Oh Boy! I certainly picked a winner here to be the first official piece to be refinished and sold by ReImagine Moore. This piece stunk, literally! The top veneer was badly chipped and the inside of the draw had some craziness going on inside of it. But, it was all sold wood and free, which is always a winner in my book!
First thing I did was to remove the veneer top. I used a 5-in-1 Stiff Glazier Knife to help get under the veneer and pull off, be careful when doing this, as the knife is metal and will scrape the wood under the veneer. There were some really glued on pieces and for this I soaked a rag and made sure to ring all the water out before placing on the glued veneer. I left the rag on for a number of hours and checked on it occasionally. The water softened the veneer and loosened the glue allowing the veneer to pull right off.
After the veneer was removed, I gave the top a quick sanding with a DeWALT Random Orbit Sander using an 80 grit, this allowed any remaining glue to come off. This was followed by a quick sanding with a 120 grit and finally I used a 220-grit sanding sponge to get a nice smooth top. As you can see in the photo the wood is not all once tone because I did not evenly sand it Keep in mind this was my first time using this electrical sander, so I would say this was definitely a learning curve. Also I was painting the top anyways, so it did not really matter.
Next was a deep cleaning with White Lighting Cleaner by Dixie Belle. This piece was as dirty as it smelled! I have no idea what was inside of that draw, but it would not come off for nothing so, I cleaned it the best I would and gave it a little sanding to smooth it out. It didn’t look too great, but I was going to cover this with decoupage paper later, so I didn’t stress about it. I then used Titebond Wood Glue to attach the side draw back on and clamps to keep it in place.
I allowed the glue to dry for 24 hours. The next day, I applied two coats of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S to block the odor. I allowed the B.O.S.S to dry for 2 hours between coats and before applying paint. For this nightstand, Dixie Belle’s chalk paint in the colors pure ocean and caviar was used. I mixed a small part of caviar with the pure ocean to achieve the color on the bottom portion of the nightstand. This was my first time ever trying to blend colors and I will not lie; it was a nightmare. You can see in the photos it is not the prettiest of blends but for my first attempt I’ll take it. I used a natural bristle wax brush which I found out later on this brush is NOT good for blending. Use a high-quality synthetic brush, natural bristle brushes leave behind brush strokes. The top, face of the draw and back was painted in the caviar color.
Next was my favorite part… stenciling. I purchased a 12 pack of beautiful stencil designs from amazon. I cut one of the stencils in half to fit my needs and it gave this piece a beautiful cohesive design. I taped the stencil in place and used a small stiff wax brush in a stippling motion to apply the paint.
The inside of the draw was covered in a tissue paper created by Redesign with Prima called Dark Damask. Two pieces needed to be cut and placed carefully to match together. The tissue paper was applied with Dixie Belle’s clear coat in satin. A coat of the clear coat was placed first then the tissue paper, followed by the clear coat on top. I let this try for about 2 hours before placing another layer of clear coat over the paper.
I lightly distressed this piece on some of the edges to allow some of the wood to show. I then sealed the piece in Dixie Belle’s Big Momma’s Butta in Orange Grove, which smells really good by the way. I applied the wax with one of the wax brushes mentioned above and wiped away the excess. This piece was finished off with applying Dixie Belle’s Gilding Wax in Gold to the knob, top edge of the piece and down the sides.
And there it is….my first piece I have ever sanded, painted, blended, stenciled, and SOLD!
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