Late 1930's woodwork - refinish or replace?
lissyanna21
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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klem1
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Refinishing old furniture with fake wood trim?
Comments (15)Here's an article you might find interesting. It tells you about how waterfall came into popularity, how it was made, what not to use to clean it. Some interesting stories about it. (Such as why so many pieces made and that we still see today are bedroom suites. Depression era couples often started out living with parents, so had nothing much to call their own except their bedroom furniture - if they could afford that.) Click on What is Waterfall, Anyway? I'd be very leery of Krud Kutter on wood, but especially delicate, aged veneers. That's a degreaser meant for everything from aluminum siding to garage floors. There are lots of recipes out there for cleaning antique wood. I have a routine I like. Start with Formby's Deep Cleansing Build-Up Remover. Just be careful with any loose veneer, some of it could be about paper thin and not take a lot of pressure. I like Restore-A-Finish for pieces that need spruced up but not a full strip and restore. It's worked wonders on solid wood. If using on veneers, avoid the steel wool it says you can use. Too harsh on veneer imho. When you've got it nice and clean, consider a good paste wax like Trewax or I like the liquid Howard's Beeswax Feed N Wax (Sears Hardware, Ace). If someone in a store suggests Bowling Alley wax, I'd suggest avoiding it. It was recommended to me by a retailer who said a couple of his 'old-timer' antique dealing customers use it. That stuff was about impossible to buff out and was kind of gummy feeling to me. My SIL gave me a beautiful deco era waterfall accent table, from DHs grandparents. She just didn't want it anymore. I just did a light RAF wipe rather than a lot of elbow grease with super fine steel wool. Didn't want to risk harming the veneers. Anyway, I did my Formby's, RAF, Howard's Beeswax routine and sent her a photo with a thank you. She was amazed at the difference and wanted to know what I refinished it with. ;) This is a different piece, before and after. An ebay purchase, a vintage solid cherry hutch in pristine condition structurally but had smoke film on it and other kinds of grime, the finish was dull and needed a really good cleaning. seller's photo after I did my Formby's>RAF>Feed n Wax routine....See MoreCould you (would you!) rescue this 1930s kitchen?
Comments (36)I waited almost 5 years, only half intentionally, and my plans changed and solidified, and I saved up money. It was the best thing I could have done. Waiting a little might is not a bad thing at all. My 40s cabinets are like that too. I don't know how well they'd move, since there's nothing to keep them "square" while they're being taken down and moved around. But that's a question for a carpenter. You need to find one who is really invested in giving you what YOU want: informing you of the likely outcomes, good and bad, giving you his honest opinion, that you feel you can trust. I'm lucky that I have that with my contractor. Most of the time he knows I'd prefer to fix something old, even if it may not look perfect, or might be too fragile for some of the families on this site. But he will tell me if something is a bad idea, and when he does, I definitely listen. But some workers just want things easy, or don't have the knowledge to deal with an old house, or know they're going to slave for hours at their craft making something fit and then the homeowner is going to come home and say "But it's 1/8th of an inch off! That's totally unacceptable! Just put in a new one!" I think, for you, it starts with figuring out what you really WANT, and I get the feeling you're not quite there yet. As I see it: You can restore the salvageable 30s kitchen (little reconfiguration, cheapest option), recreate the 30s look with all/mostly modern components (some reconfiguration, middle cost, may exceed budget), start fresh with a new design with the very best of the 30s elements (some reconfiguration/more cost, likely to exceed $10K budget). Or another solution. In the end, the only opinion that matters is your own. Trust your gut....See Moreneed advice on how to decorate a 1930's Craftsman style house
Comments (18)Congratulations. Let me chime in late. I have a 1937 home, but it is not a craftsman. There are plenty around in my neighborhood. I did a lot of research into period styles prior to my last round of renovation. By the 1930s, bright colors and lingering Art Deco influences were creeping into other styles. This could be a regional thing, so your area might be different. All of the original tile in our neighborhood is regular square 4x4s, in black, white, pink, aqua, mint green, maroon and yellow. The tile was used in BS, counters and baths. But with Craftsman, as everyone said above, it was all about wood. I love your cabinets and would only add the glass and refresh the finish. But if you did want to paint, white was pretty commonly used (as were the pastels). Counters were usually tile or formica; people now go back to earlier eras and are adding soapstone. I don't know if you saw this thread, but it had a pin board with retro homes. Here is a link that might be useful: Retro Home Thread, Click through to Pin Board...See MoreDining Table for 1930s home?
Comments (58)I keep coming back to this thread and thinking about it because I am inheriting an old Queen Anne style dining room table and chair set from my mom. She got it around 1972. It's Harden, which is a middle of the road company. I never liked it, but it went with the style of our old 1890's house and mom's taste. It's solid cherry wood, which you will not see the likes of nowdays. The top is gorgeous, because mom always used a tablecloth and table mat on it. First I thought to sell it and buy something more to my taste, like Mission or Arts and Crafts, Art Deco, Danish Modern . . . but it's such good quality and free, so I'm learning to like it. I don't like its darkness, but that can be adjusted by using a tablecloth, runner and placemats or chargers. Many ways to change the look of the dining room that way, which is what you will get with a classic piece. Also the chairs can be recovered (they are actually lime green velvet if you can believe it, thank you MCM influence!) or I can even invest in complete, washable slipcovers for them if I want. My friends had a DF repro table (probably from the 30's or 40's) that they got from someone who died and donated the contents of his house to a nonprofit where they worked. They used it for so many years as the family dining table, game table, homework station and craft center. When they finally splurged for something new and Mission style because the old one was just too rickety and couldn't be fixed, their daughter pitched a fit she loved that table so much. It now resides in the basement where it still serves a laundry folding, crafting function. My point is, something well made and classic can be worked with in so many ways! It will be fun to see what you come up with! As you may be aware, the used market is now overrun with boomer downsizing stuff that gen X'ers and millennials don't want, (yuck, antiques lol!) so you can get just about anything you would want for a dining room, including the table accoutrements, for a song. I say "lol" because back in the ACTUAL mid century, my mom picked up many of the "antiques" in our home for a song back then too, for the same reason, minimalist was in and antiques were out, particularly large things, and we had a big house with 12 foot ceilings so she literally paid pennies on the dollar for certain pieces. Friends from the "big city" would visit and marvel at what she paid for the stuff at auction. I vividly remember going to some VERY out of the way places to auctions with her....See MoreLinda
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