Start With What You Have, Just Start! Refinish Furniture

The first piece of furniture I ever painted was a small desk a little over a year ago. I used latex paint and amber poly. To clean, I simply wiped it down with any old cleaner I had and didn’t scuff sand it at all. I took the photo at night time with dim lights and I am pretty sure my sandal is caught in the shot. It was safe to say I had no clue but I learned so much about myself. This is where my passion for painting and love for refinishing furniture began. The best advice I've gotten was to just start with what I have!

I started researching everything, from how to tutorials to articles on all the different products that were best to use. The real game changer, though, was when I started an Instagram page. I quickly stumbled upon an entire community of furniture artists some of which freely share their experience and knowledge through their posts and stories. I’ve learned so much about this trade since then. Such as, lighting is everything when it comes to staging a piece of furniture. I may not have had the best backsplash but with the right lighting it made all the difference. I used a corner in my bedroom near a window but the good part was the skylight that wakes me up every morning with the amount of natural lighting it lets in! I learned how bondo is not as intimidating as it looks and helps tremendously with repairs, dings, and scratches. Or how to properly use chalk paint. At first, I disliked chalk paint for a number of reasons, like the chalky finish it would leave. Well I learned how important it is to sand between coats and before the top coat and bam I was hooked! In the beginning my budget was super low. I would buy my chalk paint from craft stores using coupons, buying 8oz container for about $4.50 with the coupon. And it worked just fine. Since then I have used many different brands but my all time favorite is from a small business based out of California who sells affordable yet quality paint as well as waxes, brushes, and much more. They are called Chalk Mountain Supply. chalkmountainpaint.com

When it comes to finding and buying furniture to refinish, I would either find things at Goodwill or on FB Marketplace. I started with pieces I could fit in my small hatchback or if I found something really great but too big, I have been lucky enough to borrow a truck or suv from a family member but I would find some way to get the pieces to my house. I have a one car garage that I get to work in but if all you have is a small space in your home that can work too, just start! When it comes to selling a piece, I have always used FB marketplace and I have even gotten some custom work from my FB page. Social media is such a great resource from the learning process to the selling process. As my business started to grow I decided to start my own website using Wix.com. I pay for the website services now but, honestly, I get more work from social media than the website itself. With that being said, social media is free so if that is all you have is access to then start using it!

This is my process now…

Once I have a piece in my hands I scrub it down using Chalk Mountain Furniture Prep Cleaner. I am sure to get all the nooks and crannies as it is crucial to a lasting finish. I take off all the hardware. I then decide if any part of my piece will be stained as opposed to painting it. If so, which by the way, I love to do, then I sand that part down to bare wood and scuff sand the rest of the piece that I will be painting until its all smooth. I make any repairs to the piece and also sand down the inside of drawers if need be. I clean again removing any and all sanding dust from the piece. If it is a type of wood that likes to bleed through paint, such as mahogany, or if I am painting a really light color, then I will prime it using BIN primer. At this point I usually know what color I will be using but I also have to decide if I will be keeping the hardware or buying it new. If I am using the original hardware, I soak it in equal parts white vinegar and water for about an hour (only if its real brass) then scrub with fine steel wool. Currently I use a brush to paint the piece as I do not yet have a sprayer(start anyway!) so sanding between coats is crucial to reducing brush strokes, as well as having a good brush. Once the piece is all painted, about three coats usually, sometimes more if its a light color, I will sand again. If I am going to distress the piece I would do it at this point but only on the edges and details(thats my own preference). Lastly, I will apply my finish. Choosing a top coat can vary from piece to piece and from color to color. My favorite to use is poly. But I have also used waxes. If I stain wood I definitely use hemp oil as the sealer. Chalk Mountain also makes their own poly, waxes, and hemp oil. In fact they even have a hemp seed wax!

Staging my piece nowadays…

I have yet to perfect my staging abilities but I do know how important lighting is. My favorite lighting is natural lighting but you can invest in some artificial lighting which is reasonably priced depending on where you can find it. I moved my staging wall from the corner of my bedroom to the garage because the lighting is so much better with the garage door open. I bought a white room divider on Amazon for about $115 but it was worth it! I use that as my background and was gifted left over floor boards that my parents had from their kitchen renovation so it looks like the piece is resting on hardwood floors. With the white background my photos look much more professional than before but I had to start somewhere! Plus there are plenty of free photo editing apps that can brighten up the photo without altering the look of the actual paint color. I am sure to take close up photos as well as photos of the inside too. When listing the piece I find that a the description is equally important as the photos. So I am sure to write as much info as possible in the description box.

As for pricing, well, thats a whole other talk show…

The moral of my story is to just get started by any means available. Don’t wait until you have bigger and better ways of doing any part of the process. Its all a fun and creative learning experience and its worth it. There is a huge sense of accomplishment when taking that old, dusty, rejected piece of furniture and turning it into a desired work of art! I'm sure this blog is less than perfect but I had to start somewhere and I am tired of holding myself back with the lies I tell myself about not being good enough. In order to practice something, you need to start first!!