I was able to complete the Brasilia restore with a coat of satin polyurethane yesterday (yes I hate gloss poly Mr. Mod - made that mistake once, and never again).
I feel good about the restore. Of course I wish I could have matched the stain color exactly to the original but in person this is pretty close and as I research other Brasilia triple dressers they look darker than mine was originally. Maybe it was SO worn it had become lighter?
Anyhoo, here it is fully restored. Not too bad huh? See the complete process below.
I feel good about the restore. Of course I wish I could have matched the stain color exactly to the original but in person this is pretty close and as I research other Brasilia triple dressers they look darker than mine was originally. Maybe it was SO worn it had become lighter?
Anyhoo, here it is fully restored. Not too bad huh? See the complete process below.
Here it is in my front entry way. It just fits the wall but I don't care; I love it too much to sell it. My very own Brasilia! I'll use it as a credenza to store serving dishes, etc. The dining room is just to the left. I have the matching mirror so once I refinish that I'll try it above in lieu of the white one.
This is about 2 hours after the poly coat. Just put on the hardware to snap some pictures.
Wow, looks incredible compared to what it was!
Look at those curves! The hardest part of this restoration.
Restored to its former glory. I love bringing dead pieces back to life.
See the whole process here.....
Before
Good grief! How would it even get that bad?
I stripped away most of the paint before sanding. Hate this part!
After a couple of hours of sanding. Not as bad as you think though the curve part had to be done by hand.
All sanded now and I just put on a pre-stain coating so the stain absorbs better. 30 minutes to dry.
This is with one coat of stain. I like the color but it needs 2 coats to even everything out.
and voila - Monday it's complete with a poly coat!
I have the night stands to do and the mirror but I need a break! Maybe in a couple of weeks.
19 comments:
wow!
all done and beautiful
hey
i have annouced a giveaway on my blog. I invite you to participate :)
hugs
sudha
http://adesignenthusiast.blogspot.com/2011/01/csn-giveaway-at-design-enthusiast.html
OH MY!! It is BEAUTIFUL!! You must be very proud and now that is truly a labor of love. It looks awesome in your home. Can't wait to see the rest of your Brasilia when it's finished.
That's SICK! Way to Go! I'm very very impressed!
That is such an amazing transformation. Really good job Rhan. I really had my doubts that you'd be able to save that set, but damn...that really looks good. The color is dead on as far as I can tell from the pics. I hope you don't run across a mint set for nuthin' this weekend! Well, actually...I hope you do!!! Yeah, more Brazilia!
what can I say...AMAZING! :D
This is a great and well done job, congrats :)
Ciao!
What a spectacular transformation. You've brought the dresser back from the dead! So beautiful...You did a great job.
Thank you so much everyone! It was so much fun sharing the whole process with you from the moment I found it and the trip to get it to the final presentation.
Marcy aka Rhan
You are fast! I didn't think we'd be seeing this until next week. What a beautiful job, I knew they'd come out gorgeous you should be proud :)
It looks fantastic!
Wow you did an amazing job! Striping can be a pain and sanding... don't get me started.... but yeah, it looks great! I'm jealous! :)
Oh wow! Mr.Mod sent me here to see this since I have one just like this in need of restoration. I think I'll start on mine tomorrow! Well I wish I could. So much to do I'll have to wait, but gosh your transformation has encouraged me. one drawer on mine looks as thought it was chewed by a dog, but for $5.99 I figured it was worth trying to fix.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46952099@N00/5415353450/
Hey Becky, great price on the Brasilia! $5.99????? WOW. Good luck with the restore and send a picture when it's done! You can do it! It's not as bad to restore as you might think, well, I didn't think so but I'm a little koo-koo for Brasilia so maybe I was under a spell! Thanks for the comment!
You're welcome Rhan. I love to restore furniture. In fact I've been doing it for close to thirty years now. Not all MCM, though that's my favorite era, I buy, redo and sell what I get on the cheap and go from there. I'm waiting for Spring since hubby took over our basement workshop rooms for making and staining baseboard and trim for our home. We have a heater in the garage, but when it's this bitter cold it's hard to get it warm enough to work in.
I was wondering what color and brand of stain you used for this. I've been trying to figure out the best match for my own project and you seem to have a pretty good match.
I too just found the base of a Brasilia hutch in need of restoration! Your blog is like the only one out there that shows your progress. Could you give a more detailed account of what grit sandpaper you used and what the name of that fab stain is? Thanks so much! This page gives me hope as I have ALOT of work to do! The top is horribly scratched and I'm hoping I can save the veneer!
I too have a Brasilia piece that someone had the nerver to slather in black paint. Can I ask what type of paint stripper you used? I'm having a hard time getting all of the black out of the grain...
Thanks!
Tracy
Hi Tracy - best of luck on your restoration! I'd love to see before and afters. It's been so long since I did mine that I don't remember exactly what stripper it was. It was a large metal container from Home Depot - it's a very common stripper. I remember it being a thick consistency, gel-like, not one of the liquid strippers. Sorry!
Rhan, you did a great job! I have two Sculptra pieces I'm getting ready to restore and I thought they were rough until I saw your piece. ;-) I feel much confident after seeing what you did. Also, I was wondering if you any resources, ideas or suggestions for finding drawer pulls. One of the large drawers on my magna dresser is missing the pull. Thanks for sharing!
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