Wood stain is made of magic

April 11, 2011 70 Comments read furniture, Projects

The desk is finally finished!

Before:

After:

70 Comments → Wood stain is made of magic

hildeaux April 12, 2011 at 2:24 am

OMG i love curvy drawers. and i love those knobs!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:50 pm
  
  I love curvy drawers, too, and you don’t see them super-often which is why I knew I had to have this desk even though it wasn’t in great shape!
notlostonme April 12, 2011 at 2:30 am

It looks like a completely different piece of furniture! You did an awesome job and that is gorgeous.
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:50 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
corellian_sugar April 12, 2011 at 2:36 am

That is a STUNNING job. It looks like it just stepped out of an Ethan Allan showroom. I am blown away. GO YOU!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:51 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂 I’m surprised how easy it was!
loree_borealis April 12, 2011 at 3:02 am

Oh hell that’s beautiful!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:52 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
burtonlabs April 12, 2011 at 3:03 am

Looks super expensive now
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:52 pm
  
  I was thinking the same–now it looks like a piece of furniture that I would covet but not be able to afford new. 🙂
raincitylady April 12, 2011 at 3:14 am

You took something I would have trashed and made it into something people would bid way up at an auction! You do great work.
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:52 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
nicolemarieh April 12, 2011 at 3:26 am

what correllian sugar and raincitylady said. so impressive! it looked like nothing before but I LOVE it now.
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:52 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
playmoby April 12, 2011 at 4:21 am

its amazing!!! Its so beautiful!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:53 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
darkkatpouncing April 12, 2011 at 4:58 am

LOOOOVE 😀

The finished piece is amazing 🙂 SCORE!!!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:55 pm
  
  Re: LOOOOVE 😀
  
  Thank you! 🙂
electriclime April 12, 2011 at 5:10 am

HOLY CRAP

That’s absolutely amazing work. I can’t even believe how fantastic that looks. You have a gift!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:55 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
vurumai April 12, 2011 at 5:28 am

Foxy furniture rehab
kindofstrange April 12, 2011 at 6:24 am

Daaaaaaayum! Well done! That looks fantastic.
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:55 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
faerieburst April 12, 2011 at 7:11 am

Please come to my house and redo all of my furniture.

Kthxbye.

~Aramada
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:55 pm
  
  That could be arranged!
mschilepepper April 12, 2011 at 7:35 am

That is suuuuuuuuper swanky, woman!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:55 pm
  
  Thanks! 🙂
lilysnape April 12, 2011 at 8:57 am

Oh wow, that is so cool!You did a great job! I didn’t know you could just magically transform a piece of furniture with some stain and a few knobs. Maybe I can do that when we get new bedroom furniture.
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:58 pm
  
  You could totally do it, it’s easier than it looks, particularly if you get the minwax stain and sealant in one. Just sand the old piece down–fine grit if it has little to no finish on it now, heavier grit up to 100 if it’s got a thicker finish, use a tack cloth to take off all of the sanding bits, apply the stain according to the directions until you’ve got the color you want, then let it sit for 24 hours and seal it if you’d like more protection or a glossier finish than the sealant in the stain provides.
thecostumegal April 12, 2011 at 4:46 am

Wow, you should buy stuff off craigslist and change it, then resell it.
1. faerieburst April 12, 2011 at 7:10 am
  
  This. This thing right here.
  
  ~Aramada
  1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:55 pm
    
    I’ve been keeping an eye out, for sure. Either for things for Jason and I at the new house or things I could fix up and resell but it takes some digging. A lot of the more interesting things are priced much too high for the condition they’re in, simply because they are antiques, and a lot of the rest is stuff from Ikea.
matrixx April 12, 2011 at 11:50 am

Wow, that was a beautiful piece before, but you really made it look its best! I would totally buy that if I saw it somewhere.
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:58 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
wench_baby April 12, 2011 at 1:15 pm

Dude, you are a furniture refinishing beast!!! I’m so impressed!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 5:59 pm
  
  Thank you! I wish I had some more furniture to tackle.
kitlizzy April 12, 2011 at 1:37 pm

THAT LOOKS SO AWESOME.

Now I’m going to start convincing my fiance to let me take home and refinish every run down piece of furniture I find… 😉
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 6:00 pm
  
  It’s really amazing what some paint or stain or new fabric can do for something. I get the design*sponge feed to my LJ friend list and I’m always impressed by furniture before and afters.
2. admin April 12, 2011 at 6:01 pm
  
  But maybe you should finish that wedding dress first. 😉
prdct April 12, 2011 at 1:44 pm

gorgeous!!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 6:01 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
golfshirt6 April 12, 2011 at 2:19 pm

Wow… that looks amazing!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 6:01 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
beautyofgrey April 12, 2011 at 2:23 pm

I want you to teach me how to do these marvelous things.
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 6:02 pm
  
  It’s actually really easy, just sand all the old finish off, stain it, and then seal it. As long as you aren’t going for a finicky finish, the biggest concern is finding a place large enough to strip down the old wood so you don’t get fumed out!
shutterbug April 12, 2011 at 3:07 pm

I’m passing through via , and I had to stop and leave a comment. You did an amazing job refinishing this beautiful piece. Wow!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 6:02 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
fraxl April 12, 2011 at 3:44 pm

niiiiiice!!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 6:02 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
hopefulspirit April 12, 2011 at 5:52 pm

You do beautiful work! I really love what you did with the inside of the drawers, so pretty. I want one! 😛
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 6:03 pm
  
  Thank you! The inside of the drawers is self-adhesive shelf lining paper, I got it at Fred Meyer. 🙂
winik April 12, 2011 at 7:57 pm

You could make a job outta this for sure either finding stuff yourself to fix up or taking orders from others looking for help with their finds 🙂 p.s. Beautiful!
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 9:11 pm
  
  That would be a fun job! I love bringing things back to life. 🙂
weaselmom April 12, 2011 at 8:28 pm

My crappy work PC won’t let me make out the glory of the grain through the new stain, so I can’t wait to see it on a better computer! I really like the liner paper you chose for this.

The time may come when you want to revive a wood piece without staining or painting it. Here’s a great post about a product called Restor-A-Finish that might help. When we were looking at MCM furniture, I would definitely have considered using this on some of the pieces just to give them that extra lustre and finish.

I can’t wait until you move up to upholstery. =)
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 9:09 pm
  
  I actually bought some restor-a-finish in the hopes that I could use it on the coffee table instead of refinishing it, but it was too far gone. I have since used the restor-a-finish on a wooden storage chest and my pirate sword. XD
  
  NOTHING WOOD IS SAFE ANYMORE
benianti April 12, 2011 at 10:24 pm

Great post! I want to see a follow up to this topic
luscious_words April 13, 2011 at 12:44 am

WOW!!! That looks amazing. 🙂
1. admin April 29, 2011 at 7:00 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
lady_sotha April 12, 2011 at 9:56 pm

All your re-finished furniture looks so gorgeous! Maybe you need to consider a career change… =-)
1. admin April 12, 2011 at 10:10 pm
  
  I am considering just about anything as a potential career. Being unemployed has been playing hell on my self-esteem.
  1. lady_sotha April 13, 2011 at 8:01 pm
    
    I feel you there. I’ve been unemployed since November and once school is done for the semester I HAVE to find a job or I’ll be a gibbering mass of low self-esteem. *hugs*
crushedglass April 14, 2011 at 4:01 pm

Aweseome! I love it!
1. admin April 29, 2011 at 7:00 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
ladybutterfly74 April 14, 2011 at 4:38 pm

Beautiful! I love it!!
1. admin April 29, 2011 at 7:00 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
conceptcanibal April 14, 2011 at 11:33 pm

Gosh, you do fantastic work Mel! I love this! I just hope we don’t screw it up when moving it:) haha. Don’t worry, I’ll be extra careful!
1. admin April 29, 2011 at 7:01 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂
divurome April 15, 2011 at 5:17 pm

Hmm, that?s some cool information. I would search on Google to find other relevant articles. Actually, I came across your blog on Google Blog Search. I?m going to add your RSS feed to my reader. Continue posting please!
jamke April 29, 2011 at 3:58 am

BEAUTY FULL!!!
1. admin April 29, 2011 at 7:01 pm
  
  Thank you! 🙂

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70 Comments → Wood stain is made of magic