Restoration of old furniture with their own hands +50 photos with examples

Furnishing a house or apartment, proper placement of elements is a natural and uncontested way to decorate the interior. Man himself cannot imagine his existence without these objects, be it a chair, a table or a bed. However, every thing has its own life, with time comes to a defective state. For some, it is easier to throw away an old chest of drawers, a sofa that has broken, lost its appearance, has gone out of fashion. Some believe that the best solution will be the restoration of furniture.

For lovers of antiquity resort to repair, in which the house can be found even instances of 16-18 centuries. The restored elements are evidence of the taste preferences of the owner. Especially important is the use of old things in different styles, for these purposes they specifically give the furniture an aged look or buy the models they like at various sites.

Features of the restoration of furniture

They buy furniture not for one day or even for a year, and therefore they treat it very carefully. Quality options are quite expensive, and few people can afford to often change tables, chairs, sofas, beds. But even with the utmost respect for objects, minor defects and sometimes serious injuries cannot be avoided. In such situations, things are restored, while most of the parts can be restored with their own hands at home.

Experts divide the process of returning past beauty to different elements into two main types: partial and full. Any work begins with the assessment of the subject, his visual inspection. During the restoration should follow certain rules:

When mold and rot are detected, it is necessary to assess the condition of the wood, whether it is possible to clean and treat it with special compounds, or it has completely rotted.
As a result of changes in temperature, high humidity, human activity, cracks may appear on the surface. In this case, the damaged areas are either completely removed or processed and masked.
After removing the lacquer, it is recommended to disinfect wood or other material to prevent the appearance of bugs and mold.
If there are spots on the surface that are not displayed by standard methods, then you will have to whiten the wood.
Full restoration will require certain skills and experience from a home wizard. For example, when hauling seats or a sofa, replacing the springs.

It is better to entrust work with antique models to professionals. In this case, you will need not only to replace the upholstery, some details, but also to preserve the unique style of the product.

The advantages of self-renewal of furniture

Most people with old furniture, do not want to get rid of good, durable products, prefer to restore them, change color, fit into the style of the existing interior. Some want to add value to the item before selling it. Whatever the motives, but to save money, both on repair and on buying new things, many prefer to do the restoration work with their own hands. Such actions have a number of significant advantages, namely:

Small, cosmetic repairs can be performed with the help of available tools, use the remnants of wallpaper, textiles, leather and other materials.
After a high-quality update, the products will last for a long time, they will not yield in appearance to the new models.
In the process of restoration, owners can show their creative potential, make an object that will complement any interior.
With self-recovery, a person gains experience, masters interesting techniques and methods, and subsequently will be able to use them, perform similar actions with higher quality.

Small defects and partial restoration - how to eliminate them

With a simple, fragmentary restoration, which includes the fight against stains, the replacement of coating, the strengthening of connections, the strength to cope with any person, even in the absence of professional skills. The process consists of certain stages, some of which can be omitted, depending on the type of defect:

Visual inspection - assessment of the condition of the damaged place, definition of the plan and scope of work.
Disassembly is necessary for large items, consists in removing boxes, shelves, handles.
Cleaning - dust removal, wet cleaning, degreasing the surface.
Minor repairs - updating polishing, repairing cracks, chips, work with breakdowns.
Decorating - gluing veneer, drawing patterns, painting, painting.

Stains and dirt

Any speck spoils the appearance of furniture products. Under the influence of substances that have become contaminated, the surface of a particular object deteriorates. Therefore, it is very important to clear things in time from plaque, divorce, blots. But even experienced housewives can not boast of knowledge on how to deal with a dirty place. Consider the possible options:

For all surfaces:

Cleaning products. Before refurbishing an element, it is necessary to check the effect of the selected wiper on the coating in the barely noticeable area. If a trace remains, you will have to choose another way.
Table vinegar. It is used to remove strong, long-standing dirt.
Pickled cabbage pickle. Affects the same as the previous substance.

Natural wood:

Baby soap. Raw materials are crushed, diluted in heated water, applied with the help of soft textiles to dirt.
A mixture of essential oil of lemon and water at the rate of a teaspoon per glass.
Lemon juice. The extruded fruit is mixed in half with water. Used to remove streaks.
Ammonia and water at the rate of 1: 6. Used for most types of pollution.

Polished furniture:

Raw Potatoes It is used to remove iodine droplets from wooden surfaces, as well as fingerprints from lacquered furniture.
Laundry soap. It will help to restore the coating after spills from the spilled liquid.
A mixture of vinegar and olive oil.
Vegetable oil. Used for complex blemishes.
Baby powder to remove fat.
Dissolved wax in boiling beer.

To clean polished surfaces is prohibited to use acetone, alcohol. Upon contact with these substances, the upper layer may become pale, dull.

Cushioned furniture:

Gasoline is used to remove greasy stains.
Methyl alcohol is used when necessary to remove traces of chewing gum.
A solution of ammonia and acetic acid is applied to the dirt formed from vegetables and fruits.
Laundry soap to eliminate coffee, chocolate bloom.
Salt saves from red wine, ice - from white.
Saline solution for all types of pollution.

Scratch removal

On the smooth surface often appear scratches that spoil the facade of the furniture. Therefore, they must be eliminated. There are several ways to solve the problem. Consider the most common:

Special means:

Pencil. Will help to paint over the damaged surface.
Hatch. Poured into the potholes and paints them.
Wax for wood. Divided into soft and hard. It is used for cosmetic purposes, with the restoration of chips.
Stain It will help to remove any abrasions.

Folk methods:

Nut kernel. When rubbing on the surface of the gap filled with grains of raw materials, become invisible.
Mayonnaise. Used for natural wood. Poured into the groove, after a few days the place is polished.
Flax oil. It is mixed with alcohol and applied to scratches.
Tea leaves and iodine. Used only for painting, masking.
A solution of table vinegar with vegetable oil.
Mastic. Mixed solution of wax, turpentine and alcohol at the rate of 4: 3: 1 is applied to the damaged area.

Chipped wooden surface

Getting rid of chipping is more difficult than removing the usual scratch, there are fewer materials to solve this problem. But everyone can cope with it at home. Work can be performed using the following materials:

Visual disguise. Temporary measure. In the absence of funds for the purchase of the required coatings, the damage is simply painted over with the help of available tools, for example, iodine, tea brewing.
Decorative corners, protective profile, corners. In some cases, you can simply close the defective area with the help of special items that are often sold in specialized stores.
Putty for furniture. Not suitable for frequently used items, whether it be a tabletop or a sliding element, except for expensive polyester options.
Hard furniture wax. Melted by a soldering iron, with a lighter, the substance is applied to the damaged area with an excess. After the surface is leveled, polished, varnished.
Furniture edge. There are many types from paper to plastic. It allows you to replace the old coating without a trace of repair.

Damage to the paintwork

It is quite difficult to eliminate defects of the paintwork lining at home. First you need to determine the type of varnish that covered the product. To identify this, you should perform the following steps:

On an inconspicuous area it is necessary to apply a drop of 10% alkaline solution. If after a few minutes the substance dissolves, then an alcohol-based varnish is applied to the surface.
Acetone is used to determine nitrolac.
If under the action of a solvent the top layer is not dissolved, therefore, the product is coated with a polyester, alkyd substance.

After determining the type of coating used, a substance with appropriate composition and color is acquired. Areas that do not require restoration work, cover with paper or petroleum jelly. Old material is removed using solvent or sandpaper. Then put new raw materials in several layers.

Veneering / veneering

Due to the veneering of the surface of the product with veneer, it is possible to significantly change the old furniture, give it the look of expensive wood. A large selection of colors and natural patterns will allow the skinned thing to turn into an integral part of the interior, corresponding to any style. There are several methods of veneering:

Hot. The veneer is glued to the object with glue.
Cold. The material is pressed to the base with the help of special equipment.
Membrane. Industrial method of vacuum compound material with complex surfaces.

At home, use only the first option. The process is as follows:

Preparation of the base. It includes removal of accessories, removal of the old lining layer, elimination of possible defects, leveling the surface with a putty to a perfectly smooth state, sanding with emery paper.
Preparation of veneer. The roll is unwound, the material is moistened with a moistened sponge, covered with a cloth or wrapping paper, placed between two flat sheets of plywood, fiberboard plates. After drying, it becomes straight.
Veneering On the one hand, a thin layer of glue is applied to the object and the veneer, usually the manufacturer indicates the required brand, but is suitable on the basis of PVA. After the first layer has dried, apply the second. The sheet is applied to the product using an iron heated to 50 ° C, smoothed through the paper. Then it is leveled with a wooden block. Each subsequent part stacks overlap by 3-4 cm.

Decoupage

Very simple and interesting method of furniture restoration, which will be interesting to do even for children. The drawings cut out from fabric and paper, ornaments are pasted on products, become varnished. There are several types of decoupage:

Standard. Pictures are pasted on the front side of the object and lacquered.
Reverse. Suitable only for glass surfaces, for example, for a coffee table. The image is glued under the glass.
Volume. On the overall picture stand out the individual elements. To do this, some of the same pieces are glued in several layers.
Fiction. A single image is executed on the whole plane, imitating a real painting. At the same time, there are no borders between the background of the object and the picture.
Decopatch With the help of paper, napkins, torn into pieces, filled the entire front side of the product.

Craquelure

For furniture restoration, many people use crackle technique. After drying the paint, it cracks, giving the furniture the effect of antiquity. To get the cracks, use special varnishes, which are divided by type of composition: one-step and two-step. This division is conditional, for each subspecies the number of stages is greater.

Single phase craquelure. The coating has the appearance of cracked paint, under the cracks of which the base layer or wood is visible. The effect is achieved due to the different drying rates of the first and second layers. However, base paint is not always used, sometimes only a paint coat is sufficient. Craquel varnish is applied to the surface and is not fully dried for half an hour. After applying the finishing layer of acrylic paint with a brush or roller. From the thickness of the composition will depend on the size of the cracks.
Biphasic Here it is not paint that cracks, but lacquer applied on top of the finished image. This technique gives maximum similarity with the old. It consists in the following, the first base coat of lacquer is applied on the prepared base, which is dried to a "tack-free". Then everything is covered with a second layer, after it dries, the cracks are rubbed with powder, pigments. The billet is rinsed under running water and completely dried. At the final stage is covered with a layer of varnish.

Furniture Patina

Plaque on a wooden base indicates its defeat by microorganisms, but on oak surfaces it is a sign of antiquity. It is very difficult to get a patina in a natural way, therefore they use modern ideas - the method of artificial patirovanie The construction market offers several types of compounds: thick paste, liquid, facet varnish. Regardless of the substance used, the technology is almost the same, is as follows:

Preparation of the base. It is rubbed with a metal brush, degreased.
Padding. After drying, rubbed with sandpaper.
Varnishing The composition must be completely dry.
The application of the coating composition. Drying is not until complete drying, the excess is removed with a sponge.
The product is covered with a second layer of patina, it is left to dry.
To fix the result of a transparent varnish is applied.

Varnishing and polishing

Varnishing is quite a popular type of furniture lining. Transparent coatings protect the surface of the product from moisture and dirt, give it shine and contrast. For these purposes, oil, alcohol and nitrolak are used. A new finish may be needed when scratches or loss of the original appearance of the coating. To do this, the old layer is completely removed, the base is ground, primed, varnish is applied.

The final stage of the work will be finishing polishing paste. You can use furniture for repainting, but many prefer automotive. Work consists in rubbing a special composition with the help of felt on a varnished surface. To speed up the process, you can use a grinder. After the done actions the furniture has mirror, brilliant facing.

Inlay

One of the most ancient techniques of decorating furniture known since the days of ancient Egypt. Drawing a figure of a tree on a tree called intarsia. At home, to perform this type of mosaic is quite difficult. Wooden plates that make up the overall picture, tightly fitted to each other and glued together. The front side is smoothed, varnished, polished.

Due to the fact that the inlay is a free technique, block mosaic can be diluted with glass, stone, plastic elements. The work uses complex parts, running into each other. The texture of the individual components may be different. The surface is painted in different colors with the help of stains, varnishes, dyes.

Full restoration

To give a new life to various pieces of furniture is possible with a complete restoration. It is difficult to part with your favorite things, so the absolute alteration will be a relevant decision when creating a new interior. They will long please the eye, keep the traditions and history, if you step by step carry out the recovery actions outlined in the master class. A responsible approach should be to the choice of materials for the work, to prepare the surface well, to think over the style in advance.

Required materials and tools

To carry out high-quality restoration of the bedside table, chair, table, you must have certain skills and knowledge. It is necessary to learn how to work with wood, fabrics, metal, properly use auxiliary equipment, such as glass cutters, hacksaws. You will need to stock the following tools:

Chisels (4 to 40 mm);
Clamp set;
Plane;
Drill drill;
Sander;
Various screwdrivers;
Hacksaw;
Jigsaw;
Furniture stapler;
Материалы для зачистки (наждачная бумага, кусок кожи, войлока).

Если определённых навыков работы с материалами для реставрации нет, начинать обучение лучше с простых и неценных предметов мебели. The damaged surface of expensive structures will be very difficult to restore.

Dismantling of furniture and removal of accessories

Old furniture when repairing surfaces should be disassembled only as a last resort. One of the options for parsing is damage to the internal parts of the fungus, rodents. Begin the separation with the least fixed parts that are easily removed, unscrew. It can be metal covers, locks, doors, legs, shelves and other sliding parts.

Upholstery, soft parts are removed if spiked connections are loose. Upholstered antique sofa or chair can be quite valuable, especially when using the original mounts. It should be dismantled with extreme caution. Complex, large-sized compounds disassemble on the floor, medium and small on the workbench, placing a cloth under it, foam rubber. Before you make an effort to separate the elements, you must ensure that there are no fasteners. Nails, screws are removed with special tools, glue can be removed by applying a little alcohol to the joint.

Paint removal

At home, you can rid the restored furniture from old varnish by using special tools. Solutions with high penetrating power and a metal spatula will help to quickly clean the surface of any shape. It should be noted that the furniture can be treated with different types of varnish, for its safe removal you will need to choose a suitable solvent.

A thick layer of cracked varnish is removed by grinding. You can use simple sandpaper or special tools. The paint and varnish covering will quickly depart under the influence of hot air from the building dryer.

Elimination of external damage

Quite often, furniture requires repair due to a defect in the front surfaces. The cause of external flaws can be careless handling during operation, transportation, misuse, normal wear and tear and so on. To eliminate various types of damage, suitable solutions are used for a particular case:

Dents without damaging the wood. On the surface of the recess is carried out with the force of a chisel, a knife several times along the fibers. After stripping, cover the dent with a damp cloth, dry with an iron.
Nicks with the destruction of the tree. The defective place of the stand is cleared with a chisel, covered with a previously prepared patch of plywood, an array. For bonding, you can use resin glue, urea resin. After 2-3 hours, the repaired area can be prepared for the topcoat.
Eliminate peeling of plywood from the base. Repairs are more complex, especially if the veneering is performed with carbamide resins. You will need to cut the planed part and clean the old adhesive solution, then enter the resin and hardener. When using bone, mezdrovogo glue will be enough pressing and heating with electric tools.
Sealing through cracks in the tree. Degrease the contaminated surface of the crack and inject a 10% solution of oxalic acid. After 30 minutes, pour the resin and tightened with a clamp.
Elimination of small holes, roughness, scratches. More often used glue filler. Before applying, clean the place with the defect, after - stand 30 minutes and grind;
Repair of pest affected surfaces. Sodium fluoride is used to eliminate such defects. The solution is injected into the affected areas and wipe the surface. After exposure, the lesions are sealed with paraffin.

Preparing for the finish

The application of the topcoat - the work is quite simple, but must take place in several stages, starting with the preparation of surfaces. If the work will take place at home, you should prepare the room for this procedure. There should be no debris and dust, because during coating small particles can settle on the lacquered surface and spoil the appearance of the product.

Once the room is prepared, you can go to the wood itself. All walls of the parts should be well sanded. Remove the resulting dust can be a rag or vacuum cleaner. For better adhesion of varnish using a primer.

Finishing coating

There are many types of paints and varnishes. They differ in composition, drying time. For drawing it is possible to use any tool. Depending on the type of material and its properties, choose one of the following tools:

Brush. Used when working with oil formulations. The layer should be as thin as possible, therefore the brush should be periodically pressed. So as not to have air bubbles, should be polished smoothly.
Tampon. Suitable for alcohol varnishes. The material is applied with quick movements along the fibers. It is necessary to ensure that the edges of the strokes are not found on each other, otherwise the color will be non-uniform.
Spray gun. Suitable for any formulations. It allows to process the surface of any shape with minimum time costs. The device should be kept at the same distance from the wood, moving at the same speed.

Fitting and assembly of the product

After the restoration of elements and technical extracts proceed to the assembly. At the initial stage, carry out preliminary installation. Check the density of spiked joints, prepare wooden gaskets, clamps, pressure straps.

The final assembly is carried out by gluing all the structural elements of carpentry mixture. Hot glue is applied with a brush, connect wood and tighten. Excess glue must necessarily protrude from the joints. Under pressure, the furniture is left for 12 hours, then another day. Only now you can begin to apply the decor, installation of accessories, hanging doors.

Fittings that are responsible for the convenience of using furniture and functionality, is installed in the last place. If the old holes are loose, you need to update them, repair and drill new ones.

Features of the restoration with the replacement of elements

It is advisable to restore only high-quality wooden furniture. In some cases, surface repair is not enough, you have to completely change one or more structural elements. It can be a leg of a chair, a chest of drawers, a broken door of a kitchen unit, a crumbled drawer. If the part is whole, it has at least a part of the attachment, it can be expanded and glued together with epoxy glue.

When gluing furniture can not be saved, you have to make a new, the same part of the design. More often, complete replacement of parts requires chairs, chairs, tables, shelves, cabinets. It is necessary to select wood of an identical structure, to make new mounts independently.

Nuances of the restoration of upholstered furniture

Most often, repair involves replacing the upholstery. You can pick up an identical material or replace it with any other, for example, natural, artificial leather. Remove the old coating, check the condition of the padding material, perform cutting of the new plating and mount it in place.

Most models of sofas and chairs have sliding mechanisms. Their breakdown sometimes requires the complete disassembly of upholstered furniture for proper repair. It may also require repair bars, reinforcement. If a frame repair is necessary, the entire structure must also be disconnected.

Furniture Care Tips

It is possible to delay the need for restoration as much as possible, if you properly and timely take care of the furniture. Constructions made of various materials need certain care:

Cushioned furniture. Items covered with cloth, cleaned with a vacuum cleaner, steam cleaner, special chemicals. Leather upholstery wipe with a damp cloth, then treated with water-repellent impregnations;
Wooden. It is possible to wipe from dust only with a dry cloth. You can restore the shine with lemon oil. Small scratches rubbed with colored wax crayon or a special pencil;
Polished. It requires especially careful maintenance, wiping with a felt fabric with applying a polish. Replace the tool can be simple burdock oil;
Case from MDF, a chipboard. Wood is protected by a decorative waterproof layer, so the furniture is well tolerated by contact with moisture, cleaning agents. Do not use powders and brushes for cleaning glossy surfaces, iron fittings.

Conclusion

Buying new furniture is not always a rational decision if the old one fails. In some cases, restoration may be much cheaper. For old, favorite items, repairs are the only way to extend life. Any element of a wooden structure that has not lost its strength can be qualitatively updated using a variety of technologies.