u/MaraBrightwood

I have a set of nightstands that were really heavily damaged on top. I knew going into it that the wood might not be salvageable, but I needed to strip the damaged finish off no matter what, so I figured I’d see what I ended up with.

This is after stripping and sanding with 120 grit. This is veneer, so I know I cannot sand any further besides a clean-up with 180 grit. My next step would be to hit it with an oxalic acid treatment to see if I can lighten those stains up any further, but I’m just not sure if it’d be worth it. I would be doing a dark stain on this, but I’m concerned that it’s just going to end up splotchy and terrible.

So, is it worth continuing to the oxalic acid treatment to see if I can lighten things up a bit, or should I just call it and paint?

I’ve got a dresser and nightstand set that I’ve started on and I’m trying to figure out which direction to go with it. I really wanted to do wood tops on all the pieces but the nightstands are in pretty rough shape. Today, I stripped and sanded the worse of the two and unfortunately I think the wood is too stained to salvage (see last photo).

The dresser top is in much better condition and I think it could be striped back and restained. My question is, would it be weird to have a dresser with a wood top paired with fully painted nightstands? Will the set still feel cohesive? Would it be better to just paint everything?

I also have the option of stripping back and staining all of the bases, so the dresser would have a wood top and base and the nightstands would just have the wood bases. That feels like it would be more cohesive to me but I’m not sure it’s worth it to add all of the stripping, sanding, sealing, staining, and masking to the project.

So what should I do?

1. Wood top on dresser, fully painted nightstands
2. Fully paint everything
3. Wood top and base on dresser, wood base and painted tops on nightstands

We’ve had plenty of squirrels lay in the sploot position on our back railing to cool off on hot days, but I’ve never seen one lay like a loaf like this before. He’s been in the same spot for 20+ minutes - we’re hoping he’s just relaxing and fancies our deck a safe spot, but could he be in distress? Our bird bath is just out frame so he does have access to water, if that factors into things.

I have an awesome Bassett dresser and nightstand set and I’m thinking I’m going to go with a painted finish, but I’d like to try to keep some wood if possible. In between doing a dark green body (SW Shade-grown) with a wood top or a black body and top with a wood base. I suppose a third option would be to do the green with a wood base.

I’m planning to sell this set once I’m finished. Does anyone have advice or opinions on what will have the broadest appeal? I’m having trouble deciding which direction to go!

I have this massive Bassett dresser and nightstand set that I’m planning on refinishing to sell, and I’m trying to decide if attempting to save the wood tops is worth it. I’m planning to paint the bodies a dark green (SW Shade-grown) and was envisioning a dark stained wood top. But, as you can see, the tops are in pretty rough shape. The corners are going to need to be rebuilt with epoxy putty, so a wood top will require extra color matching and blending, and who knows what kind of stains might be waiting under that damaged finish.

Basically, I’m looking for opinions on whether it’s worth it to try to save the wood on top or if I should just take the simpler route of going fully painted. Does anyone have experience with wood tops on painted pieces increasing the asking price enough to justify the extra hours of labor? I think it’d be worth it if the tops were not so damaged, but is this far enough gone to consider the tops a lost cause?

I’ve stripped and refinished wood before so I wouldn’t be learning on this set, if that makes a difference in peoples’ answers.