This is a Lane cedar chest from 1950 that I restored. I was given this chest for free from a neighbor. It had two layers of paint, wood rot and termite damage.
This was the first time I have ever restored furniture or worked with wood and I'm a bit of a perfectionist so it took me a year to work on this project.
There were many mistakes I made and learned from and I think I got it to a point that I'm 90% happy with how it turned out.
I don't think I will ever try to restore furniture again unless there is some gorgeous piece I fall in love with in the future.
I have provided photos of the final, the before and during the process.
Things I learned from this project, get a sprayer next time for poly or poly whey. Over-cover and over-tape areas you are not working on. You can never be too sure. You can age fresh veneer or wood by putting it in the sun. Sometimes parts have to be fully replaced when you don't have the capacity to create replica pieces. It's okay if it doesn't look 100% perfect. Wood doesn't act the same and will vary from piece to piece. Bar Keepers Friend is great to clean up metal pieces. And finally never give up, it may be a slow process with many steps but the results are worth it.
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