How To Refinish Bedroom Furniture

We all love the furniture in our bedrooms. Your bedroom is your sanctuary, where you feel safe, secure, and comfortable. To that end, you only put furniture in your bedroom that you love.

However, furniture does not last forever. Any furniture, especially wooden pieces, begins to fall apart eventually.

What happens when the finish on a piece of furniture starts to wear off?

Thankfully, refinishing your bedroom furniture is not a challenge. When refinishing bedroom furniture, you can keep it in your home for a longer period and potentially add a new appearance that you enjoy even more than the last one.

Read on to learn everything that you need to know about refinishing your bedroom furniture!

Steps To Refinish Furniture

Refinishing furniture might be more simple than you imagined, but it is still a chemical process. As such, it comes with inherent health risks.

When refinishing furniture, you want to follow a very specific set of guidelines and wear the proper protective equipment to ensure your safety and the quality of your furniture.

Before you begin to refinish your furniture, make sure you have the following pieces of personal protective equipment, also known as PPE:

1. A face mask, or a respirator if working in unventilated conditions
2. Protective gloves
3. Safety glasses or a splash guard
4. An apron
5. A protective layer to work on top of
6. Ear protection, if you will sand your furniture

Once you acquire these protective items, you are ready to begin the process of refinishing your furniture. The process will look something like the following:

1. Clean your furniture
2. Sand Any Imperfections
3. Strip Old Paint
4. Apply Primer
5. Apply Paint Or Stain
6. Add Sealant

If you are an experienced furniture refinisher, you might be able to jump straight into the project. However, the odds are high that you may need more elaboration on the process.

Let’s take a closer look at how to refinish your bedroom furniture.

1. Clean The Furniture

First and foremost, you should ensure that the surface of your furniture is as clean as possible. This step does not refer to simply taking any items off the object, but you must put in the effort to fully clean your furniture. 

First, remove any hardware on your furniture, whether it is metal or plastic. These hardware pieces can include items such as handles, hinges, or knobs.

Wipe the furniture’s entire surface down with a damp cloth. Microfiber works best for these situations.

Some stains may require more than a simple damp cloth to remove. In these cases, try using some furniture cleaner. Murphy’s Oil Soap is a cleaning agent specifically compatible with furniture.

Once you have thoroughly cleaned your furniture, you must let it dry out completely before moving on to the next step. Damp wood or the presence of soap can negatively interact with the agents you must use shortly.

2. Sand Or Strip The Old Paint

Next, you must remove any extant layers of paint or finish from your furniture. There are two main ways to go about this; sanding the finish off or applying a chemical stripper.

We will cover both of these methods here.

Sanding

Sanding your furniture is labor-intensive, but is a popular and simple method that many home renovators and furniture refinishers trust. 

Using medium-grit sandpaper, work the surface of your furniture until it loses any gloss. Your furniture should ideally be smooth and dull after a thorough sanding.

If you have a power sander, your job will be far easier- though this is where any ear protection may be necessary.

Chemical Stripper

Chemical strippers take less manual work but require more preparation and safety precautions, as most paint and varnish removers are particularly volatile chemicals. 

You must wear PPE when applying chemical strippers, with no exceptions. Make sure that you are in a well-ventilated area.

Use a stiff paint brush to spread the pain stripper over your furniture in a thick layer. Work in sections rather than covering it all at once.

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and leave the layer on for a specified period. Afterward, you can scrape the stripper off with a scraper.

3. Apply Primer

Your next step should be to apply primer to your furniture. After sanding and stripping any remaining stain or stripper, use a tack cloth to wipe down your furniture once again and keep it clean. 

Next, apply your primer as its manufacturer recommends. Typically, this will be similar to applying paint.

Primer is vital to help hide any discolorations in the wood and keep your paint or stain adhered to your furniture.

4. Apply Paint Or Stain To Your Furniture

Wipe down your furniture once again to make sure it is as clean as possible. 

By now, you should have chosen whether to use paint or stain. Apply your chosen material to the surface of your furniture with a suitable brush in smooth strokes, forming even layers. 

If any stain dribbles off or piles up, clean it quickly before it sets. Now, you can move on to your final step!

5. Use A Furniture-Grade Sealant To Protect Your Furniture

Your final step is to apply a sealant to protect your furniture. Strictly speaking, this step is not necessary. However, it will protect the color of your furniture to keep it intact for years to come. 

A high-quality topcoat, such as the popular polyurethane or lacquer finishes, will help protect your furniture from moisture damage or chipped paint.

Most sealants come in a spray or liquid form, so you have options as to which you would like to use. Once you apply for it, all you have to do is wait!

Can You Paint Over Previously Stained Wood?

Yes, you can paint over previously stained wood. However, you cannot apply paint directly over the stain. Consider sanding and priming the furniture first.

In Conclusion

Ultimately, refinishing bedroom furniture is not challenging. If you wear your PPE, you can do it safely and with no issues!

Whether you are touching up an old piece of furniture or simply redoing a piece to best fit your style, consider refinishing your furniture.