Now this is Furniture baby..

So one of my last blogs I was pointing out how bad new furniture is. So today I thought I would pop a couple of examples of what a really nice antique piece can become with a little work.
So the picture on the left is a restored Victorian era Eastlake dresser.

On the lower right is how I found it. I picked this up at a house sale for something like 50 bucks. House sales are always a great way to pick old pieces up. Most people want or need to sell what they have so you can alway get something for cheap. I usually hit them on the last day to get a good price (or for free sometimes).

Anyway a couple of things to think about when looking at buying something like this. Make sure it has all the pieces, things like the molding, wooden drawer pulls etc. Metal pulls are easier to replace, but if your missing a wooden bit and you can't fabricate news one, you'll have to bring it to me then $$$.

This was a great score, because it had most of its pieces and its a good antique. The body is solid Walnut, not something you will find in anything new. Its an easy finish to remove so stripping is a brezze and the construction on these pieces is usually fantastic.

What I decided to do on this piece was a simple oil & wax finish, something you could do at home. Its a nice natural look and it only it takes minutes to do.

Instead of me rehashing the how to part, i suggest you go to one of my old blogs (the danish modren one) here is a link http://tinyurl.com/38ng69 it covers all the how to of an oil finish.

So I worked on this pieces for a total of 8 hrs over a couple of days. It cost 50-clams to buy and about 40 in supplies and now will sell in my shop for about 650.00. Its funny, so for about a 100 bucks and 8 to 12 hours of your timer you could have this. Or you could bring it to me and I will restore it for 850.00.

Or for 1800 bucks you could have this piece of pretty compressed paper! that will expand for you when you add a little water..