Furniture Facelifts: A Step-By-Step Guide

This book is not for the person who wants to do huge amounts of serious woodworking, and you need to come to it with an imagination. What it does is effectively tell you how to do a hundred or so styles and techniques. You can't replicate everything that's in here, but it's simply incredible to go through when you have a beat up old piece of furniture, and are open to thoughtful, imaginative refinishing.

This is preciesly the book I was looking for! Has copious details about re-finishing all kinds of furniture surfaces, from bare wood to laminate to steel, plus how to get a wide variety of effects. This book has a higher level of detail than many other faux finishes books (which often skip over how to prep the surface or how to deal w/any surface other than bare wood).

I stumbled upon this gem of a book while on a recent day trip to Northampton, MA. Since its discovery I cannot put it down and have begun some of the projects in it. This book is a packed full of helpful ideas and the book's standout feature is that step-by-step guides serve to help the novice in creating a replica of the pictures that exist in the book. Wagstaff & Thurgood's book is softcovered vinyl. Should paint get on it it is easily wiped clean. For certain, I will be purchasing 2-3 copies for friends and relatives as Christmas presents!!!

This is a wonderful book for anyone looking to revamp old, tired-looking furniture. It is packed with many useful and inspirational ideas. A complete list of materials and equipment, as well as instructions for preparing the surfaces are given at the start of each project. Step-by-step directions are then given for each of these techniques or projects. Most of the projects use latex or acrylic paint, only a few use oils.The book starts out with advice on preparing surfaces including an informative chart as well as basic instructions on filling holes, replacing hinges, removing nails, securing laminate and mending a wobbly chair. It then discusses tools and materials, including the use of power tools, working with metal, joining and application of chrome trim or faux leading. There is even a great chart on varnish and wax mediums giving details such as heat resistance, water resistance, durability and sheen. Over 15 projects follow. Many are done in two or three different styles. Each has a photo of the finished project. There are also a few two-page galleries focusing of thing like masking, using seashells or decorating with tartan plaids to help give you ideas. Some of the projects include wardrobe doors with country curtains, drawers with stenciled vases, a metal trunk with verdigris finish, and zebra print dining chair. Tabletops are done in many styles including mosaic, faux lapis lazuli, decoupage, and with stamped large dots. There is also a no sew cover for an old sofa, a shaker fabric hanging, nautical banner and fabric canopy for a four-poster bed. Conveniently, templates of any designs are included in the back. Techniques are also taught. Some of these include wood washing, high-gloss lacquer, aged paint, crackling, dragging, colorwashing, spattering, stenciling, decoupage, pattering with a paint roller, fabric painting, rush dyeing, punched tin, frosted glass and metal effects such as copper or pewter. Close-up photos show the techniques in a few different colors and recipes are given for each one. Experience has shown me that printing accurate colors is tricky and there are so many variables in materials and surfaces that results can vary greatly. I would recommend experimenting on a small scale and tweaking the recipes to get the colors you want. Some of the techniques here are also covered in Chronicle's companion books, Paint Recipes or Decorative Paint Recipes. What sets this book apart is that it is focuses more on furniture.

I paint furniture as a side business and have browsed through many, many books about this new trend. Not only did this book have some great ideas (many of which I'd never before seen) but it gave impressive, detailed information on how to prepare your furniture - and not just wood, either - plywood, particleboard, metal and rattan to name a few. Also, don't let the title of the book fool you. It says it's a 'paint recipes book' but If you aren't interested in painting your piece you should still at least borrow it from the library. Clever ideas such as decorating a mirror with shells, or using decoupage, or even using fabric accents to beautify old furniture pieces makes this book great to have on hand.