This bar cabinet restoration project was a perfect example of a piece of furniture wearing too much makeup, so to speak. Upon arrival, it was tough to distinguish what material the cabinet was made from? It was stained a dark color that took away all its best features. Our customer wanted the piece refinished back to its original glory. She was willing to follow our advice and trust that our “artistic vision” would highlight its best features.

After stripping, it was evident that a something beautiful was hiding under that dark stain. We began to see a multi-colored veneer as layers were scraped away. If you have a decorative pattern on your table or bar cabinet, it’s almost always veneer. Veneer is great but it’s tricky to sand because it’s just a thin layer of wood. Because it’s so thin, the sander has to be extremely careful to not sand through it. After sanding and filling in areas where the veneer was either damaged or missing, it was time to decide how to finish it. It was easy to decide that the veneer was the character of the piece and it needed to be clearly seen. Therefore, we elected to go with a gloss finish and no stain. Normally, we don’t spray a lot of furniture in gloss but this piece called for it. A glossy finish just made the beautiful veneer pop.

Upon completion, the cabinet was one of the coolest looking pieces of furniture that we’ve refinished. Definitely will make a great centerpiece and bar cabinet for our customer’s family room.