Ageing Pine Furniture

[coccinelle]

My kitchen and dining table & chairs are composed of pine furniture which has now over the years become that deep orangey shade. Any suggestions to bring it up to a more modern look? I don't want to paint it but would use different varnishes to give it a more upto date look. Any suggestions???

[boxtops]

You'd need to sand off the original varnish, IMO, then start again.

[237SJ]

I don`t know the age of your furniture but pine in the 80s tended to be orange. If it`s more recent, you can sand it and wax it with a colour of your choice. I would stick with the wax and not varnish it.

[coccinelle]

When bought in early 80s it was a very pale colour but as with pine over the years it has become an orangey brown colour. Yes, I can start again and will eventually get to the same colour after a few years. Just wondered if there's nothing i can do to prevent going down that orangey brown route again... Wondering if i should stain it a certain colour but what? so it's a modern colour....

[ethandron]

Hi coccinelle :)
I just googled 'refurbishing pine furniture' and it came up with a few things. Maybe you could use a coloured stain...duck egg or turquoise..before a clear matt varnish. There's a photo on one site of an elderly dresser and table painted (I know you said you don't want to paint it) cream with the top left bare pine, looked really nice and up to date.
Happy new year, hope it's a good one for you :)

[SlackAlice]

Pine changes colour over time due to UV light. If you can get it back to the original colour by sanding, then coat it with a UV proof varnish.

[The Builder]

I agree with Slackers. I haven't used polyurethane varnish for years. I prefer to use a floor lacquer such as this one ............

http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewprod/j/JUNSTG/

It filters UV light so that no yellowing occurs. There are plenty of others available. Just check that they're UV-proof.
Matt, satin, or gloss. You will have to sand to the bare wood first though.

Alternatively just wax the bare wood.

[coccinelle]

Hi ethandron: happy new year to you and the family. I see lots of furniture to paint but just think once you've gone down that road you have to then back to sanding it all off which is a pain. I'll look into slackalice's suggestion as that sounds good.... Hope I can find this varnish in France. Mind you, regarding kitchen cupboard doors duck egg sounds quite good too so will get along to Leroy merlin and see what they've got to offer. Thank to both of you.

[coccinelle]

Hi the builder. Yes, I think that's what I'm going to do; sand down to bare wood then use the UV proof varnish However, going to go along changing colour for the cupboard doors... that'll make a change. Thanks to all, i really appreciate it.

[SlackAlice]

Quick tip about your doors.
If your going to paint them, try nipping down to a car body repair shop and ask them if they might spray paint them in a acrylic colour of your choice. They will be able to get a much better finish than by hand painting.

[coccinelle]

Hi SlackAlice; unfortunately i don't know of any car body repair shops which do that. I could always try spray painting them myself. A test on an inside door might be worth it. Thanks for the tip though.

[boxtops]

Halfords spray paint for cars is brilliant for other tasks - I coloured the shoes for my wedding with car spray, I couldn't get the colour I wanted anywhere else. Not sure if you have an equivalent of Halfords in France!

[coccinelle]

Is Halfords a DIY shop, boxtops? or more a car shop?

[ummmm]

I did it with my bedroom furniture. I sanded it down, not meticulously, and stained it. The end result looks really good.