hi, how can I fix the paint for my dressing table? As you can see in the pictures there’s many different colour spots
Hello @suha
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. Thank you for joining us and sharing your question about how to restore your dressing table.
What a beautiful-looking dressing table. I can already imagine what it will look like once it is restored. Are you planning to upcycle this dresser or keep its original finish? Our first step is to remove the handles and check the cabinet for integrity. Are the drawers still in good condition? Is the overall frame of the cabinet still firm? If any repairs need to be made to the dresser it will have to be done before we begin the restoration work.
If the cabinet is in good condition, we need an area where we can sand the cabinet where it will be safe from the elements. I suggest using an Ozito 200W Detail Sander. It has multiple sanding pads for furniture restoration. Once the dresser has been sanded, wipe it down with a clean cloth and use a vacuum to suck any remaining sawdust. I recommend using the UNi-PRO 18 x 36" Painters Tack Cloth for the final clean.
Before choosing a finish for your dresser I suggest going to your local store to look at the varnish display in the paint department. There you will see the different finishes and stains that are on offer. A good example of a stain and varnish is Cabot's 1L Walnut Satin Water Based Stain And Varnish. It is a water-based varnish giving you a much faster drying time and easy cleanup. Please remember to test the varnish in a small hidden area of your dresser to see if are agreeable with it. It sounds like a fantastic project, we would love to see any updates you can provide while restoring the dresser.
Here is a link to a handy step-by-step guide: How to restore wooden furniture
Here is a link to one of our featured projects: Upcycled painted buffet by @craftyhopper
If you need more advice or information, please let us know.
Eric
Hey, thank you so much for your help but I just wanted to ask, if I wanted to change the colour of the dressing table, do I only have to change the colour of the varnish?
You can get different levels of gloss as well as pre-tinted colours and the paint desk can also tint a larger range of colours.
I would sand first to see if those light spots will blend in before deciding on a finish. Light stains can have problems covering differences in colour that darker stains may cover more easily. Prooftint can be used to help cover problem areas before applying varnish.
It's great that you've received excellent advice from @Brad. His suggestions are spot on and I totally agree with his recommendations. If your timber is light coloured you can stain and varnish it to a darker colour. However, if the timber is already naturally dark you can't use a varnish to make the timber lighter.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
thank you for your help, I’ve sanded a corner of the dressing table and this is the original colour of it, do u reckon I can use a light coloured varnish, if yes what colour do you recommend? thank you
Thank you for the update and for showing us the actual timber colour of the dresser. I suggest testing Cabot's 1L Water Based Gloss Cabothane Clear Polyurethane Timber Varnish. This is actually a clear varnish, but as you know timber reacts in its own manner when it becomes wet. I suggest visiting your local store and look at the varnish display board in the paint department. I recommend water-based varnish as it does not turn yellow like oil-based varnish.
I want the same colour as this table , are you able to tell me the name of it and motion the link and how many liters do u think I roughly need for do 2 bedsides, a queen bed and the dressing table
thank you
I'm so sorry, but it is difficult to tell the actual finish of the varnish on your photo. If I were to hazard a guess, it looks like Cabot's 1L Walnut Satin Water Based Stain And Varnish that has been watered down to remove the dark finish on it. A stain could also have been used on this table before it was sealed. I have placed a picture of the stain sample board from the store for you to compare. I suggest a minimum of 1 liter to cover both cabinets. Please keep us updated.
If you need more assistance, please let us know.
hi, thank you so much for your help .
I liked the dark chocolate colour can you please send me the link for it also I want to make sure when I ordered the Ozito 200W sander does it come with the sand papers?
Hi @suha,
The Deep chocolate colour is tinted in-store by our team from a tint base. It's available in both Cabot's 250ml Satin Water Based Tint Base Stain And Varnish and Cabot's 4L Satin Tint Base Water Based Stain And Varnish. Unfortunately, the one-litre version does not appear on our web page, which could be due to low stock of the item. You might like to phone your local store to ensure it's available. We do have the gloss version one-litre in stock.
Both our Ozito 200w sanders come with sanding sheets included.
Please let me know if you have questions or need assistance contacting your local store.
Mitchell
hi, as you can see in the picture above, the bed has many deep lines and details. Is there a special type of sander that is able to reach them besides the ozito, I already have that and it doesn’t do the job. Thank you
Unfortunately, that looks like a hand sanding job to me, @suha.
I'd suggest folding a sheet of sandpaper a few times to build up its thickness and run it along those channels. If you're using a similar colour, you might not need to remove it all back down to raw timber.
There is possibly a small sanding attachment that would do the job with a rotary tool. However, you'll quickly start sanding the edges of the channel away as well, and the lines will end up looking wonky and not crisp anymore.
All I could really suggest is a few hours and some elbow grease. Let me mention @TedBear, @r23on, and @JoeAzza to see if they have some thoughts.
I hope you have plenty of time as this will take some time to sand back. Not all restorations need lots of tooling etc it takes a bit of thinking outside of the box.
A point to be aware of never sand the out side of the unit you want to work on, find a place where no one will see what testing you have done for colours etc. once you sand the out side your are committed to that process.
“However” there is a method that will strip it all back in no time, your going to need a sand blasting set up, but you do not use sand or glass bead you use bicarb soda (baking soda) and it will give you a perfect job. No damage to the base material.
here is a cheap and easy method (home made) in video 1 and I am sure you good people at bunnings can provide something like the second video.
The blaster can be obtained from Amazon. Most of all there are no chemicals no hard work sanding plus baking soda is safe for the environment
I have completed some research as to where you could a system $50 from supercheap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGf60SUSL5E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwl-`
Hi @suha, I just came across this post from a couple of years ago and wondered how you went with your project? I have the exact bedroom suite and also want to change the stain colour.
