Refinishing Furniture and Built-Ins

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Refinishing Furniture by stripping off the previous stain it is a new skill I am learning and developing. This week I also attached the cabinets to the wall to start the built-ins. In this post I will tell you what I used to strip the coffee table and my process to get it ready for stain. And I will show you where my built-ins stand at the moment.

Week 3 is in the books and this project is proving to be difficult to balance with my work travel schedule. At this beginning of this week I started to strip my coffee table of the previous stain. I also attached the Ikea cabinets to the riser I built and to the wall.

This blog post will teach you what to use to strip your furniture and help give it new life in your home. I'll also show you what the built-ins look like so far!

1. Furniture Refresh

Do you have a piece of furniture that is in desperate need of a makeover? My coffee table was full of dings and scratches and plenty of spots where the stain had rubbed off. The people we purchased our house from had done a number on the floors and cabinets and had used these furniture markers on the floors and cabinets to hide scratches. At one point, I had decided to use them on the coffee table. The marker I chose to use worked well at first, but gradually it turned those spots into red eye sores.

See that red mark on the coffee table below? It was espresso colored when I first used the furniture marker last year!

I did a lot of research between Pinterest and YouTube on the best way to strip furniture of previous stain. I watched videos comparing different products and methods and determined that my best course of action was to use Citristrip Stripping Gel to get the layers of stain off and then to give the coffee table a light sanding after.

Refinishing furniture is a process! It does take work to get the project done, but it's so worth it! The directions on the bottle state it starts working in as little as 30 minutes. This is definitely true! It's a magical process to see the layers of stain being stripped off! One key thing to do when using this product is to make sure you are putting it on thickly and to also make sure it remains wet. I did apply the product twice to the coffee table, but could have easily saved myself a lot of time by being patient! AKA waiting an hour rather than just 30 minutes would have been time saving in the long run, and by working on smaller areas at a time to be able to keep everything moist with the gel.

The above photo is after the first round of removal from the top. I did the sides separately once I got a drop cloth. The gel does make the wood a little soft, so it's highly suggested you use a plastic scraper and that you use caution when scraping the old finish off the piece of furniture. You don't want to add scratches to your furniture.

After scraping off the gel, it's important to remove any excess gel from your piece of furniture. To complete this process I used the product After Wash by Klean Strip.

The great thing about this product is that while it removes excess stripping gel, using a little elbow grease also helps to remove stubborn stained areas as well. I was able to remove most of the stain that didn't come off with the stripping gel. I've successfully gotten to the sanding stage and week 4 will include the final reveal of the coffee table, I hope! I plan to use a lighter stain on the coffee table. Ultimately, we shall see if I am happy with the stain or if I decide to scratch the stain idea and paint it! Here are a few mid process photos!

2. Family Room Built-Ins

Just a quick update on the family room built-ins. I had honestly expected to be further along on these by now. I had wanted to have them all decorated for halloween. But alas, the countertop if giving me more problems this time.

For now, the base and cabinets have been attached to the wall. At this point, I need to add wood at the bottom of each cabinet as there will currently be a gap between the molding and bottom of the cabinet.

The countertop is a bit of a hassle. I'm struggling to get the pieces jointed, so stay tuned for that portion of the project as well.

Week 4 I plan to have the coffee table sanded and stained and progress on the countertop and rest of the built-ins. Fingers crossed that plan B goes as planned!

Don't forget to continue to check out all of the One Room Challenge rooms! This fall challenge has some great ones in the making!!

Refinishing Furniture and Built-Ins – Week 3 of Fall 2022 One Room Challenge