The Weathered Door

Before & After: Mid Century Modern Credenza with a Glossy White Top

By 40 Comments

I was really excited to find his mid century credenza on craigslist. I haven’t worked on one in a while and as soon as I saw it I was already thinking of what I wanted to do with it… patin it all white and leave the legs wood.

After picking up the piece and seeing it in person there was no way I was going to paint over the drawers. They weren’t perfect, but I wanted to keep the varying directions of the walnut veneer on the drawers. I began by wiping the piece down to get any grease and dirt off of it, then I began sanding. Trying to strip and sand the drawers would have taken forever and I was too scared to ruin the drawers and that varying veneer.

I first wet sanded the whole piece with 220 grit sandpaper. I wet the drawers and the sandpaper and lightly sanded, making sure not to remove the old original stain (other wise I would have an uneven finish once stained). There didn’t seem to be any poly or other topcoat finish left (it probably dried out and wore off), but wet sanding helped to get any layers of that finish that I couldn’t see and dust/dirt build up from over the years.

Next, once everything had dried, I went back over everything really lightly with 400 grit sandpaper wrapped around a sanding block. Both times when I sanded the drawers I made sure not to sand the center strip of veneer in the opposite direction. If I had done that, there would be obvious scratch marks. A good wipe down with dry and damp paper towels got everything clean. I did let the piece sit for about 30 minutes before beginning staining to let any moisture from wiping it down dry out. The fun part was seeing how the Java Gel stain really gave the wood a rich color. If you want to see how to apply Gel Stain over an existing finish, click here. I also have a video tutorial and post here.


 

Since this is an oil based product the dry time is longer. I let it dry for 48 hours (24 would be fine), but the weather turned to cooler temperatures and I wanted it to really be set and cured. I sealed all of the wood areas with General Finishes high performance topcoat in satin. At this point everything looked pretty good, but the top didn’t take stain as well as the rest of the piece, and the corners had been dinged so some veneer was missing. I decided to fill the corners and paint the top white for contrast. After sanding and filling I rolled on 2 thin coats of my favorite primer, Zinsser cover stain. This primer is really great at sticking to lots of different surfaces and blocking out tannin bleed through. I sanded with 320 grit sandpaper once it dried, wiped it down, and applied 2 thin coats of General Finishes Snow White Milk Paint (it’s not actually milk paint, it’s an acrylic paint). I used a foam roller, but held the end of it so it didn’t roll, but glided on. I didn’t want that roller texture. The next day I sanded again with 400 grit sandpaper and then applied 2 more coats of the white paint with a brush. Once that was dry I sealed it with GF’s high performance topcoat in gloss. The last thing to do was attach the original hardware. Here’s the sleek and modern after.

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Filed Under: Before and After, Furniture Makeovers, Stained Furniture

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Comments

    • Finished product looks great! What color stain did you use for the wood part?I’m trying to find stain this color.

      Reply

  2. Reeves, your timing for this tutorial is perfect! By the way, do you have a hidden camera in my garage, waiting to see what my next project is?? 🙂 It seems you have a knack of providing wonderful tips just as I am beginning a project that has me a bit unsure of how to proceed. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
    Robin

    Reply

  7. Wow, what a difference by applying a darker stain and I love the contrast with the white top. Sounds like it was a lot of work but the results are stunning!
    Marie@The Interior Frugalista

    Reply

  17. Oh my goodness this is FANTASTIC! Love everything about it — including the gorgeous way you've staged the finished piece! Thanks for linking w/ Twirl and Take a Bow!

    Reply

  18. I love it! Isn't it amazing the good deals you can find on Craigslist and bring them back to life? It really looks great. Wonderful job! Great linking up with you at Twirl and Take a Bow!

    Reply

  20. This is GORGEOUS! I have two different pieces that I want to re-stain: a toy box making it a dark, rich espresso and an old church pew, making it just a tad darker, more of a bamboo-type shade. I think the toy box will be easy to go from a light stain to a dark stain, but am worried about the church pew. My husband said that it probably has too thick of a sealant on it to restain it. Thoughts? I have never worked with gel stain and was hoping this would be a solution. Any tips I would GREATLY appreciate it!

    Reply

  21. Bootiful!! lol. Love the richer color of the wood and how it plays well with the white. Unique piece too. Java is my go-to stain as well. Thanks again for turning me on to Klein Blue! I just finished a piece and used it on the handles against the dark walnut body. I love that color. I don't have a full post on it yet because I haven't staged it for pics, but feel free to check it out under my "before and after gallery" heading. Lemme know what you think! Thanks Reeves.

    Reply

  23. What a great find! Don't you just love Craigslist? The gel stain and white glossy top are absolutely gorgeous on this piece. Thanks so much for linking up to Your Designs This Time! I've pinned this awesome makeover to our features and favorites board!

    Reply

  26. I've just started using General Finishes gel stain to a clients previously stained kitchen cabinets. I researched it and watched videos. I'm a professional decorative finisher and have been using water based gel stains so I know how to stain. This oil based gel stain takes alittle practice and a lot of patience. I've made a lot of mistakes but am finally getting the hang of it. I love the final look although it needs HOURS of drying time which is the big draw back for us since we do a lot of cabinet jobs.

    Reply

  37. THANK YOU for not painting the whole thing! It breaks my heart to see beautiful wood (veneer) details covered up with paint when it’s in pretty good shape. Wow, what you did looks just perfect. Thanks for sharing the process!

    Reply

  39. You did an awesome job on that piece. I have purchased an old dresser that we are going to us as a vanity in our master bath. I was going to put a piece of glass on top prior to the sinks being put in, but that doesn’t seem to be possible. So I have decided to put another layer of stain on the top and put a finish over that to waterproof the top. Do you have any suggestions of what I should use for the top finish coat.

    Thank you for any help you can give me.

    Linda

    Reply

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