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Paint Furniture DIY

Can you turn a sideboard from grey to walnut?

4 years ago

I have a great, practical and pretty sideboard/bookcase that originally came painted in a light grey. Over the years and through pretty hard, relentless use, the paint has scraped away in places and I want to give it a new lick. I would love to let go of the lacquer and stain the piece walnut (or close to...) to fit the rest of my furniture. Is that even possible? And how?

Comments (3)

Ribena Drinker
4 years ago
What's it actually made of?
Hector Kollias
Original Author
4 years ago
ash, I believe... solid wood in any case
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Ribena Drinker
4 years ago
In which case, there's no reason why you can't strip it back and stain or varnish it. I believe you have a couple of options (I can't think of any other ways) sand it all down, which may or may not be practical or the alternative is to chemically remove the paint.

You can buy various products to do it at home, one I've had success with in the past is Kling Strip, which is a paste poultice thing. Or there are various other solvents etc that will also either soften or melt the current paint to make it easier to scrape back. But most chemical options can prove to be messy in varying degrees and often require an amount of washing down.

There is also commercial dipping available. This is typically offered for doors, but I'm sure you could find someone who would be able to do a piece of furniture.

Once it's stripped, a quick all over sand to smooth and then you're ready to stain or varnish.
Hector Kollias thanked Ribena Drinker

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