Buying unfinished furniture can be a great way to save money and still have beautiful furniture for your home. Finishing it yourself also gives you the chance to customize the look.
The first step to finishing unfinished furniture is sanding. You’ll want to use a very fine gage sandpaper to get the wood as smooth as possible. If your piece has rough spots, you may need to start with a heavy or medium-gage sandpaper first and work your way down to a finer gage. The best advice for this stage is to take your time! It can be a bit tedious to sand a piece, especially if there are lots of carvings or cutouts in the furniture, but it will be worth it in the end. If the piece you’re sanding has a large flat area, an automatic sander can be a real benefit.
Once the wood is sanded smooth, you’ll need to decide if you want to stain it. If you are happy with the natural color of the wood, you can skip this step and move right to finishing. Otherwise, you can choose from a range of shades of stain. Any hardware store that has a paint department should also have a selection of stain. Choose from a variety of shades to find the finish that works best for you. Usually, a piece only needs one coat of stain. You can apply the stain with a foam brush, let it sit (usually five or ten minutes is enough – the longer the stain sits on the wood, the darker the color will become) and then use a clean cloth to wipe the excess stain off of your furniture.
Deciding on a final finish is your last step. One of the most common finishes is polyurethane. There are also some more unique finishes like natural wax. Ask for advice in your hardware store – they can explain each option to you and how each is applied. For polyurethane finish, simply brush the finish over your furniture. Be sure not to apply too much, or coat the wood unevenly. Once your first coat is completed, let it dry for at least the amount of time specified on the container. Once the first coat is dry, you’ll make a light pass over your wood with very fine gage sandpaper. If you can see that you’re removing the polyurethane coating, you’re sanding too hard. This light pass is just to give the second coat a bit of a rough surface to cling to. Once you’ve sanded, you’re ready for your second coat. Usually two or three coats are enough for your piece. If you’re doing a third coat, repeat the process you used between the first and second coats. Once the final coat is dry, you’re ready to enjoy your new furniture!
Don’t let the process of finishing furniture intimidate you! It does take some time, but is definitely something anyone can handle. As an added bonus, you can save money by buying unfinished furniture, and you also get the flexibility to choose your own stain color and final finish so that your new furniture will look exactly the way you want. Good luck, and have fun!
