# Finishing Help Needed: Mid-Century Rescue from Chalk Paint



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

My wife loves collecting mid-century modern pieces and when she sees a deal on Craigs List or Facebook Marketplace she sometimes cannot resist. So last week she spots this end table online that she believes is a Broyhill Brasilia piece that might just be hiding beneath some titanium white paint.










I tell her I'll try to strip and refinish so we decide to take a risk and offer $20 and go pick it up. I decide to use a citrus finish remover and we get pretty excited when we start to see what is hidden under the paint:










Other than a couple small black ink stains that I was able to carefully sand mostly away, underneath is some really nice book matched walnut veneer that with a little gentle scraping and scrubbing turns out to be in amazing shape. Here it is after final cleaning and careful sanding to 320 grit and a little mineral spirits to pop the grain.










Why, WHY, *WHY* would someone put white chalk paint on this?

But anyway, I need some finishing suggestions. The problem is that being walnut, the grain of the veneer has fairly deep pores and it next to impossible to get some of the bright white paint out of the those pores without using a needle to scrape the paint out of each one. It is veneer and I have sanded as much as I dare. I used a Watco walnut stain on the base to get it back to its original color and the little bit of white paint deep in the pores really pops out. The top veneer is much finer than the base so the paint embedded in the grain is definitely more subtle but I am a little afraid to proceed without seeing if you guys can think of something I can do to prevent this on the top. Would a wood grain filler help cover up the unreachable paint? Any other ideas?


----------



## onoitsmatt (Mar 7, 2015)

I can't answer your question but that's a cool find!


----------



## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

My response really belongs in the Without Personal Experience thread, since I can only offer what I'd try. Your grain filler sounds like a winner. Some Pore-O-Pac with a walnut color might do the trick. Even just some stain might get in the grain and hide the paint.

How's that for useless information? Beautiful table though. I'm sure you'll figure it out.


----------



## TheWoodenOyster (Feb 6, 2013)

Holy crap. That is beautiful. Also in the never used woodfiller club myself, But I'd give that a shot.


----------



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

I was hoping that the Watco walnut stain would hide the paint but the paint seems to repel the stain and makes it even more noticeable.


----------



## JCamp (Nov 22, 2016)

You might try applying a thick stain and letting it set. perhaps that will cover the white specks. 
Honestly it looks great from the pics perhaps its good enough no one but you guys will know its there?


----------



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

After a bunch of searching, I just found this slury method of grain filling from Wood magazine that might be worth a try. Since I am using a Watco Stain anyway to get the piece back to it original color, this fits with my original plan pretty well and I should be able to test it on the area I have already applied the Watco to.


----------



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

Well, I tried the slurry grain filling technique with limited success. I think that for one thing the places where the paint was visible in the grain were basically already filled with the paint so the slurry couldn't really help much because there was nothing to fill. On top of that I got a little nervous leaving the slurry to dry on the top surface. I was afraid I would have to sand too aggressively for the veneer to clean that up so I am sure that limited my success as well. It seemed to help some but I think that was more a product of wet sanding getting some of the larger remnants of paint out of the pores rather than filling them and hiding them.

Anyway, the top looks pretty darn good with the Watco finish on it and you don't really notice the paint unless you get within about 2 feet (for these old eyes anyway). I will put a light top coat of Tried and True varnish oil on it to protect it a little and enhance the sheen slightly.


----------



## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Wow, what a find. I wonder if you could have applied paint stripper and scrubbed with a nylon brush to get some of the extra paint out of the pores.


----------



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

> Wow, what a find. I wonder if you could have applied paint stripper and scrubbed with a nylon brush to get some of the extra paint out of the pores.
> 
> - Rick_M


I actually did that when I initially removed the paint with the stripper. After using a plastic scraper to carefully remove the bulk of the paint, I first used a nylon and then a fine brass brush to remove all of the remaining paint I could see. The instructions on the stripper said to use mineral spirits with the brush to clean the stripper from the surface and I spent way more time doing that then the initial removal. I probably could have spent more time brushing and gotten more of the paint out of the grain but it wasn't that noticeable until I applied the light stain to try to get it close to the original color. Darkening with stain really made the white pop. This was my first attempt at such a drastic strip and restore process-lesson learned. I suppose I could have made another pass with the stripper but I had already sanded everything once and with it being veneer didn't want to risk sanding through by having to make a second pass.


----------



## 000 (Dec 9, 2015)

After stripping, a good wash and brushing with acetone would help.
If you could live with it being a hair darker a light fog coat sprayed over the top would help too.


----------



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

Thanks. I thought about trying to tint the varnish oil I am planning to use but it is already about as dark as I would like it and frankly, the white is not too bad on the surface except under close inspection. I took a needle and scraped a few of the worst spots away. The base is a little worse because the quality of the veneer there is not as fine and also because the veneer does not cover the subrate wood on the edges and that wood appears to have even deeper grain and retains more of the paint.

My wife is happy and if she decides to sell it, the piece has about 55 years of history to tell, including being nearly destroyed by an idiot with some chalk paint.


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

Perhaps consider a cerused walnut finish that has a white glaze in the grain.










It was actually a fairly popular finish in mid-century modern furniture.


----------



## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

That is a really wonderful find.
It is one gorgeous piece!


----------



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

I had to look up how cerused finish is achieved. It sounds like it is done with a light colored wax after a stain is applied. Since we trying to restore this piece close to its original look, that's probably not an option here but I do like the look. I have thought about using a tinted wax to cover up the white so thanks for the suggestion.


----------



## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

Beautiful piece. I don't understand the trend of painting hardwood furniture pieces, especially antiques like this. I had to google "Broyhill Brasilia" and unfortunately found a bunch of other beautiful pieces that were proudly "improved" with painting. Paint is for wood that no-one cares about, not fine walnut veneer.


----------



## richardchaos (May 12, 2017)

I actually had the same experience, with some tool that painted over great OAK! WHO DOES THIS! After little success with Chemical strippers I simple used ahead gun, Worked like a charm took some time, but its better than all the chemicals and finish up from that.

There were two spots where the trim around the oval glass had rotten away or was broken and missing and some GUY simple put in white CALK to fill the spaces. I had to make replacements by hand from some read oak I had in my shop. Turned out great.

I took all the brass off and hit it with a drill with a wire brush put some laquer over it and there you go.

Please see pics

I have used ahead gun on more than one refinish job and will always start off with that operation again.


----------



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

> Beautiful piece. I don t understand the trend of painting hardwood furniture pieces, especially antiques like this. I had to google "Broyhill Brasilia" and unfortunately found a bunch of other beautiful pieces that were proudly "improved" with painting. Paint is for wood that no-one cares about, not fine walnut veneer.
> 
> - Manitario


Unfortunately chalk paint makes it all too easy for tasteless morons to destroy nice wood pieces because it literally requires no surface prep at all. You don't even have to scuff the old finish first. My wife helped a neighbor chalk paint an already ugly piece that was already painted a different color (it was never a nice wood piece so no harm done) and it was really easy. You normally put a tinted wax over the chalk paint to accent the flaws. Fortunately, they did not put the wax on this piece. The person I bought this from got it at a flea market because she recognized it as a mid-century piece that had been painted but just decided not to try to strip and refinish and needed it out of her garage.

richardchaos, all things considered the Citrustrip that I used worked amazingly well on the chalk paint, probably because there is no prep required to apply the chalk paint. I've tried it on a clear varnish before and it didn't work very well so I suspect that it is not a good choice for oil based paint or any sort of varnish.


----------



## OSU55 (Dec 14, 2012)

Having refinished many pieces over the years, the best solution I found to the problem of light paint or stain on dark wood was to pass - I was never successful in removing or covering enough of the light color in the pores to satisfy myself, so I passed on those to find pieces that could be successfully refinished.


----------



## richardchaos (May 12, 2017)

Did or have you ever tried a heat gun?? I used the strongest stuff I could find on another DOOR! and its didn't do much. It was vanished though Only thing I could do was remove it all with sanding


> Beautiful piece. I don t understand the trend of painting hardwood furniture pieces, especially antiques like this. I had to google "Broyhill Brasilia" and unfortunately found a bunch of other beautiful pieces that were proudly "improved" with painting. Paint is for wood that no-one cares about, not fine walnut veneer.
> 
> - Manitario
> 
> ...


----------



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

No, I've never tried a heat gun. I wonder what affect that would have on the glue that binds the veneer?


----------



## jeffswildwood (Dec 26, 2012)

Why would someone do this? One answer, primitive popularity. Paint it white, scruff the edges. I hate it but see a lot of it.


----------



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

Just thought I would post a final picture of the finished table. I took it outside to show the color in the best light. I stained with Watco Light walnut and then 2 coats of Tried and True Varnish oil. I am debating whether to apply a coat of past wax to give it a little more protection. I can see the flecks of white paint but you have to get fairly close to see them. It is worse on the base. But the piece is over 50 years old and was painted white…


----------



## onoitsmatt (Mar 7, 2015)

I love it. I frequently show things to my wife on LJ's which are typically met with much eye-rolling. She really loved this post though. I believe there was even a "wow" in there somewhere. Nice job on the restoration and way cool find!


----------



## JenniferMichaels (Nov 19, 2017)

This is really beautiful piece. I like such antiques.


----------



## tbone (Apr 24, 2008)

You ask "Why, WHY, WHY would someone put white chalk paint on this?"

Here's my answer. In the mid-fifties, my mom drove a '57 Chevy 'Two-Ten'. By 1964, it was just a beat-up old car, so she traded it in on a brand new Ford Falcon. (We all thought she was trading UP)

The fact of the matter is…tastes change. The Mid-Century Modern furniture became outdated and kind of funny looking for a time. Somebody thought that they were breathing new life into that old table. Now, of course, it's a different story.

Glad you rescued the table. It looks fantastic.


----------



## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

Actually, ever since Mad Men came out, mid-century modern has been a huge craze. In fact, it is not uncommon to see this exact table selling for well over $200. There is a store in the DFW area to only sells MCM antiques and gets top dollar for them. This one was recently painted so it was not someone in the 80's trying give new life to grandma's old furniture. The women I bought it from says that she found it at a flea market from someone who had just painted it. She was going to do what I did with it but decided that life was too busy and her husband wanted to be able to park his jeep in the garage again.

I can see that buying something new would entice most people, I get that, but to destroy an antique like this is a travesty. Annie Sloan and her chalk paint are the problem. It is way too easy to destroy something beautiful because you have bad taste. Hah! just because someone puts the word "chic" after shabby doesn't negate the word shabby.

Stepping down from my soapbox. Thanks for looking.


----------

