Why is it that these waterfall pieces I come across are so messed up?? I want you to see that just because wood seems like it's beyond repair or refinishing, it usually is not.
With some care you can transform the wood back to it's original look.
My very first one was a desk that was deplorable! I refinished it way back when I was first starting out. This horrendous desk has been pinned to the moon and back on Pinterest!
Here is a before pic of that desk and a link to my blog post so you can see the finished result! I know. Sneaky. HERE is the link Seriously. I did not replace the top.
So todays post is about another waterfall piece. A dresser. Same messed up top and almost the same messed up body. Not quite as bad though.
This was another piece that came to me by way of Las Vegas.
So here's the top. Pretty bad. Very rough and stained. Because the body is pine, it had dings and gouges everywhere. The top got a gentle sanding. It's very easy to burn through this walnut veneer. So be careful. Do the curved part by hand, otherwise you will burn through, and there is no fix for that.
Look at how well it cleans up! I think I used an 80 grit and worked up to 220.
After a coat of the stain (i think i used a walnut. I can't remember!) and trying to decide on some colors.
From right to left, the stages of sanding and staining the drawers. But, I realized at least 4 of them had so many chips in the veneer, it would never look good stained.
The body was done in a very pale gray and the black was GF Lampblack. Can you believe the top??? I did a satin topcoat of Deft acrylic topcoat.
I thought about leaving the original gold, but ended up doing a metallic light silver.
Ok..the pic of "Mama" just had to be shown! I love the one on the right!
GF Corinth Blue on the sides for some color.
Last look at that gorgeous top!
Although this is the pic of the desk, I used the same Deft topcoat on this one too.
One more before and after:
