Thursday 17 October 2013

Finally MY own Sideboard!

I have been on the lookout for years now for a sideboard for my own home.
I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted.
My husband knew I wanted one, and would often suggest that this one or that one would work well in our home. But I would never go along. I knew that someday (and I knew I had to be patient) I would find it, or it would find me.

Ever have a picture in your mind of what you want but you can't find it?
I tried to describe to hubby exactly what it looked like. He asked me once if I had ever seen one like the one in my mind. I admitted that no, I've never seen one like it before but that I was sure that out there somewhere, someone had built it already.
He just shook his head.

Sometimes I'm sure my brain scares him...lol

Well the day came.
You can read how I found it HERE

She came to me a little beat up.
The top and sides were perfect (no veneer) but the drawers had dried out and veneer was missing. I knew there was solid wood under it and I really crossed my fingers that it was nice enough to show off. 
So I set to work. 
 I have to tell you the best way to remove veneer is wetting down an old towel then heating it up with an OLD iron. It normally lifts right up. But you do need patience!
 ewwwy goo and a mess, but it works!

 I love the details :)
 See it lifting?
 And it was soooooo worth it!
 I love the grain I found under the veneer. This is solid mahogany!
I finished sanding and staining it...but I needed it out of my garage. So into the house it went. I had run out of poly so there it sat for weeks! 
Finally I picked up more poly but there were other things that needed to get done. So it sat for a few more weeks. 
Finally I decided that it sat long enough and I set to work again to finish it. 
I pulled out the original pulls and let them soak in vinegar to clean them. 
And I poly'ed the whole thing. 
Now when I finish a piece I sand between coats and it's not pretty. 
 It looks like this between coats. Not to worry though it does come up really nice. I normally start with a 320 grit paper and for the final sanding after the last coat I normally use a 600 grit sandpaper.
 See the difference?
 And finally done! I'm so happy :)

7 comments:

  1. Wow!! What a gorgeous piece! You've really done a beautiful job and who covers up that fab mahogany with veneer?!?

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  2. That is beautiful, sometimes it is so hard to find what you have pictured in your head but when you do it turns out perfectly

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  3. Wow! Veneer over mahogany, crazy. I'd be too scared to remove the veneer in case I discovered only parts of the piece were actually mahogany. What's your process to avoid this?
    Marie@InteriorFrugalista

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    1. I don't have a process to avoid it. I go with my gut and jump in, but I always have a back up plan. In this case, as with others I've done...if the wood underneath is bad...PAINT :)

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  4. Very nice! I love it!

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  5. what a beautiful piece - great job

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