A bit of Craigslist success

After finishing the cord chair and a couple of other items that were quite literally left out in the cold while the chair tried to make its deadline, I began looking for an inexpensive chest for my office.

Pretty frustrating, really. There were lots of large chests of drawers, media cabinets, and bar cabinets. But nothing smallish that could nicely fit in my office.

Finally, I snagged one on CL for $50.00. Maple, with a mid-century vibe. A little rough; I think it had been out in the weather, but it wasn't trashed. In the end, a very good purchase.

Preparing veneer strips for the top

Gluing the loose veneer

I promise to get better about taking "before" pics, which is a nice way of saying that there are no before pics of this one. Here's a few during the process.

Waiting for the feet to dry

I used Howard's Restore-a-Finish on the drawers, insides and sides and followed that with Feed & Wax. I felt that the top needed more, however.

So I sanded it to nearly-bare wood after replacing the chipped veneer. I used pre-glued veneer stripping from Highland Woodworking. (and yes, once again, they are my favs). It stained well and applied easily.

Then I applied Varathane oil-based stain -- 3 coats, sanded in-between with 0000 steel wool. After a day to cure, I applied General Finishes' Armour-Seal Satin. Four coats, with at least 8 hours each to cure and followed, again, with 0000 steel wool.

Preparing to replace veneer.

And here is the final result. Just don't look to closely at the veneer patches. They'd be nearly unnoticeable had I sanded the pieces more agressively before staining. Lesson learned!