Sorry for the long post with too much info!
I picked up this entire set of American of Martinsville living room furniture about 2 weeks ago. It came with the original literature/catalog which shows this is called the "Uptown" collection. Since it's freezing outside and raining, I'm showing a pic from the brochure instead of pulling it all outside. I'll try to photograph an actual piece for color a bit later. I have two of the small modular loveseats, the long coffee table with drawer, an end table, corner table and the chair.
This is mahogany and in the brochure, just appears to be finished naturally. In reality, this is what I'd call a limed finish. It is very thick and white....not just blonde.....with multiple layers. It came with a white stick to touch up the finish though the person who tried to use it previously made a mess of it. It looks like White Out has been applied in places. The finish is in terrible shape on some of the pieces. The end table and chair are really rough to the point of being disgusting.
I don't think I can replicate that thick white finish. I've seen articles on using amber shellac and a limed stained on top to get this look, but I'm not sure that really works. I'm afraid that trying to complete this process on the loveseats and chair would be beyond tedious. I hate getting rid of the original finish, but I think it may be necessary. Would you make due with the original finish, even in bad shape or would you sand down and try to get a natural finish? Since I'd be taking off the original finish anyway, I could just go for it and stain it dark.
This is for my personal living room, so value doesn't matter...though I do hate to destroy things. Any thoughts on how easy or hard it would be to replicate the white, limed finish would be appreciated. Any techniques to do so would be appreciated as well. I know there are instructions online, but they are severely lacking. If you vote for going dark, I'd be happy to hear your opinion.
Thanks!
Sandra
Those thick finishes are done one coat at a time, spray-rub-dry over and over and over. It takes time, patience and a designated work area. With all the spindles and everything, I sure wouldn't bother sanding... but of course I'm lazy and rather short of square footage...
If it's so far gone as to be disgusting I would just pick a color and paint the loveseats and corner table, and swap the other occasional pieces for something different; it's good to have some diversity!
Thanks, objectworship. I don't think I have the time or space to complete that process, either. Trying to complete the chair alone would be a task...can you imagine sanding down all the spindles on two loveseats as well? My hope was that I could eventually find other pieces in the line so I wanted the finish to match at the end of the day, but the best way to make that happen is to probably refinish all of it and any future pieces I may find.
I'd sell it all and get something that could be made to look great with far less work, but that's me (after decades of taking on proects that I thought would be exciting but turned out to be hideous time sucks).
That said...I'd go with Objectworship's suggestion and paint at least some of it, probably with glossy black lacquer, and probably the chairs and sofas only. This sill still be a big project because the surfaces would need to be sanded smooth, otherwise glossy finish will highly every bit of roughness.
Then I'd consider stripping the tables since they are a bit easier to do than the spindle-laden seating. I was thinking have them dipped but that's probalby not advisable with mahagony since it's a softer wood. It would end up with raised grain and you'd still have to sand the heck out of it to fix that...plus the risk of loosened joints which are a pain to fix, too.
I despise sanding, myself. I'd much rather do chemical stripping, though at this pint in my life I'm pretty much done with that, too. Good luck, whatever you decide!
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