Kristina is restoring the furniture in her house herself – recently me and my mother updated the old Vida kitchen set

Kristina worked for the Traffic Police for ten years, until finally her greatest hobby, flowers, became her job: a woman set up a floriculture farm. When asked if the current hobby, renovating furniture, doesn’t have the same chances, Kristina laughs that if she could make money from it, she might consider it, but renovating furniture by hand takes a lot of time and work, and the fee. requested by the furniture would not seem adequate.

Kristina tells about all these jobs, how to update furniture, she herself learned: she was interested, she tried, she experimented.

“I’ve repeatedly painted the walls or made other repairs, so renovating the furniture didn’t seem like a challenge. You just have to take a look at the materials: I’m interested all the time, I keep trying something new because I’m curious. So, take, do, experiment. Normally everything goes well, but it happens in every way, you have to do a remake. Finally, the furniture is not uneven, “says the interlocutor.

When asked what is most important when renovating furniture, Kristina lists three things: good furniture preparation, primer, and patience. And for the result to be truly rewarding, you need to remember diligence.

According to the woman, today there are many tools, both in terms of tools and materials, so that anyone can really renew their furniture.

The old kitchen set took 10 days.

The furniture in Kristina’s house often comes from second-hand stores located both abroad and in Lithuania, the woman has been resurrected for a second life, and those that have not been needed in the basement for a long time.

The first piece of furniture that Kristina undertook to restore a few years ago was a classic-style table from a Danish flea. Today, the list of updated women’s furniture includes a dining table with chairs, armchairs, a kitchen set, and chest of drawers and cabinets.

Most recently, Kristina has completed the restoration of a three-decade old kitchen set that her mother needed temporarily.

“Mom’s health is a bit weak, it’s difficult to go up from the second floor to the first, she decided to install a temporary kitchen on the second floor. There was a kitchen set so old that for 30 years or more, we had been preparing to throw it away a long time ago, but Mom kept telling us to get out, maybe we needed more. And it was necessary.

Before I even started handling it, Mom said: just rub the front a little and you’ll be fine. But I don’t pay that way, if I already do it, it’s until the end (smiling). It was not easy and patience was lacking to scrub it. I do outdoor scrubbing jobs – I have an electric sander because it’s so dusty and it was already cold.

I had to scrub a good layer of grease, only then did I discover the varnish. Finally, I rubbed everything in, covered it with primer, and then painted it, choosing the colors I wanted. When the mother saw the final result, she decided that the kitchen would no longer be temporary ”, the interlocutor shared the joy of a successful job.

It took ten days to update this cooking game. Kristina spent around 100 euros on all the necessary materials, including the mangoes. “If we had bought a new team, it would have cost at least 1.5 thousand. Compare women.

Advises to use a primer

Kristina also shares her work on the facebook group “Before and After”. There, the woman often asks how she managed to renovate one or another piece of furniture.

According to the interlocutor, the most difficult part of restoring furniture is preparing it: cleaning (grease, etc.) and scrubbing. However, to achieve a good, high-quality result, it is equally important to cover the furniture with a suitable primer.

“If you leave fat, it won’t be okay. So first of all you need Nuriebalinti, clean it and then rub. And be sure to use a primer. True, using a primer is not even necessary to scrub perfectly. But I always at least scratch it for a better grip.

I have heard of people who have to apply a coat of paint five times to cover it evenly. This is because it does not use a primer.

Heard of people who have to apply a coat of paint five times to cover it evenly. This is because it does not use a primer. And when priming, up to three coats of paint are enough, everything covers and looks great.

There is a special primer for slippery, veneered and glued surfaces, cover it, then the paint sticks better and stays better. Assume veneered furniture is sufficient to clean, sand, make sure to prime, and paint. I also varnish the tabletop so that it does not scratch, do not be afraid of heat, – advises the interlocutor and adds: “If you prepare the furniture well, it is easy to paint it, and the result is guaranteed”.

Doesn’t like brown, so it bleaches

Many of the furniture in Kristina’s house have certain ornaments and curves. The woman says that she likes that furniture very much, that she does not divide the style too much, that she does not like the old ones too much and she bleaches them for a very simple reason: she does not like the brown color of the wood.

“After sharing my work in the group of fishermen, sometimes I get comments: people start to” punish “how I treat the tree in this way, that I painted a tree like that, etc.

People start to “punish” the way I treat wood in this way, that I painted a tree like that, and so on.

I like living wood, its pattern, its texture, but I have never liked that brown color, so I remake that type of furniture. It’s nice to have a tree, but for me, it has to be glazed, waxed, or bleached. Even that artificial color, but not so brown. Especially those old furniture: they are all natural wood color, lacquered, over time that color becomes a little darker. When you order such furniture, the wood turns white, but all the grooves in the wood, everything remains.

Very slight changes are obtained when working with waxes and decorative oils, which are enough to rub the wood with a napkin; the color of the wood changes, but the structure of the pattern remains. These products, specially designed for furniture surfaces in the interior environment, are available in all colors and are sold in small quantities, ”says Kristina.

There are also difficult furniture to give away

Kristina shares that not all furniture is always restored quickly and smoothly:

“I’m tired of restoring a table like that bought from a flea in Lithuania. It looked like someone had poured a bucket of varnish on it. It didn’t rub, shut up, though. but the groove pattern of the wood would remain.

Unfortunately, I was unable to clean it properly, although I tried all possible means. I did it with difficulty, but mechanically damaged the surface because I was no longer scrubbing, but scratching.

I mainly use an electric sander, I am a woman on the farm, I have all kinds of those tools.

By the way, when it comes to scrubbing, there are also varnish solvents, who do not want or do not have the opportunity to scrub, they can use: apply, wait, and then remove with a scraper. I usually use an electric sander, I am a woman from the farm, I have all kinds of tools ”, says the interlocutor with a laugh.

According to Kristina, when restoring old wooden furniture and covering it with decorative wax, oil, it is necessary to scrub well.

“If you just want to paint, you don’t need to scrub, but when you coat with decorative wax, oil, you must scrub to ‘live’ the wood. Manually it takes a long time and requires patience, but the results are rewarding and the costs are small,” says the woman.

The colors mix

Kristina paints her restored furniture with odorless paint, according to the woman, in this case it is possible to boldly paint in the room, they do not stink, they dry quickly.

“I mix the colors myself, I rarely buy them mixed, because it is quite expensive to go mix them. Sometimes those paints are needed very little, what kind of door to paint, it doesn’t even mix after so much. The most important thing is not to be afraid to experiment ”, encourages the interlocutor.

Some believe that renovated furniture will never replace a new and original one. When asked what she thinks herself, Kristina partially agrees with this opinion, but adds that if you update the furniture correctly, it will look the same as on the new stand in the store.

“I updated my available table with chairs, friends asked me where I bought it. And the result itself was a pleasant surprise.

Another thing, if we talk about those old furniture, they are really different, their curves, carpentry, it is so thin. But they cost accordingly. When you can’t afford it, you can renew what you have, ”says Kristina.

The interlocutor also shared his latest project: he finished renovating old furniture, for which he tried the gilding technique.

“I used a gilding paste specifically for furniture surfaces. The whole process consists of precisely painting the furniture with a fine brush. You can lubricate as much as you want because of the shine of that gold, ”says Kristina. – By the way, the metallic parts are cleaned very well with lemon, it removes dirt and oxidation that have accumulated over time. Of course, the item is not new, but the effect is better than cleaning it with some household chemicals. “