Any chance I get to get back to my roots to restore furniture I get giddy. Don’t get me wrong I love painting furniture, but restoring to original is beyond rewarding. This mission oak chair was restored back to original.
The Restoration
Most of the wear on this chair is very normal. No joints are loose and it is in otherwise very good condition. There are some chips in the wood and the wood is weathered. Starting off I take the seat off, then clean really well with denatured alcohol and water. Some spots that have grease and sticky stuff I clean up with Naptha.
Sanding with a 220 grit sandpaper and clean again then I am ready for repairs. I filled the areas of missing wood with Mohawks Epoxy sticks. Using the epoxy to fill in the gaps, waited for it to harden and then sand level. Then went through and touched up the color in the areas of where I used the epoxy.
Staining is up next, used General Finishes Medium Brown Dye Stain. Brushing on and wiping off right away. I mix up my shellac flakes and Everclear. I let that sit over night and mix in the morning. Using a bristle brush I brush on 2 coats of shellac with ample dry time in-between each coat. The last two coats I scuff in-between each coat using a 320 grit sandpaper. Then brush on a final coat of shellac. I do take a Mirlon pad and scuff lightly to dull the finish as shellac can be very shinny. This can also be done with steel wool.
Upholstery
Excited to get to the upholstery. Taking the seat apart I find straw and horse hair which is not un-common with antiques. I love seeing this, it reminds me of how resourceful human beings can be. Picked up 3″ foam pad from Hobby Lobby to replace the straw and horsehair. I also used bonded fiberfill to finish stuffing the seat.
Stapled on the new material and sometimes with these large (tall) seats the corners can be a b*** to get to look right so after some finagling I got it to look pretty good. Then I did a hidden stitch through out the fold to keep it down and less noticeable. Used my curved needles to stitch up the seams.
Now that the upholstery is finished I can put the seat back on and it is ready for delivery. This turned out perfect! Do you have an antique you need restored?
Thanks for ready and many blessings,
Tara Lou
