Painting Furniture Step 3: Prime
- After giving your piece a quick wipe down to remove any dust from sanding, you’re ready to prime. I highly suggest Zinsser 123, aka the best primer for any home improvement. I’ve used this product over and over (and over) while renovating my home and refinishing furniture, and I continue to be impressed by this primer. It covers wood knots and sticks to surfaces like no other!
- Do not skimp and buy a cheaper primer. Aside from sanding, the quality of your primer is essential to your paint sticking when refinishing furniture.
- Next, for this paint job, if you don’t already, I highly suggest investing in a paint sprayer. I have a reasonably priced one that has more than paid for itself in the number of projects I’ve done with it. This paint sprayer is just around $100 and makes all the difference in your final finish, and it also significantly cuts down on the amount of time it takes to paint. That’s a double win in my book!
- The drawback to the sprayer is its mess. From experience, I can assure you, the overspray is real! Ideally, you’ll want to be refinishing furniture outside or in an enclosed area (with adequate ventilation) where you’re not worried about paint overspray getting on the surfaces.
- If you’re just starting out with these types of projects, then a regular ol’ paint brush gets the job just fine! Keep things simple and stick with a basic brush.
- After you’ve applied one coat of primer, let it dry for at least an hour and then give it a light hand sanding. I suggest using sandpaper with a grit between 220 and 400. Before sanding, you’ll want to check that the primer is no longer tacky.
- When refinishing furniture, the trick is to use the correct sandpaper grit and apply gentle pressure. You don’t want to remove the primer; you’re just doing the slightest amount of sanding to scuff and smooth the surface between coats.
- After you’ve given the area a quick wipe down with a clean cloth, you’re now ready to add a second coat of primer. Once the second coat of primer is dried, you’ll repeat the light hand sanding step from above.
Painting Furniture Step 4: Paint
- The next step is to finally apply the first coat of paint! The most challenging parts of this DIY project are behind you, and you’re in the final stretch.
- For refinishing furniture, I want to elaborate more on the actual paint. There are lots of options in this category, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed. There is regular wall paint, chalk paint, milk paint, epoxy paint and so on. Don’t let yourself get stuck in the weeds with this. Find a brand and color that appeal to you and try it!
- An essential element of painted furniture is its durability, and each piece has different needs depending on the intended use. If you’re painting a TV stand, odds are it won’t be touched all that often; however, if you’re painting a dining room table or end tables then durability is important since the surface is used frequently.
- Now, for this portion of refinishing furniture, you repeat the steps you did for the priming portion of this project: paint, sand, clean, paint, sand. I let the paint dry for a few hours in between coats when refinishing furniture. Remember, painting furniture requires at least two coats!
Painting Furniture Step 5: Finish
- That’s it! You’ve done all the steps in refinishing furniture! The last thing you need to do is decide whether to apply a topcoat or leave it as is. If you want to leave it as is, you’ll need to be aware the paint has a higher chance of chipping. Honestly, I risk it and do not put a topcoat sealer on my painted furniture. If you apply a topcoat, I suggest a matte finish and have found this Polycrylic protective finish to be the best.
Refinishing Furniture: Bleach
If you’re considering bleaching wood for your next project, one very important thing to note before attempting this is to make sure you are working with natural wood. This process will not work on veneer. Trust me, I’ve tried (I have a curious mind, what can I say!), and it didn’t work out so well.
How To Bleach Furniture Steps:
- Prep
- Sand
- Bleach
- Neutralize
- Seal
- Here is a link to the tools and supplies you’ll need when refinishing furniture.
Bleach furniture Step 1: Prep
- Using my go-to cordless drill (which comes with many handy accessories and a carrying bag!) remove all the hardware from your piece.
- Clean the entire piece using Krud Kutter. When refinishing furniture, even if you didn’t pick this item from a free pile, you should remove residue on the surface before you start. And if you did get this item second-hand, one can only imagine where it has been, so spray and wipe away!
Bleach Furniture Step 2: Sand
- For this step, you’ll absolutely need a sander and course sandpaper. Applying a generous amount of pressure sand your piece until you’ve scuffed up the original surface and smoothed any rough spots. My go-to cordless orbital sander is not expensive, but it absolutely gets the job done!
- You’ll also have to get a little creative to get in grooves. Folding sandpaper and doing it by hand is one way, and I’ve also had success with using other tools such as drill bits to scrape away layers of paint in tiny cracks. If you’re planning on refinishing furniture again, you may also want to consider investing in this very handy tool called a Dremel Rotary Tool.
Safety first: It is essential to do this outside, wearing a respirator, goggles, and gloves.
As a girl who tends not to follow the safety rules, trust me, this is a must when bleaching wood.
Bleach Furniture Step 3: Bleach
- Placing your furniture piece in the sun, and once you’ve all geared up in your protective equipment (i.e. rubber gloves, googles, respirator, etc.), pour one part bleach with one part water into a container (I used an old bucket), and then using a chip brush, apply your solution to the wood.
- Let the bleach sit and soak for 30 minutes before checking on it. If you are happy with the color, skip to the vinegar part.
- If you are going for a lighter look, repeat the bleach application process until you’ve achieved your desired look. When refinishing furniture, keep in mind, wood does have its natural limits.
Bleach Furniture Step 4: Neutralize
- Once you’re happy with the lightness of your wood, wash the entire surface with diluted vinegar (household white vinegar will do the trick!) to stop the bleaching process. The vinegar neutralizes the bleach and prevents it from eating away at the wood. Again, for this step of refinishing furniture, make sure you are wearing protective equipment.
- Lastly, give your piece a final wipe down with water to remove any lingering vinegar smell, and that’s it!
Bleach Furniture Step 5: Seal
- Now that you’ve done all the steps in bleaching wood, I highly suggest sealing it, but be aware that the color of wood darkens with sealer, and sometimes it gets an orange tint. To reduce these unwanted effects, you must use a water-based sealer. I like a matte finish versus shiny and have found this Polycrylic protective finish to be the best.
- Happy dance time! You’re becoming a refinishing furniture pro!!
Using Oven Cleaner To Strip Wood
Here are all the steps I used to strip wood with oven cleaner. Stick around until the very end of this post where I share a little video tutorial on how to use oven cleaner to strip wood!
- Clean-With a damp cloth, I wiped everything down.
- Set up- Do this outside! Even the blue oven cleaner can, which says fragrance-free, stinks!
- Apply-Shake and spray a generous amount of oven cleaner onto the wood
- Wait-Let the oven cleaner go to work- I let the blue can sit for close to an hour and the yellow can for no more than thirty minutes. Keeping in mind, I’m working with SOLID wood spindle beds. I’d probably cut these times in half if I had been working with a veneer.
- Rinse– Since I’ll take any opportunity to use the power washer, that’s what I used, but I don’t think it’s necessary when using oven cleaner to strip wood. I can’t officially say since I’ve never done this before, but the others I’ve seen use this method all used a hose.
- Dry– I left these outsides overnight to dry.
- Sand– The fantastic thing about using oven cleaner to strip wood is how little sanding remains. Trying to sand these spindles would have been a nightmare, but since the oven cleaner did all the work, the amount of sanding remaining was minimal. I used 60 grit sandpaper to smooth out areas where the oven cleaner and power washer roughed up the wood.
- Clean– I used a dry cloth to wipe and remove any sanding dust.
- Topcoat– I debated if I should apply a protective coat after using oven cleaner to strip wood. I was hesitant because I’ve had past experiences where I’ve put so much time into stripping layers down to natural wood to only have it ruined by the finishing cost. I knew I was not going to poly these since, in my experience, poly pulls out the orange in wood. And since these will be in a bedroom and not likely to get wet- I thought about leaving it as is, but then I remembered wax! I’ve used Behr antique dark wax on other furniture pieces, but I’ve never tried the white, so what better project to try it on since I was going for a light wood look.
- Waxing– This white wax gave this project the exact finish I was looking for, but it didn’t come without a little extra work (ok, a lot of extra work, but it was seriously SO worth it). I applied a layer using this special waxing brush, buffed it off with a clean cotton cloth, and lightly sanded it using 220 grit sandpaper. The white wax completely neutralized the orange-ish-red-ish color of the wood, and it also gave the wood a smoother, more finished appearance.
Best Tools For Refinishing Furniture
I have listed all my favorite tools necessary for refinishing furniture:
- Paint sprayer
- Cordless drill
- Dremel
- Adjustable flex sander
- Orbital sander
- Sanding pads
- 60 grit sandpaper
- 220 grit sandpaper
- Krud Kutter
- CitriStrip Gel
- CitriStrip Spray
- Putty knife
- Chip brush
- Drop cloths
- Polycrylic protective finish
- Here are the tools and supplies you’ll need when refinishing furniture all in one place.
Before And After Refinishing Furniture
These pictures give you a glimpse of a few of my antique restoration and refinishing furniture projects.
As you can from my furniture flips, there are not only different types of furniture you can refinish, but the options on how to refinish furniture is also endless!
- Here are the direct links to all the tools and supplies used for each furniture flip:
You asked how to refinish furniture, and I delivered all my best tips and tools. I hope you’re feeling more confident about refinishing furniture now that I’ve covered all the essential steps. I’m no expert, just a girl building a life I love, with a passion for sharing what has worked for me.
xo
Amanda
PS. Want more ideas and inspiration?
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