Mid Century Modern Restoration

Hey everyone! The last few weeks have been hectic as I have been playing single parent since the other half of Team Sutton Designs left for a deployment. Right now I’m just focusing on pieces that need minor work and cosmetic upgrades, but that is no easy feat, especially when I still have a full time job, and a full time toddler. So today I wanted to show you how a little stain and one of my favorite waxes can totally revive your pieces that just need a freshening up.

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We restored this Mid Century Modern style Credenza for the same client that we did our first campaign dresser for. For this piece, our client specifically requested restoration over paint, and since it just needed a few fills here and there plus a deep exfoliation, we were happy to bring this one to it’s original color.

We didn’t really have a good before photo of this piece since we got right to work on it. The photo above is right after sanding. At one point the console was stained in a dark stain similar to General Finishes Java Gel, so thats the color we decided to go with. We figured it would give us minimal problems with areas that would not accept the stain well due to age and wear.

This piece was took only one coat of Java to bring it back to life! The wood is so rich and masculine, but it has just the right amounts of mahogany to keep it balanced.

I think the time of day I staged this did not allow me to capture the true color. The sun was playing hide and seek and every time I got a good shot, it snuck behind some clouds again. The first photo is truest to the color of the stain.

After the stain was dry, I added two coats of Minwax Fast Dry Polyurethane in Satin. While I love the durability and the leveling of this poly, I do feel that it’s finish is still a bit glossy for Satin. So when it comes to wood, my favorite finish over poly is of course Fusion Mineral Paint’s Hemp Oil Wax.

If you have issues with an oil based poly application and you just can’t seem to get an even finish or sheen, I HIGHLY recommend getting yourself a jar of the wax. Not only is it all natural, but it is compatible with oil finishes, leaves your surface velvety smooth, and you never have issues with a streaky or tacky finish. That shine you see on the top and drawers is not the poly, but the wax.

I have used this wax several times over water based and oil based poly. But the one place this wax was the real MVP was on another one of my attempts with milk paint. Click here to see how FMP’s wax saved my project from disaster.

I truly hope you enjoyed reading this post on a furniture revival. I really love doing these restoration projects, especially when they look just as good as the first day they were made. Hope you readers can take away something from trying new products! And as always, sharing posts like these not only reach wider networks of fellow DIY’ers like yourselves, but also help me grow as a business, blogger, and person. Thanks!

Linking up to Friday’s Furniture Fix #53!