I am an old furniture a renovation professional now for four months with a solid learn-by-doing method. In the past I have designed and made my own shelves, nails and drawers, but as a new breeze, under the guidance of my carpenter father, I now refurbish furniture for clients. I have received design classics in tattered condition, which have then had old paint or varnish sanded off, holes and chips plastered over, and finally painted white fresh as if new.
In the works have been two of Alvar Aalto's lattice benches to be painted white, varnishing the frame of Alvar Aalto's armchair, painting the surface of Bruno Mathsson's huge table in white, and one of Aalto's lattice benches is currently under construction.
Bruno Mathsson's table was mind-bogglingly busy and demanding. First, the veneer surface was lightly sanded, then primed, and then the holes were filled. Of course, the huge two-piece table had to have a smooth surface, so I got a good mohair board just in case. After careful painting sessions, I was hoping for a silky table top. Well, the surface turned out to be an orange-skin, and the result was horrible. After that I had to start watercolouring. The surface was water-sanded several times to smooth out the visible dents. After the final sanding, the finish was finally quite good. However, the surface still needed protection after sanding. My father, a do-it-yourself man, came up with the idea of putting car wax on the surface to make a durable finish! So off to the petrol station to hunt down some material and back on the gas, so that the hours wouldn't run out in that 24 hours. The time window was already closing, as the table was promised to be ready the next day. The table had been lovingly worked on for weeks by now, as drying times and unexpected setbacks in the workflow were pushing the time forward.
Next up, a good frame. The frame of Alvar Aalto's armchair was reportedly varnished decades ago in Norway. The varnish was yellowish and had a few drips. The frame was sanded and varnished again.
Furniture refurbishment is tangible fun, much more time-consuming than you might imagine, with a great deal of satisfaction and a sense of achievement.
What a dick get you sorted out?
English (UK) 
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One response to “Kalut kuntoon”
[...] chairs that are nicely comfortable. I was quite happy with the restoration of the massive veneer table (link), the job was a lot of work, the end result was good, but the final positive [...]