Do-it- yourself furniture restoration is a great opportunity to extend the life of any home decoration, make it a bright and colorful designer decor. These processes can be complex and not very. It all directly depends on what exactly you are going to change. You need to understand that such a process as the restoration of furniture with your own hands, the ideas for the implementation of which are diverse, also differs in some laboriousness.
Why it happens
Unfortunately, furniture often breaks down, and the reasons can be different. These include their close proximity to heating appliances, insufficient moisture, old age, transportation, and the appearance of insects.
Each of these problems has a causal connection. You need to understand that if you do not want to throw away your favorite interior items and buy new ones, then you can give preference to do-it-yourself furniture restoration.
Any broken item should be repaired immediately. Slowness in this case can lead to the fact that the item is so worn out that it will not be until the restoration of furniture. With your own hands it will be impossible to do anything.
Exfoliated veneer
Very often the furniture is veneered with veneer, which is made from precious wood. Such a simple operation makes interior items interesting, prolongs their life, preventing the formation of cracks and the appearance of insects. Unfortunately, it happens that the veneer is peeled off.
The reasons for this may be excess moisture and dampness, which leads to swelling of the material, the formation of cracks and its peeling. You can fix this.
How to fix
Initially, you need to try to iron the veneer with a hot iron. It is necessary to put a paper sheet so as not to spoil the material itself. The procedure may not always bring results.
If the visible effect is not achieved, it is necessary to make a file on the veneer. Over its edge, the material rises and the base is coated with glue. Using a press, the glue is held until drying takes place. The remains of it are removed with a knife or an acute cycle.
To bleach the seam, use a solution of oxalic acid. Processing it over with colorless varnish will help prolong the effect of the result. Thanks to the restoration of furniture with your own hands, you can extend its life and make the appearance aesthetically attractive.
Other veneer issues
Do-it-yourself furniture restoration (a photo of the right shows the result) may be necessary if the veneer is deposited to the base or moved along the edge. The last problem is solved by lubricating the piece that is damaged with glue and lapping it. In order not to damage the lacquer coating, lapping agent is advised to wrap in a flannel.
If the veneer is deposited to the base, then the damaged part is glued and rubbed. After this, it is necessary to putty and tint. The final step is to varnish the surface.
Polished furniture
Do-it-yourself restoration of polished furniture is an affordable process for everyone. Most often, the need for it arises in those cases when defects occur at the ends and corners. They can be represented by scratches or bevels.
Do-it-yourself furniture restoration involves its putty and primer. The grease is made from glue and wood flour. The last ingredient is often replaced with pumice, talcum powder or chalk powder.
The second possible option is the restoration of furniture with your own hands rosin grease, which includes a special mixture, white zinc and flour. In order not to spoil the piece of furniture, you can use the pigment color of your furniture. Grease is used after it is heated, and the filling of the cracks is carried out with sealing wax, the color of which should be selected in advance.
Get rid of scratches
The appearance of a scratch on the varnished coating is a common occurrence. The problem is solved quite simply if you have information about what varnish the surface of the furniture is coated with. In this case, it will be quite simple to treat it with a solvent.
If the furniture is coated with varnish or alcohol-based varnish, you can use ethyl alcohol. The nitro-lacquer coating is treated with ordinary acetone or solvents 647, KR-36 and 646.
Defects on nitrocellulose and polyester varnish are easily cleaned with sandpaper. After processing, the surface is greased with polishing paste and varnished.
Potholes and Chips
Do-it-yourself furniture restoration, a photo of which can be found in the article, may be needed to fix potholes and chips. For these purposes use putty. It is prepared from wood flour, talc or chalk, to which glue and pigment dye are added. The material is applied to the damaged surface and allowed to dry for several days. After complete drying, grinding is carried out and the surface is varnished.
Another option is the restoration of furniture with your own hands using liquid putty. It is applied to the desired area, and tracing paper is placed on top. Using the iron sets the desired shape. The plus is that there is no need to grind the surface. Simply get rid of tracing paper.
Old furniture
Restoration of old furniture with your own hands will give a lot of positive emotions and new sensations. If you want to completely change its appearance, you can use sheets of plywood. They will perfectly hide the ugly sides of the table or cabinet. If desired, you can give preference to putty. However, if the furniture is really old, then it will not always be effective.
If there is a need to replace the countertop itself, you can repaint it in a different color. Initially, you need to grind the surface to get rid of the old pigment, possible scratches and cracks, dirt and ink. After polishing, you can proceed to the painting itself. Do-it-yourself restoration of old furniture will be a good occupation, and the result will look spectacular in any interior.
Handle replacement also applies to restoration. Usually this procedure does not cause any difficulty. It is enough to choose those models that harmoniously fit into the design of the model. The surface under them can be sanded and varnished.
Cushioned furniture
Do-it-yourself restoration of upholstered furniture is an opportunity to breathe life into your favorite interiors. Upholstery change is a fairly simple process. It is enough to remove the old extremely carefully so as not to damage. We will use it as a template when sewing new upholstery.
You should also get rid of possible fastening elements, for example, buttons and brackets. This can be done with pliers. To remove, it is enough to cut one of the seams with ordinary scissors.
Gradually removing the fabric, mark the places with a marker so that later, what part is taken from where. If desired, you can polish the legs and other visible parts.
Upholstered furniture is covered with batting, carefully bending the material and securing with brackets. We make patterns on the old upholstery and cut out a new one. It is important to choose a fabric that will last a long time. The fabric is fastened with staples.
Do-it-yourself restoration of Soviet furniture can be done by sewing wraps on armchairs or sofas. This will exclude the lengthy process of creating new upholstery and give new interior motifs.
Decoupage
If you are going to carry out a process such as the restoration of furniture with your own hands, decoupage will be a great way. It will help to update literally any piece of furniture.
Materials such as varnish, glue, ruler, scissors, paper with drawings or napkins, a brush and, of course, the furniture itself will come in handy. Kitchen items decorated using decoupage technique look great.
Do-it-yourself restoration of kitchen furniture is a fairly simple process. In practice, there is no need. It is advisable to grind varnished surfaces. This will provide a good fastening with paper, which means that it eliminates the possibility of wrinkles and bubbles.
It is best to take square shapes. They are smeared and glued gradually. You can make a complete picture by gluing edge to edge, or you can create a collage or applique.
Overlap paper is placed on the edge of the table. If the ribs are rounded, it is worth making incisions to make the drawing more even, if even, there is no need for this.
After the paper is saturated with glue, you need to level it. To do this, just press it tightly against the furniture. Further, the material should dry completely.
Once the glue has dried, it is possible to apply varnish layers, which will play the role of a fixing agent. At least two should be applied. After each application, leave them to dry.
If you seriously liked the decoupage technique, you can get professional attributes and create real masterpieces from your own old furniture.
Repair worn parts
It is very important to repair furniture at the moment when you notice any defect. Waiting can lead to negative consequences. One problem is the loose connection of parts. Fixing this is simple enough. Useful glue and stripping. Initially, we clean the part from the old glue and grease it fresh. It is necessary to compress firmly or fix the structure so that the glue seizes with the part. For these purposes, you can use a clamp, twine or heavy objects that are placed on top.
If, even after fresh gluing, cracks remain, it means that wooden wedges lubricated with glue should be driven into them. Small cracks can be easily removed using a putty or glue-dampened cloth.
Thread
In stools, a thread breakdown often occurs at the point of attachment of the leg. This can be eliminated with a nut with an identical thread. Initially, the butt ends, only two protrusions remain intact. We make cuts in the holes with torn threads so that the protrusions of the nut enter them. After the nut is inserted and fixed, it remains only to screw the leg back.
Loose chairs
Shabby chairs and stools are the eternal problems of most people. In fact, to solve them is not difficult. It is enough to drill small holes in the legs, and in the struts to make them through. Screws are screwed into them until the legs with struts are tightened.
Fallen off doors
Another common problem is falling doors. This is explained by the fact that the screws on the walls are not tightened enough. If the usual twisting of the problem can not be solved, you can carefully increase the hole. A wooden cork on glue is placed in it. A screw is screwed into this design, which will now hold tightly.
Insects
In old furniture, grinder beetles sometimes start up. You can find out about their appearance by the presence of small round holes. In this case, you should inspect the structure from the inside. If the assumption is true, you need to urgently solve the problem. By the way, a characteristic sign of their presence is the "ticking" sound that these insects emit.
It is important to start solving the problem instantly, otherwise there will be nothing left from the furniture except for trash. So far, the damage caused by insects is insignificant, that is, the hope is to fix everything. To do this, fill the syringe with Vaseline oil and process the structure from the inside. Top holes are corked with wax or paraffin. Suitable for these purposes and ordinary putty. The procedure must be repeated after 2-3 weeks.
If your furniture is badly damaged by insects, then there is no point in repairing it. It can crumble at any time. The best solution is to buy a new one that will add charm and sophistication to the interior.