There’s a whole lot of cheap second-hand but essentially excellent quality sold wood furniture around – and it’s quite easy to do it up yourself. It will also last you a lifetime unlike a lot of the flat pack self-assembly stuff you might pick up in a cheap furniture sale.
So unless the piece you’re renovating has big value as an antique – there’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a go yourself.
If an old piece is covered with old crusty wax etc., then make a mix of four parts white spirit to one of linseed oil and give the furniture a good wipe over. This will remove the wax without destroying the underlying surface in any way. Wipe on with one cloth and off with a clean one. If it doesn’t work – try a fine wire wool to apply the solution.
To finish off, polish the piece up with a good beeswax polish.
If you have a few minor scratches to disguise, a little shoe polish of the right colour will do the job. Meanwhile, ring marks can usually be removed with a little colour-cutting slightly abrasive car polish applied gently. Again, re-wax to finish the job off as above.
Another tip for minor dent removal is to place a damp cloth over it then apply a hot iron being careful not to burn the wood. The steam moisture swells the wood just enough to fill the dent if you’re lucky. But you’ll then need to remove any marks using one of the other techniques outlined here.
If there are burn marks, meanwhile, then you’ll need to scrape off the burned area and fill the resulting hole with wood filler – or wax if it’s just a surface scrape.
And tighten any loose joints with good wood glue and clamps – being careful to wipe away excess glue with a slightly dampened cloth as soon as you’ve clamped the sides.
The best thing about renovating wooden furniture is that you’ve put effort into it yourself and it will last a lifetime. Other pieces are better bought new – like sofas in the sofa sales and other soft furnishings. These aren’t usually designed to be permanent anyway – so it makes sense to change them but to keep individual pieces of wooden furniture you’re proud of having done up yourself.