General Finishes

I was surprised to learn that early airplane builder, Cessna, turned to building furniture during the lean years after the war. Their furniture was commissioned by the US government to furnish base family housing. Employees of Cessna were also allowed to purchase the furniture. This 1948 Cessna dresser has a most interesting build. The frame and drawer fronts are wood, but the entire interior is metal - including the dresser back and metal tapered legs. The metal drawer construction provides for precision drawer closing and fit.

Because of a sizeable burn to the top of this accent table, I decided to sand, stain with Java Gel, and do an all over stencil pattern to camouflage the flaw. The base and apron of the table was painted in Somerset Gold, sealed, then antiqued with glaze. After the stain had fully dried, I stenciled with Royal Design Studio's Sultan Swirl. The entire piece was then topped with two coats of High Performance top coat for added protection. 

Finding a Henredon Campaign style dresser is like finding a needle a haystack; they just don't come along very often! This dresser was a perfect candidate for an update/restoration: the frame was missing some pretty sizeable chunks of veneer, but the dark stained & paint speckled drawers were in near perfect condition. And of course it had that impeccable build that has earned the Henredon brand top marks in the furniture world for years.

When my client brought this drum table to me for an update, my heart skipped a beat. I had never seen a bar set-up like this - ever! The outside curved doors moved on a track revealing a rotating bar. There were glass shelves and holes for liquor & wine bottles...a one stop shop for all your happy hour needs!

Although this Depression era dresser had good bones, it's worn factory finish did little to enhance the beautiful, varied veneers used to adorn the drawer fronts. After chemically stripping the top and drawer fronts, I carefully sanded the delicate veneers.  I stained the two different veneers in American Oak and Java Gel stains to give them a subtle contrast and call attention to the stunning curvy pattern. I stained the dresser top in Java Gel and topped all wood surfaces with my favorite wiping varnish, General Finishes Arm-R-Seal.

It's always fun to update a piece that has a few bumps & blemishes from many years of good service. This dresser originally belonged to my client's mother-in-law, Grandma Pearl, and had been in the family for decades. It had been relegated to a basement bedroom as it had many watermarks on the top and the finish was worn through to the wood in many places. My client wanted an update, but also wanted to keep much of the original look and woodgrain intact.

I love when a client stays true to the color palette of the era and opts for a genuine Mid Century color on a Mid Century piece of furniture! The top of this stylish high boy dresser was stripped and the frame and drawer fronts sanded to give a solid foundation for this pretty turquoise color. I used this mix on a couple of past projects and loved the deep saturated color. The formula is as follows: 2 parts Lamp Black, 2 parts Corinth Blue, and 1 part Patina Green.