The Key to Super-Easy Furniture Refinishing

I grew up in a family that enjoyed refurbishing antique furniture. It was hours of work for my parents and involved multiple concoctions, plus an impressive amount of elbow grease. I’ve restored a number of pieces myself, and although the end result is always worth the effort, effort it surely is.

Sanding, stripping, sanding, varnishing — so much sanding!

Cheap Solution to a Super-Easy Furniture Refinishing Project

I recently heard about Howard’s Restor-A-Finish, whose “One Easy Step” promise sounded a whole lot simpler than the multi-step process I was used to, since there’s no need to sand down to the bare wood.

I’d been wanting to test out this $10 product, and knew I’d found my victim when I spied this $7 mid-century Lane table at my local Goodwill: so dried out, so many watermarks, so perfectly primed for a makeover!

Although the label suggests an “Easy-to-use; wipe-on, wipe-off application,” I did indulge in a light sanding session (old habits die hard) before putting on the “Cherry” finish and an additional layer from a $9 bottle of Feed-N-Wax.

Look at how nicely the project turned out: fresh with new stain and no sign of that awful dried-out look. The best part is that the entire project took no more than an hour and a half of my time — and very little elbow grease!

I spent $26 total, which isn’t too shabby considering that the same table is currently being sold online for more than $400. Plus, there’s enough product left in the bottles for at least two more pieces of furniture.

Want more information about how to refinish your furniture with minimal cost and effort? Check out this YouTube video, and read the full post about my DIY project here.