chez en or: restored midcentury modern

after (and that is designers guild wallpaper)

When my sister was visiting last fall I dragged her to the thrift store 40 miles away to look for cheap furniture pieces to redo. It was supposed to be a gold-mine for fairly decent furniture and it was. I had not been before and it was so fun to go with my sis. She was sharing my vision in all things. I found this mid-century piece which I did not need but could not resist. 

Before. You can see how dull the finish is (along with all the cords!)

It had lost its "glow", and was somewhat beat up as you can see from the pics below, some dents and scrapes and scratches and marks and worn off finish: 

 I never refinish wood furniture. So I contacted wonderful Stephanie who I met thru blog land who is a REAL master of all things paint and refinish.  She said to "lightly sand, paint on/wipe off an oil based wood gel stain matched to the finish, then wipe on and off a gel poly for a soft glow finish". And boy was she right:

AFTER

I am not a big "wood" person but I LOVE this piece and its new glow. It was so easy to redo, pretty much fool proof. My local paint store matched the stain. This piece also really "grounds" the room. Too many light pieces make for an unsettled eye. Not bad for $125 bucks. So do not forget to go to the thrift store! Just do it. Get out of your 'jamas and go and just look around. I bet you anything inspiration hits.