September 9, 2024

Nightstand Refinishing Project (The Third Time’s the Charm)

Nicole furniture projects 8 Comments

Another day, another furniture refinishing project: this time my nightstand. I was starting to wonder if this little wooden unit was cursed, but considering how nicely it finally turned out, I think it has redeemed itself. This is the third time I have painted this particular piece of furniture, and if ever I decide I don’t like it, I’m just going to have to get rid of it and start fresh with a new piece. Yes, you read that right, this is the third time I have painted this particular piece of furniture, and the second time stripping it!

When I got it years ago, it was Varathaned pine, so I simply scuff sanded it, primed it and painted it white. However, the paint never cured properly. Because it stayed slightly tacky, the drawers stuck so every time I opened the drawer I had to pull them firmly enough to “unstick” them. I figured that the primer I had used was too old, so the next summer I took the nightstand out and stripped it down to bare wood.

I had noticed that the knotholes were bleeding through the white paint, so I purchased BIN shellac primer and primed the whole piece. I purchased new semi-gloss white latex paint and painted it. It looked great, but three weeks later it still felt slightly soft, and wasn’t curing to a hard finish….almost like latex. I didn’t realize that latex paint wasn’t good for furniture, so I still had the same problem with the drawers and items sitting on the top sticking to the paint. Over time the knots also started showing through, and to top it all off the semi gloss finish didn’t look sleek; it looked bad because you could see the texture of the wood.

I was so demoralized that I’ve been living with it like this for about 7 years now. I couldn’t bear the thought of stripping and starting over for the third time, so I started looking on Kijiji for a nightstand. However, I have been on the lookout for a few years now, and still haven’t come across anything that was as functional as this one or a price I wanted to pay for a piece that I was planning to paint… and if I did see something promising, it sold before I could pick it up.

So, a couple of months ago my mom suggested I take a closer look at this nightstand to see whether I could improve it. Originally there were four large, flat bun feet on the bottom, which I removed years ago when I painted it. The bottom of the nightstand was boxed in, but hollow underneath so it collected dust, but was impossible to clean under without completely lifting it up. I discovered that the brace on the back could be removed, and the wavy decorative piece of the front could be removed without compromising the rest of the construction. Once I figured that out, I was willing to strip and refinish this piece….again.

So, here is the process for turning this sticky mess into a lovely vintage inspired green nightstand!

First things first, I removed the beveled piece at the bottom and then started sanding. I used 80 grit sandpaper and a hand-held power sander and it took about 30 minutes to do all the flat sections.

Next I used stripper to remove the paint on the beveled edges. I was very excited because the paint immediately started bubbling. However, that was a bit of a premature celebration, because while the majority of the paint came off, some stubborn residue remained and I’d run out of stripper. I was concerned about sanding too much and softening the edge, so I purchased more stripper. This is where the story takes a turn and becomes a disaster.

The stripper I got was from SamaN and it came out of the can brown and almost smelled like vinegar. I thought that was weird, but since I know some of the citrus strippers are orange, I kept going. Instead of trying a small patch, though, I applied it along the edge of the nightstand top and then moved onto a drawer. However, as I finished applying it to the drawer, I looked back at the nightstand and was horrified to discover that the brown goo had completely absorbed into the wood. Furthermore it hadn’t softened the paint at all. I don’t know what was wrong with the stripper, but it honestly looked like I had opened a can of oil wood stain (or BBQ sauce) and applied it to the edge. It stained the wood dark brown, and made a huge mess. In a panic I called the store where I had bought the stripper. I sent them pictures and went in and talked to them and they had no idea why that had happened.

They traded me that can for a new one of Circa 1850. I have no idea if the SamaN product had gone bad, or what was wrong with it, but it almost wrecked this project. I was really starting to think that I would never have this nightstand! Of course, I ended up having to sand those edges; exactly what I didn’t want to do, but with the sandpaper and the Circa 1850 stripper I got the sticky residue off and wiped it all down with mineral spirits. The wood was stained permanently, as you can see above, but fortunately I was planning to paint this piece anyway.

And, one good thing to come out of this disaster is I’ve now discovered my new favourite paint stripper!

After that fiasco, it was time to cut out the new bottom front piece with the jigsaw. I was following my line pretty closely, but going slowly, so my dad said if I sped up the saw I’d get a cleaner cut. So I sped up the saw and got a cleaner cut…completely crooked! Oops! With much sanding I was able to get it “almost” even. I attached it with wood glue and the “L” brackets that had been used on the other piece and caulked the cracks.

Now it was ready to paint, and this time I decided to try something other than white. The Sage Advice paint by Country Chic matches my quilt perfectly, so I did two coats, sanding lightly between coats with a 280 grit sandpaper. I chose to use chalk paint, though my first thought had been milk paint, because of that brown residue. I didn’t know whether the milk paint would adhere on those spots and chalk paint gives a similar look. I didn’t shellac prime this time, because I’m going with the rustic vintage look and the knots will probably show through over time anyway. The wood grain also shows through a bit and I’m OK with it and it suits the style of the piece.

And then after I’d painted it, the project came to a screeching halt because I couldn’t figure out how to finish the piece. Should I oil it, or wax it, or use a tough coat poly?

I waxed my black antique dresser, and while it was a bit of a learning curve, I love how the wax turned out. It’s got a lovely smooth and natural finish with a slight shine. Hemp or linseed oil is also a nice way to finish a piece of furniture and gives it a vintage look. I’ve used it on bare wood before. However, I did a test piece with this wood and paint, and the finish was almost dry and rough. I kept searching online trying to figure out how to fix that. I was afraid to commit to the wax, because while you can wax on top of oil, you can’t put any finish on top of wax. Finally I found this tutorial to create a smooth finish with hemp oil and 400 grit sandpaper. It was buttery smooth! I also read this post from Miss Mustard Seed, all about the wax vs. oil and it was super helpful in making my decision on how to finish it.

I oiled the piece and sanded it lightly with the 400 grit sandpaper, and then after waiting a week for the oil to dry, applied the wax to the top for bit more durability and sheen. The finish still feels “dry” but smooth. I probably could have done another coat of wax, but I wanted to finish the piece and put it back by my bed!

There were some stains in the drawers, so I lined them with the same wallpaper I used in my antique dresser; a reproduction Flora Art Nouveau paper from 1910 by Crown wallpaper. I glued it in with Mod Podge. The paper coordinated beautifully with the green colour.

Then the final touch was to change out the knobs. The brass ones were off a cabinet my parents took out of their house, and were always kind of a placeholder. I think these white porcelain ones (also off an old cabinet they had!) really give it a vintage, cottage feel which goes perfectly with my bedroom.

And there you go, third time’s the charm where this piece is concerned. I am reminded of a quote I saw recently, “We do this not because it is easy, but because we thought it would be easy”. That was definitely the case with this project, but I’m so happy with how it finally turned out. And I love being able to open the drawers without having to pry them open!

Have you ever started a refinishing or refashioning project that turned into a bigger problem then you first thought it would be? Were you able to save it?