The Land of Misfit Furniture

Good bloggers only post pretty photos.  Good bloggers have titles that maximize search engine optimization.  You will get neither of those things in this post.

Our garage has become the Land of Misfit Furniture.  It’s like I’m King Moonracer but I don’t need Rudolph’s help finding homes for these beauties.  (Good bloggers also discuss Rudolph in February.)

Let’s examine.

First up we have the office chair that I had to have…back in November.  It needs cleaned up. I’m adding that to my week-end to-do list.  On top of it is some potential barn wood for a potential dining room table.  Potentially.

The buffet is coming along nicely for my craft room.  Color sneak peak.

This photo shows my almost completed sewing table.  This photo also shows the curio cabinet that I redid and no longer have a place for.

I drove 40 miles to pick up these chairs covered in cat fur.  They were $5 each.  I have a plan.  And I got to have lunch with an old friend. I still win even if they don’t work out.

I’m not only hoarding furniture for myself but also for my brother.  These end tables will soon be an awesome coffee table.  Some day.  Potentially.

I also recently bought this rocking chair.  I took it up to see how it would look in my craft room.  I liked it so much I left it there.  It does need a color change once it’s spring spray paint season.

I think that is all of the crap furniture I am currently hoarding. 

I don’t have a problem.  Why do you ask?

Does your garage look like the land of misfit furniture?  Big plans for the week-end?  Anyone want to clean those cat fur chairs for me?

How to Remove Veneer or Laminate from Furniture

Recently I shared with you my plans for my craft room.  Part of those plans included refinishing a buffet/sideboard/whatever you want to call it.  Part of refinishing that buffet included figuring out a way to remove peeling veneer from the sides.

This beauty was hanging out in the garage of one of my co-workers.  Her husband wanted garage space. I wanted a buffet.  Win. Win.  This buffet and I were destined to be together.  Unfortunately, we didn’t meet before this beauty suffered some damage.  The veneer on both sides was peeling and the entire buffet was quite scratched.  The scratches didn’t concern me.  Most could easily be fixed by some light sanding.  The veneer was a new territory for me. 

Nate tried sanding and scraping but he could only get part of it off.  The rest was not going anywhere.

After some Googling, I pieced together a few tips to try and tackle the veneer on my buffet.  Here are my tips if you have a beautiful piece of furniture needing some TLC in the veneer department.

Tools:

• A metal putty knife
• An old rag/towel
• An old iron
  • I bought one at the Salvation Army for $1.50.  This process will make your iron disgusting.
• A hammer
• A bucket of water
• Patience
• A radio station with today’s greatest hits.  (Justin Timberlake and Ke$ha really speed this process along.)

Process:

• Get your rag fairly wet.  You want it to be slightly dripping but not sopping wet.
• Place the wet rag on the area you want to remove. 
  • It’s best to avoid any exposed wood so you do not damage that part of the furniture.
  • Also be careful around areas where you do not want the veneer removed.  I learned this lesson the hard way near the sides.  The steam is not forgiving.  I would suggest protecting those areas with dry rag.
• Place your iron on top of the wet rag.  Be very careful during this step.  The steam is obviously hot.  Consider this your warning.  It’s like those warnings on coffee cups that tell you that your coffee may burn you.  Same thing.   Use your noggin. (I’m usually really good at injuring myself and surprisingly had no problems doing this but just be careful!!!)

• Let the iron sit for a few minutes.  I used this time to rock out to Rhianna and also do a little sanding on the rest of the buffet.
• Remove the iron and the rag carefully.  Both are  hot.  Again.  Be careful.  Pretend your mom is watching you during this whole process.
• The veneer will turn a different color.  I found that when it looks like the photo below, it is ready to remove.

• Use your putty knife to scrape the veneer off.  It will come off pretty easily.  I occasionally used a hammer to lightly tap the putty knife.  If you let the iron sit long enough, you probably won’t need the hammer.  Don’t try to dig at the veneer too much.  You will risk damaging the wood underneath if you are not careful.
• While you are scraping one area, give your rag a quick dunk in some water.  Place it on the next area and let it do it’s thing.  I’m all about time savings.
• Don’t rush the iron step.  The longer you let the iron sit, the less work you have to do scraping.
  • Once you find that you can no longer easily remove the veneer, stick the wet rag and iron back on it.
• Repeat until all veneer is removed.

I forgot to take great after photos because I was too excited to start priming and painting.  As you can sort of see above, all of the veneer came off and I was left with nice wood underneath.

This was not a quick process. I think it took me at least an hour for each side.  One side was easier than the other.  There is probably some more expensive faster version out there but this process worked well for my cheap self.

Let me know if you have any questions.  I’ll answer them in the comment section.

Have you tried to remove veneer or laminate?  Any successes or failures?  Any furniture make-overs in the works?

Linking up to: Home Stories A to Z

The Time My Rug Tried To Kill Me

Do you want the good or bad news first?

Okay, bad news. Everyone always wants the bad news first.

Remember this rug?

Pretty, right?  Turns out it was killing me slowly.  Don’t freak out if you have a jute rug.  Weird and bizarre things happen to me all of the time.  The weird and bizarre things are part of the reason I write this blog.

I was sick almost all of November and December with sinus infections.  30 days of antibiotics and 2 rounds of steroids led to a CT of my sinuses which showed chronic inflammation.  Allergy testing revealed allergies to dust mites and dogs.  I bought the appropriate dust mite proof bedding.  I was fairly confident that I was not allergic to Ike (My symptoms didn’t change around him.  I did notice symptoms around dogs that shed.).

After taking care of all of that, I was still congested at certain times and just didn’t feel well.  I started paying more attention to the times I was I didn’t feel well.  Many of those times came after being in the living room.  I then pieced together the attack of the burlap and the fact that jute and burlap are closely related.  (I’m going to talk to my allergist about this at my next appointment because these fibers weren’t something that was tested.)

We removed the rug from the living room.  Bam.  Symptoms were gone.  I feel like a whole new person.

So bad news.  My rug was homicidal.

Good news?  I can buy a new rug.  I sold the jute killer on Craigslist along with the small rug that was it’s predecessor. Which leaves me about $50 shy of buying this guy.

Source: rugsusa.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Rug buying make me nervous. They are such an investment.  Nate is an accounting zombie so I can’t rely on him for anything.  Ike just wants more bones.

So, what do you think?  Do you like this rug?  Do you have a patterned rug?  The pattern is the only thing holding me back.  Any other fantastic suggestions?  (I need ~8x10 for size.  And preferably less than $250.)

Ever had a piece of home decor turn to the dark side?