Furniture Refinishing for Beginners| Refinishing an Antique Coffee Table

Furniture Refinishing for Beginners

Tips, tricks, and what I learned by refinishing an antique coffee table.

It’s been years since I tackled a furniture refinishing project, but when I spotted an antique coffee table at a thrift store, it had to come home with me!

It has a crack and some pretty bad stains on the top.

The $40 price tag was steep, but I still wanted it.

My husband tried to talk me out of it, but I was determined to get it.

Never go thrift shopping with husbands.  Never, never, never! 🙂

Since I haven’t done any furniture refinishing in a long time, I thought the challenge might be fun.  And since my daughter is putting an offer on a house this week, I knew she’d need a coffee table.

But the real reason I wanted it was …

… the hardware on the drawers.

Yes, I’m a sucker for old hardware.

Those old brass drawer pulls were like a siren song calling my name.

I walked away from it several times, hoping I’d find a real bargain to distract me.  But I kept coming back to it and finally gave in to the little metal sirens. 🙂

So, I got it home and began the task of refinishing it.

For those who are beginners at furniture refinishing, I’ll share how I did it, along with mistakes I made, a few tips, and supplies needed to do the job.

Supplies needed (includes affilidate links):

Citristrip (There are other products out there, but I used this one.)

Chip brush

Refinishing gloves

Plastic scrapers

Mineral spirits

Fine steel wool pads

100, 120, & 180 grit sandpaper

Palm sander

Wood stain (I used this color.)

How to do it:

1. Remove hardware and clean.
2. Apply stripping gel with a chip brush and let it sit for 1-24 hours.
3. Use a plastic scraper to scrape off the finish.
4. Put mineral spirits on steel wool pad and scrub off any residue.
5. Use various grits of sandpaper to get a smooth finish.  Start with a rougher grit working up to finer grit.
6. Apply wood stain and let dry.
7. Reattach hardware.

Tip #1 – Put a thick coat of stripper on the piece.

Mistake #1 – In hindsight, I think I should have put on a thicker coat.

Mistake #2 – I didn’t have a plastic scraper on hand, so I used a metal one which slightly gouged the wood.

Tip #2 – Use a toothpick to remove the stripping gel from inside the hardware holes.  Don’t leave it.

Here’s the top and sides all stripped.  The stain on the wood still shows, but I knew stripping wouldn’t remove that.

I knew I would need to use a dark wood stain to cover the stain on the wood, so I used the color ebony.

Tip #3 – Elevate  your piece above the ground over a drop cloth while staining.  That keeps the stain from puddling around the bottom of the legs and lets air flow around it to dry.

And here’s the finished coffee table.

Those little drawer pulls look so much better against the new color.

My daughter loved the deep color I gave it, and I can’t wait to see it in her new home!

To see some of my past furniture projects, click HERE.

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Vaya con Dios,