A Kitchen Makeover

Hi and welcome! Thanks for visiting Furniture Rejuvenation.

It has been an exceptionally busy month with little time for me to enjoy the gorgeous summer here on the west coast of British Columbia. What, with having a day job AND a refinishing business too, I have almost no time to kick back and do what most people do through the summer months... darn, I haven't even put my toes in a pool or the ocean this season, not once. The canoe threatens to sit idle for yet another year. Moan.

While I pine for the missing playtime, I also relish in the bounty of enjoyable work I have had over these last months. I am strong in body for my commitment to fitness and from lugging heavy boxes (part of my day job) and furniture around. My arms and shoulders have never been stronger.

My most recent wood rejuvenation job certainly contributed some serious physical workouts for me! A very grubby and tired kitchen in a lovely home being staged to be sold soon (and containing more solid oak cabinets than I had EVER seen before) got scrubbed clean before a new finish was applied. Layers and layers of grit and grease, accummulated over 20 years gradually came off, revealing the most beautifully grained oak I'd seen in a long time.

While the photos don't really do it justice, here's the transformation... starting with a BEFORE shot of the cuboards. Pretty grubby, hiding all the oak's beauty potential.

Below is the stack of cutlery drawers, caked and streaky with dirt and looking very lack-luster in colour.

This following photo shows the stack of cutlery drawers (on right) AFTER my cleaning and preparation for the new finish. The fridge door (on left side of photo) has already received its newly applied finish... quite the difference, hey!

The final photo after this one will show you part of the kitchen transformation completed.

How great it was to help this once beautiful kitchen to come alive again. We all know that kitchens are the most important selling point of a home in the real estate business. I am sure that my wood attention has helped make this home more appealing to potential buyers.

If you live locally and need help to bring your wood cabinats (doors, door frames, mantles, etc.) back to life, call me... I can probably help.

Warmly, Carolyn Clarke
Furniture Rejuvenator
604-885-8885
Sechelt, on the beautiful Sunshine Coast of B.C.

Chocolate Brown-Coloured Furniture Is "It" These Days!

Hi and welcome.

What an intensely busy few weeks I've had since I last wrote! I hope you're getting more time than I am to enjoy your summer. Mine has been filled with much concentrated work in our counselling business, at my other day job AND in my refinishing work. All good... I'm just a bit pooped out so I'll make this brief.


This blog post is really to brag... hope you don't mind. Below are photos of my latest furniture rejuvenation project. When I complete a furniture job and feel really good about it, I know I have done a good job. Being the perfectionist that I am, I am typically quick to find flaws with even some of my best work... not this time.


Before and after images definitely tell the story best of this diningroom suite. Stuck in "country mode" the owner of this table and chairs had me bring the table (and replacement square-shaped chairs) into the present age by darkening it to a brown-black, a now very popular colour ... all done over the old finish (which was in beautiful condition).


Have a look...

It's hard to tell that this is even the same table... but it IS!

(The chairs, which were also originally in the light oak colour also turned out richly gorgeous!)

P.S. This cost $750 vs. the $1500 - 1800 it would have cost to completely strip and refinish.

I can do this to update your "stuck-in-the-past" furniture... talk to me about it!

Warmly, Carolyn
your Furniture Rejuvenator
604-885-8885

Avoiding Fisheye

Oh no... not the dreaded "fisheye!"

What on earth is fisheye, you ask?

To a furniture refinisher, fisheye simply means TROUBLE!

Take a close look at the bubbling on this oriental table surface...

... THIS is fisheye... typically caused by many of the furniture paste and spray waxes available in the stores today. Little do most people know that the use of many of these spray waxes comes with a cost... because they contain SILICONE (plastic!) which penetrates the finish, fills the pores and gradually builds up without you even being aware of the problem it will present at a later date!

Fisheye is becoming a bigger problem today than in years past because of the availability and ease of using these spray waxes and paste products. Many homeowners able to afford professional cleaning companies have no idea that they may be subjecting their furniture to unhealthy waxing products... as many cleaning companies LOVE these products because they're fast and (seemingly) effective in creating a good shine.

Spray waxes used frequently (those containing silicone) will eventually cloud your furniture surface, causing you to wonder what happened... this is silicone building up. Trouble is, once you're at the point of wanting to restore or refinish your piece of furniture, the silicone will reveal itself when the professional tries to apply the new finish... showing up in unsightly circles (fisheye) of uneven finish. And, try as your furniture professional might, often times it is virtually impossible to correct or hide.

What to do about it?

If you hire a professional cleaning service, I highly recommend that you ask them what products they are using on your furniture and, if they are using "the Pledges" or other products containing silicone, ask them to stop immediately! Find a healthier alternate.

If YOU are using any of these products, you are unknowingly hampering your wood furniture and I recommend that you stop and find an alternate product with more natural ingredients... such as Minwax paste wax.

Caring for your furniture need not unwittingly doom it to a fisheye future.

Loving your furniture,
Carolyn
604-885-8885

Welcome to Furniture Rejuvenation

A warm welcome to my new Furniture Rejuvenation blog... web-log!

My name is Carolyn Clarke and I am a long-time resident of Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia.

As a young adult, I trained as a Professional Furniture Refinisher by Lew Nilsson of Pioneer Furniture Refinishing in Surrey, B.C. For over 30 years, Pioneer has offered exceptional quality in the refinishing and restoration of furniture and antiques.

I worked in that family business applying my craft of taking cleanly stripped furniture pieces and transforming them into “like new” condition. Over all these subsequent years, I've kept my refinishing craft alive, evolving and current. Advancement of my skills now include furniture touch-up, making my work even more transformative today.

With an artistic touch and ability for incredible detail, I enjoy the process of working with fine pieces of wood furniture, and especially love seeing the visual results of my labor.

My strength is taking a piece of furniture with an existing finish that is in decent structural shape but looks worn and tired… then making it come alive in colour and sheen again!

Without stripping your furniture I will rejuvenate it using tested touch-up techniques, stains and finishes… making the scuffs and tiredness virtually disappear. Most of my jobs can be completed within a few to several hours, making it more affordable than the expensive job of completely stripping and refinishing it. Rejuvenation is my specialty!

Have a look through some of the before and after photographs of my work.

This little table was very dull, the feet very worn... this is the BEFORE photo...

After approximately 3 hours of my professional attention, it transformed into THIS...

Here's a close-up of the fluted edging BEFORE rejuvenation... dull and colorless...

... and what it transformed into AFTER sprucing up the stain and sheen...

Here's a wing-back chair leg, scuffed and very dirty... BEFORE my work...

... and the very same chair leg AFTER my touch-up attention...

Remember, this is WITHOUT first stripping then refinishing! These examples show how I am able to work with the existing finish, clean it up with proven methods and quality materials... to "like new" condition.

If you have a piece of furniture that has “good bones” but looks dull or scuffed and is in need of some tender loving care, I can happily help you.

Please visit this Blog often for smart tips on how to best care for your furniture!

Carolyn Clarke
604-885-8885

terraimages@dccnet.com