Refinishing furniture

I have a friend that asked on my ward Facebook page if anyone could refinish a bed and vanity for her. I've dabbled in that work in the past, but a while back I read this post and was itching to try it out, so I told her I'd be happy to refinish it for her. Excuse the terrible phone picture, but this is the only shot I have of the original pieces before I started the work. The finish was really old and fairly thick, so it was hard to see the actual grain of the wood. There were some major gouges from whatever mattress had been used. But the moment I saw it, I saw so much potential for a gorgeous piece. It has lots of history for the family and is something they really wanted to preserve and use again, so I was excited to get to work.

This is a shot of the mirror of the vanity. The finish was just old and worn and dull looking. I was really impressed with the quality of everything though. This set is probably 75 years old and there was hardly a crack in the whole thing. I'm not sure what kind of wood it is made of, but it has lasted really well.

 So I got right to work stripping all the old stain off. I'd never used these particular products before and once I got the hang of it, it's like a dream to strip. Here's a picture of the side boards after I've used Citristrip on the one on the right. The old finish just peels right off. It's amazing.

This is after I had stripped and steel wooled and prepped the boards to restain. Look at that gorgeous grain that emerged when the old stain was gone! This isn't even the same kind of wood as the original piece.

 Another shot of the mirror all buffed and ready to stain. I'm still in the middle of this one, so this is the most updated picture I have of the mirror.

And here it's stained and just needs the tung oil to finish it up.

 Behold, the finished product! It is SO gorgeous. This is hands down my favorite color of stain, so I was so glad they picked it. What a difference new stain and finish makes to a beautiful old piece.

I can't believe how much satisfaction I got out of this project. I refinished my kitchen table years ago, but it was before I knew about the stripping process I linked at the top of this post. I sanded and sanded the top of the that table and I remember it being just torturous. Five years later it's pretty beat up again. But this? This was easy. There were lots of steps, but they all went fast. I'm so pleased with the result. I barely even got out my sander for this project. I used it to deal with those gouges, but that was it. I think I've found a new side business. :)