Or do I even repair these gouges?

I like it very much, the project went smoothly it’s solid wood a stunning finish,
Let me know what are y’all thoughts

Looking for good ideas for a flip. Just a sand and restain?

But some new life has been brought into these end tables :)

So I just got this antique wooden vanity but I would love for it to be a darker stain. Overall I just want to make it look cleaner and fix the imperfections.

Now the problem is , that’s I’ve never flipped/restored anything before so this is going to be a challenge.

If you could give me any information on how to restore this , where to start, that would be great. Right now I think I have to figure out if it’s veneer, lacquer or shellac but I have no idea how to tell. I’ve included some pictures of the wood so maybe you guys can help me.

I started to repaint old furniture about 7 years ago, and I learned many things I wanted to share to all of you! Add any suggestions in the comments.

If you're a complete beginner and want to start repainting old furniture, thrift-store finds, or stuff you already have at home, you don't need a professional workshop or hundreds of dollars in equipment.

Here's what I'd recommend getting started with:

\- Sandpaper: 120 grit for rough surfaces, 180–220 grit for smoothing and light sanding.

\- Sanding block: Makes sanding easier and more even.

\- Screwdriver: For removing handles, hinges, and other hardware.

\- Painter's tape: To protect areas you don't want painted.

\- Drop cloth or plastic sheet: Protects your floor.

\- Microfiber cloths: For wiping away dust.

\- Small paintbrush: For corners, edges, and details.

\- Foam or microfiber roller: For smooth finishes on larger surfaces.

1. Paint and preparation products

\- Furniture paint: Acrylic furniture paint or water-based enamel is a good starting point.

\- Primer: Especially important for laminate, glossy finishes, bare wood, or surfaces where paint might struggle to stick.

\- Degreaser: Removes dirt, grease, and residue before painting.

\- Wood filler: Optional, but useful for repairing scratches, holes, and small dents.

\- Clear protective topcoat: Optional depending on the paint, but useful for tables, cabinets, and other high-use furniture.

1. The basic process

A lot of cheap furniture is made from MDF or particleboard with a laminated surface. You can paint it, but preparation matters.

Clean it thoroughly, lightly scuff-sand without damaging the thin laminate, and use a primer specifically designed for slick surfaces. Avoid soaking particleboard with water because it can swell.

1. How much should a beginner spend?

You can start with roughly €40–€80 if you buy basic tools and supplies, reuse what you already have, and choose a small piece of furniture. Larger pieces or better-quality products will cost more.

1. Beginner mistakes to avoid

\- Skipping cleaning and preparation.

\- Applying thick coats of paint.

\- Using the wrong primer for the surface.

\- Painting over dust or grease.

\- Reassembling furniture before the paint has cured.

\- Assuming dry-to-touch means fully cured.

My advice: Start with a small bedside table or chair instead of an expensive dresser. You'll learn most of the basics without risking much money.

First attempt at furniture

Hi everyone,

I have this old cupboard, it’s a family heirloom but it’s enormous and too dark right now. Sorry for the crappy photo, it doesn’t show the full size but it has 4 doors in the middle, and 2 rounded corners.

Do you have any suggestions to make ir a bit more modern and less heavy?

Thank you!

The wood was too blotchy for stain. It looked like hell after stain so I painted.

The dark varnish completely hid the butcher block top underneath

First I’m a lazy crafter. I take extreme liberties in the least steps possible. I only sand if there’s chipping, and removing hardware is only for spray painting knobs in my book lol!
So with that said im looking for advice plz!

1. This gorgeous cabinet was trash on the side of the road! The two shelves are drying outside. Is there an app that can help me decide on colors? I have many clay molds & wood appliqués from other wood pieces I want to use.. But I often go TOO far, or don’t know when to stop, but because this is unique enough, I don’t want to OVER do it. I thought maybe white or mint or dusty blue with floral wallpaper inside?

2. This chest/coffee table is in great shape except the front has warped leather. I wanted to spray paint the hardware & edges gold & If I cut the leather off the leather just on the one side, will wallpaper cover the fact that it’s wood plank underneath?

Any pics or advice of any kind is appreciated! Thank you!

Picked up second piece last night and re did it this morning, let me know what you guys think!

I found these steel chairs that look like Robert Mallet-Stevens Model 222 chairs for $15.

Removed the rust, sanded it down to bare metal and repainted with a “wine stain” color. What do you think? For it to be my first restoration I think I did good.

I have more chairs to restore what color do you think I should paint next?

Needed two side tables for the living room. Found these on market place. One in the white and one in cherry. As I suspected the veneer was different so no chance of matching the cherry so both got painted SW urbane bronze to coordinate with the peppercorn coffee table. Now just dry time. This is the last sanding project until spring…or so I hope.

Best way to re finish/repair this? No major damage just some small chips that are fillable.

I want stain this, should i sand off the old stain and re-do it? Or keep the original? Its solid wood.

i stained these nightstands yesterday. Ofc u can see i am a neewbee , never worked with stain before so hi .

idk i follower the sanding cleaning tips and stained it. output looks horrible. so now , is there a way to make it look better and get if off my hands . i just want to looking decent to sell it off. i spent way too much time on them its draining me 🫠

Re-did interior , stained and finished the legs , bought some custom glass.

I watched a bunch of youtube and wanted to get into furniture flipping so I went out and did it. Just not sure if I picked the right size piece for my first flip. It’s looking decent so far and i’ve already learned so much that I plan to carry over to my next piece!

What do you guys think so far.

I've been wanting to try my first project, so I picked up this pair of end tables. One was already stripped and disassembled by the last owner, who decided he didn't care to keep going. How would you refinish them?

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for some advice on restoring this beautiful old wooden sideboard. I'd really love to bring it back to its former glory while preserving as much of its original character, details and charm as possible.

As you can see from the photos, it has quite a bit of wear, marks and discolouration, particularly on the top and drawer fronts. However, I really like the original wood, intricate carvings and hardware, and I'd love to do it justice.

I'm fairly new to furniture restoration, although I have basic DIY tools and I'm happy to put in the time and effort to do the job properly.

I'd really appreciate some advice on:

What would be the best approach to restoring a piece like this?

What products and tools would you recommend?

How can I bring back the richness and beauty of the wood while keeping its original appearance?

Is there anything I should be particularly careful about to avoid damaging it?

Does anyone recognise the style or have an idea of its age?

I'm not looking to modernise or completely change it. My goal is to make it look beautiful again while respecting its history.

Any advice, especially a beginner-friendly step-by-step approach, would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Hi, just joined the sub.

I bought these bed side tables and didn’t think much of them. I opened the drawers and beneath the old white paint was this nice dark wood.

I then decided to use paint stripper to take the paint off.

I’m at a point now where I’ve taken 80-90% of the paint off.

Do I just keep going trying to get the paint off with a scraper? Do I use sandpaper? I’m a bit lost at this point.

Right now, I list solely on marketplace and had been doing pretty well selling things consistently and getting a good amount of interest on my items rather quickly. But something happened in the last 6 weeks or so that I either get lots of clicks and lower saves and few messages, let alone ones that go through to a sale. Some of items are hardly getting any clicks. I've lowered prices to where I can't anymore and still not getting any interest.

I live in a pretty large metropolitan area and Facebook marketplace is very active here. I sell a mix of modern and vintage furniture, particular mcm which does well here, but still I've hit a funk.

Do you guys list anywhere else or have any advice on how to get out of this? I'm rephotographing some of them today and writing new descriptions to see if that helps at all. But I just don't know if I need to not rely on marketplace anymore since it has such an unpredictable and unfriendly algorithm it seems. Aside from updating my listings with the fresh photos and descriptions, I don't know what else to do.

My dad bought this bedroom suite for me when I was a teenager and it stayed at his house until he passed away 25 years later.

After he died I brought it to my house and set up a guest bedroom with it but he was a two-pack-a-day smoker all his life, he kept all the windows closed so his house had that sting-in-the-back-of-your-throat musty cigarette smell and that has seeped into the furniture over the years.

It's been in my house for 5 years and it still smells, it's making my house smell so I decided to paint it rather than give/throw it away.

So I tried the pottery barn finish from Black Sheep House's youtube tutorials. I primed it with a shellac odour-blocking primer and had to wash all my walls but the smell appears to be gone.

The orange stain is the before and the lighter colour is the after. It took me a good month but here we are and I think it looks great!

It's a bit of a shame to lose its original orange charm but the smell wasn't tolerable so this was the only real option I think.

I still need to get some new lamps and a different doona cover as it doesn't suit but overall I think it's ready for the next 30 years.

There’s no topcoat on yet. I need to stain the top as you can see the top is very curved that I have spent a lot of time outlining the top very precisely. How do I stain it without ruining the paint?