Unfinished Furniture

Part of setting up any household is furnishing it. As fun as it can be to choose just what tables, chairs and sofas one wants in one’s home, it can be much more satisfying to help create them. The best place to do that an unfinished furniture store.

An unfinished furniture store carries tables, chairs, and other wood furniture items. Most stores have children’s furniture as well. Some stores even carry other types of furniture like Wrought Iron Patio Furniture. You could probably also find TV Stands to stain so that they match the rest of your furniture. In addition to the furniture pieces, some of these stores also carry the paints and stains needed to finish them. These things have been constructed, but are the bare wood or wrought iron. It is up to the consumer to finish these items. This is good news for a creative person or a do-it-yourselfer. Unfinished furniture allows one to paint, stain and customize the piece to fit one’s décor.

In addition to the paints, stains and methods of finishing available at unfinished furniture stores, one can add his or her own creativity to the furniture. There is nothing more satisfying than taking a bare piece of furniture, such as a dresser, and painting it. For a child’s room, it can be particularly fulfilling to a parent to design and paint something special for a son or daughter. In addition to painting or staining a toy box, for example, one can decoupage the piece with pictures that are special to the child, such as cars or princesses. This makes the piece of furniture more of a keepsake for the child.

If one needs a further reason to choose an unfinished furniture store, there is price. By taking on a portion of the work, one reduces the cost of buying the table or bookcase. This can be a good choice for a home decorator on a budget, or a young couple just setting up housekeeping. 

If the idea of finishing furniture oneself seems intimidating, it should not be. Stores have experts that can provide instruction on working with different paints and stains on the various types of wood. Some stores also have a service where the consumer selects the desired finish and then turns the project over to the experts. This takes the fear out of buying unfinished furniture.

Unfinished furniture stores are the best places to find furnishings that allow one to be creative. Designing and finishing the furniture for one’s own home gives one a feeling of fulfillment and makes home feel more personal.

Unfinished furniture kits – A Growing Trend
One of the reason most people choose unfinished furniture is variety. Choosing one of these pieces allows for individual creativity to complete a personalized designer look that’s custom made. Fabricated from quality materials like oak, maple, pine and other woods, this furniture offers an opportunity to express style as well as an advatage of great savings.

Planning and Designing A Room
In order to properly furnish a room, it’s important to plan before designing. The great thing about unfinished furniture is the broad range of choices it presents. With so many choices, planning becomes crucial. Many people begin planning by a preliminary “cut and paste” method, i.e., cutting out of magazines and other media furniture with the styles and colors most desired. Then, arrange in room order so it creates a basic sketch of the end result of working with unfinished furniture. This is generally how most interior decorators plan to furnish a room. This basic design allows for room accents like carpeting, draperies and statuary coordination as well.

Hints For Furnishing A Great Looking Room
Professional interior decorators know that the most important part of home decor begins with personal tastes. A room should be comfortable enough to live in and still make a fashion statement. Taking a cue from interior decorators when planning a furniture project, choose pieces that reflect the right degree of personal comfort. Mastering the technique of finishing furniture, for the uninitiated, may start with items like small accent tables, benches, footstools, wall clocks, shelving and planters. Outdoor furniture and garden accents are often the starting point for hobbyists who love finishing furniture. There’s lots of “wiggle” room for beginners here.

Graduating to Bigger Projects
Nothing is more satisfying than reaching the point where the furniture hobbyist is at home with their work. At this level, it’s time to move on to bigger pieces for projects like tables, chairs, rocking chairs, etageres and for the most ambitious, an elegant china cabinet. Books on wood finishing techniques are available in most book stores and will provide a good source of fresh ideas. Also, these resources are handy helpers for choosing draw pulls, scrolled wood accents and the correct way to install them.

Stylish and Economic
It’s nice to know that the best part of working with this furniture is the savings. Entire rooms can be furnished on a tight budget with this do-it-yourself method. When style is as important as ecomony, unfinished furniture is the best choice. It’s a hobby that’s simple to learn as well as very rewarding. Creating a complete home design that receives compliments time after time is worth the time and effort.

A Fun and Economical Hobby
Most interior decorators know that one of the best kept secrets for saving money on furniture is DIY …Do it Yourself. With unfinished furniture, that is. Old pieces of secondhand furniture are especially fun to finish and the cost and beauty that results is pretty amazing. As a hobby, interesting pieces of furniture can be found nearly anywhere. The trick is to develop a good “eye” for finely crafted furniture that just needs a loving hand. Or, there are numerous unfinished furniture collections, newly crafted in stores designed especially for that purpose.

The Simplicity Is In The Doing
There really isn’t much to purchase when new unfinished furniture is to be stained and finished. Generally, with very new pieces of unfinished furniture, the sanding is already done. Merely remove any dust, choose a color stain, suitable brushes and begin. Remember to allow plenty of air drying for the first coat of finish. A regular paint dryer, similar to a hand-held blow dryer for hair is available in most hardware stores. There are several techniques with unfinished furniture that produce interesting designs such as “antiquing”…staining one base coat, allowing it to dry and then staining with a second darker coat to create an “antique” look. Be sure to wipe away any excess for the best and smoothest surfaces. Don’t forget to change the finials on the furniture to suit the “antique” look. Other types of designs like “caning” an be created with kits that are available wherever unfinished furniture supplies are sold. “Caning” simulates a kind of rustic appearance with the addition of a weblike network of “canes” to the outer finish that’s applied with wood glue.

Unfinished “Old” Furniture
Unfinished old furniture has the most potential for value. There’s a bit more work involved. But, the end result is well worth it. Many hobbyists of unfinished furniture, complete a project and sell their work at antique shops and to furniture stores that purchase this type of furniture. With older furniture, removing all old stain is important. The easiest way to do this is to use a stain remover specific to this purpose. One caution, however, be sure to provide plenty of ventilation with the use of stain removers as the chemicals may be strong. Once all of the original finish has been removed, the next step is to sand the surface, using a fine sand paper. For a more antique effect, sand with a more coarse sand paper. Make sure all dust and sand residue has been removed before applying the finish.
Unfinished furniture can be fun and the end result is very rewarding.