Furnishing your house with antiques doesn’t need to be costly — not in case you’re prepared to perform a little restoration work. Take it from Jordan Slocum and Barry Bordelon, higher often called the Brownstone Boys.
“Should you get a bit somebody has already spent quite a lot of effort and time restoring, it’s going to be costly,” stated Mr. Bordelon, 43. “However there are a lot of items on the market that want quite a lot of love, and to be restored, that you could get for lots much less. We try this rather a lot.”
The Brooklyn-based designers — whose new ebook, “For the Love of Renovating,” is out subsequent month — are at all times on the hunt: in classic retailers alongside Atlantic Avenue, in architectural salvage yards, even amongst piles of trash on the sidewalk.
“We’re lucky to reside in New York, the place stooping is a factor,” Mr. Slocum, 41, stated.
Not too long ago, they rescued a wooden aspect chair with a ruined seat and gloppy paint from the curb. To revive it, they employed lots of the identical methods they use on woodwork in historic brownstones.
Peel the Paint
Begin by eradicating any upholstery you don’t plan to maintain, so you may work on the wood body. Then use a warmth gun on the outdated paint and peel away as a lot as you may with a steel paint scraper.
“You warmth the paint, and then you definitely scrape,” Mr. Bordelon stated. (Simply watch out to not burn the chair.)
“That’s going to get many of the paint off,” he continued. “It’s going to come back off in globs, but in addition depart some remnants.”
To take care of any tenacious paint, use a liquid paint stripper, like CitriStrip. Unfold it on generously with a paintbrush — and be affected person.
“We’ll let it sit for not less than 5 to 10 minutes,” Mr. Slocum stated. “After which assess the way it’s scraping off.”
Work cussed areas with metal wool and wipe them with a rag.
Sand It
Now that many of the paint is gone, spray the chair with denatured alcohol and scrub with extra metal wool to scrub off any residue. Then sand the whole chair to take away any remaining flecks of paint and refresh the floor of the wooden.
“We do need to get all the way down to the uncooked wooden,” Mr. Slocum stated.
Begin with coarse sandpaper — perhaps 80 grit — and work as much as progressively finer grades, ending with 400 grit. The Brownstone Boys generally use an influence sander, however to get into curves and crevices, Mr. Slocum stated, it’s typically simpler to work by hand with atypical sandpaper.
“Generally we tape it to a wooden block if we have to get somewhat extra pressure into the furnishings,” he stated.
Stain It
With the naked wooden uncovered, add stain in a coloration of your alternative. The Brownstone Boys wiped Varathane Early American stain onto their chair with cheesecloth.
For even coloration, Mr. Slocum stated, “you need to work with the grain.”
After the stain dried, they sanded the chair once more to easy out any raised grain.
Select a Substitute Seat
An upholstered seat is at all times a pleasant choice, however Mr. Slocum and Mr. Bordelon had been feeling formidable. So once they seen a groove across the seat of the chair, they determined to make use of pressed-cane webbing they purchased on Amazon as a substitute of cloth.
So as to add cane to a seat, minimize the fabric somewhat bigger than wanted and soak it in water for about 20 minutes.
“That can assist us not solely apply it, however eliminate stiffness we don’t need,” Mr. Slocum stated.
Use wooden wedges or a screen-rolling instrument to drive the sides of the cane into the groove and trim off the surplus. To carry the cane webbing in place, add wooden glue and a reed spline — a steady strip of fabric that fills the hole.
End It
To finish your restoration, add a transparent coat. The Brownstone Boys utilized Varathane matte polyurethane. It’s finest to make use of a contemporary paintbrush or rag, Mr. Slocum stated, to keep away from brushstrokes.
For his or her chair, one coat was sufficient. But when the end seems uneven otherwise you need higher safety, you may apply further coats.
Then all it’s important to do is determine the place to place your new piece of furnishings.
“We’re going to place it in our workplace,” Mr. Slocum stated.
However the chair, he added, might finally find yourself in a house they assist another person renovate: “Then they’ll get pleasure from it for the subsequent hundred years.”
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