A pristine piece of wooden furniture is a rare opportunity to pick a finish that both screams class and withstands the elements. It’s a bit of work to do right, but as we all know, well-treated wood is a beautiful thing, so your fresh (or freshly stripped) furniture only deserves the best wood finish. Educate yourself on the uses of all the different types of finish with this final installment in our finish guide (we’ve also covered finish maintenance and DIY refinishing).

Finish tends to be flexible so, for the most part, your only constraints are how intensely the furniture will be used and what kind of atmosphere you wish to create. Let’s run through the different types of finish and what they’re good for.

 –        Paint: The power of paint is in its versatility. It’s a great pick for creating color-themed rooms, as any wood can be painted any color. However, paint is best used on low or medium quality wood, simply because you can’t appreciate the natural attractiveness of, say, fine mahogany from under a layer of thick color. It’s also not quite as durable as some other finishes. For these reasons, many opt to paint cabinet doors and composite wood.

–        Lacquer: This protective finish is great for imparting smooth shine. It’s highly versatile in terms of sheen level, types of lacquer ranging from “flat” to “high gloss”. Lacquering furniture can take quite some time, requiring application of several thin layers, but can be used on any wood surface you need to shine.

–        Stain: As the name suggests, wood stain is used to stain wood surfaces different colors. These colors are often richer than natural wood, allowing them to both enhance preexisting colors and lay down new ones. Another plus: after drying, it can be covered with another finish, so it’s often applied before a protectant like lacquer or varnish, and can be used on any type of wood.

–        Resin: Upon application, this unique finish will penetrate the wood and harden its fibers, accentuating the natural appearance of the furniture and highlighting grains. Resin is best used on open-fiber woods such as rosewood, teak, oak, and walnut; closed fibers don’t absorb resin as well. It can also be applied over any stain except for varnish or vinyl types.

–        Varnish: Varnish combines several types of finish to both protect and beautify wood. Like lacquer, it comes in a wide range of sheen levels but, due to its greater thickness, provides more protection. This finish can be used on most types of wood.

–        Shellac: Derived from the secretions of the lac bug (yes, quite gross,) this natural protective finish nicely accents fine hardwood with a warm shade. Be sure to use a coaster, though; its sensitivity to heat makes it vulnerable to white rings. Like varnish, this finish is used on a wide variety of hardwoods.

–        Polyurethane: This synthetic finish is essentially a plastic that, when painted onto hardwood, hardens to protect the surface without drastically altering its color. It’s a popular pick for hardwood floors, but can be sensitive to extreme heat or caustic liquids.

Start your DIY furniture refinishing project off right with this simple guide but if you’re short on time or far from a hardware store, take a break with TalkLocal. Our unique and speedy system will hook you up with the perfect furniture upholsterer for your needs and schedule – for free! Save both time and money so you can soon plan for a party and show off your fabulous wooden furniture.

Got ripped, stained, or otherwise blemished upholstery? A little bit of DIY initiative can save you the time and money you’d otherwise spend on a professional upholsterer. Reupholstering a chair or sofa isn’t as complicated as it seems; all you’ll need is a knife, thread, sewing machine, and a staple gun.

It may not be necessary to reupholster your old furniture just because the cover is stained so first, we’re going to teach you how to remove stains from your upholstery with this DIY cleaning solution.

DIY homemade upholstery cleaning solution

Upholstery stains can easily be taken care of but it’s best to know if your upholstery is synthetic, like nylon or polyester, or natural, like cotton or wool.

If your upholstery is synthetic, you can make a cleaning solution by mixing water and white vinegar well in a 2:1 ratio and applying it from a spray bottle. If the stain doesn’t lift after scrubbing the wet area with a rag and letting it dry, try again after mixing in a tablespoon of liquid soap for every 4 cups of water.

Natural upholstery is more safely cleaned with a 1:1 mixture of water to liquid dish soap. Apply lightly with a sponge and scrub lightly with a rag until the stain is lifted.

Reupholstering Chairs and Sofas

If you’re going to reupholster the entire thing, the first step is to remove the old upholstery. Whether you’re dealing with a sofa or a chair, you should always start at the bottom, as that’s where the most material is used. If you can find where the upholstery was fixed to the furniture, see if you can remove whatever was fastening it, like a line of staples. If you can’t, just take your knife and cut it free from the furniture.

After the bottom is removed, turn it upright. If it’s a sofa: remove the back, followed by the sides, the inside back, and then the inside arms. If it’s a chair: remove the upholstery on both sides of the back. Try not to damage the old upholstery too much; it’ll be a useful guide for the new cover.

Lay out your new upholstery over the old and cut the fabric. If the old upholstery was seamed, cut a ½ inch from the old seam, or if it was stapled, cut 2 inches from the staples. Next, sew the pieces of fabric together using heavy duty thread and a sewing machine, allowing for a ½ inch inlay.

Next, start attaching the fabric to the furniture using a staple gun. This process is relatively straightforward for a chair, but for a sofa, you’ll have to work inside-out: start with the sofa deck, followed by the inside arms, and then the inside back. Remove any excess fabric and you’re done!

If you don’t have the time to reupholster yourself, find a professional. Before you bloat your computer with search tabs, try TalkLocal – just enter the info of the job you need done and let our unique search system find you the perfect furniture upholsterer for your needs and schedule.