A little project

I love all old things.. and I love a project. I recently went to the local annual antique show at the end of August and found a few projects. I have been refinishing old furniture for twenty years. There are a few reasons I do so.

Reason 1: I love old things and history.

Reason 2: Necessity of finding cheap furniture to furnish my apartment in college . When I stated you could find a nice oak dresser for $35 and easily refinish to look like new. And then I was hooked.

Reason 3: A great way to spend quality time with my father as we looked over a new find and discussed how to refinish the piece to be useable.

and more …

Well, I found a wonderful Martha Washington Sewing Stand that would be fantastic to hold my yarn and embroidery tools. I have a dog who loves to unravel yarn and thread so I wanted a nice hiding place.

Before picture

The stand had its original finish but it was damaged from years of use and storage but structurally it was perfect condition and had the insert to hold spools of thread.

 

Sewing thread spool holder

The piece was super easy to refinish to my delight. Ammonia and steel wool to get the old finish off. I rubbed in a walnut stain to cover the water marks on the top . A few coats of finish that I sanded between coats and rubbed on with a rag for the last coat. This is my secret method that leaves a nice sheen but not clumpy.

My finished product with my ancestors Easter cactus