Dated Orange to Modern Marvel: Bernhardt Cabinet Makeover

Intro hi I'm Lisa with I inters and today's project  is this burn heart server I was out shopping   at Salvation Army and I picked it up for $60 um  it's really pretty good shape overall it has the   drawer that you pull out it has all the areas  for the cutlery and the cloth that comes over   to protect the silverware from tarnish so when  I got home I realized it was actually finished   on all sides so it's kind of a unique piece and  the respect that it can be floated in the middle   of a room it doesn't have to go against the wall  but it also means that if if I'm going to whatever   finish I put on it I've got to address the back  as well so it would be a lot of work to refinish   the entire piece so anytime I'm flipping a piece  I always like to think in reverse and I like to   think about what can I resell this piece for  so I'm going to do a little bit of research   on I'm going to screenshot it take it into Google  lens do some reverse search on it see if what are   they selling for in Asis condition what are they  selling for if people have refinished them so I   don't want to put in more more effort and and time  and supplies than I can actually recoup because   which is fine if it's your hobby but if it's your  business you want to make sure it's profitable so   I'm going to do a little bit of research before  I decide on a design but I don't want to paint   it um I think with the moving Parts with the um  those flaps opening you know paint can rub and   all that wood is a much more durable finish if you  have moving Parts like that so I definitely want   to keep it wood but I don't particularly like  the color that it is right now so I'm trying to   decide do I strip it to Raw do I use my gentle  restoration and um put some gel stain over the   existing finish I'm going to do some research and  we'll try to decide as I go let's go overall it's   Before shot/cleaning/remove hardware a really nice piece you can tell it's just really  orange so I think the Finish is honestly the the   most dated part of it definitely have some issues  on the top um the stone is thankfully in perf   condition sometimes those are are broke or  cracked thankfully no problems there I still   have the inside the drawer The Cutlery area that  whole piece can come out and so if somebody wants   to use that a little bit differently you can  see the hardware is very tarnished but um the   main issue is I have this big chunk right there  of veneer that's just completely missing so I'm   going to have to either fill it in or patch it in  and then correct it but it's a really beautiful   piece you can see I have a lot of variations in  the wood I usually like to start by doing a good   clean and that just helps me to assess it to see  okay what actually needs to be done to this so if   I don't think I'm going to need a full refinish I  will go ahead and clean first and that just helps   me in the assessment process so I'm using a nice  Degreaser I'm going to get on the bottom and then   I'll give it a really nice sand sometimes  it's just good to get a nice clean surface you'd be amazed at what you can get out by just  using a Degreaser so there was an area here on   the surface that had some type of marring on it  and I was able to just um buff that out I will   go ahead and remove all of the hardware  so that I can give a really good polish for the area where I'm missing the veneer  I have a pack of veneer that I bought at   Veneer patch my local Woodcraft and it just kind of helps  me match up some veneer and see what's close   enough that I could actually patch it in  and and then maybe color it in to match   and I felt like this piece probably had  the most similar wood grain I'm going to   place a piece of tape over the area that  I'm missing the veneer I'm going to color   that area in with some pencil I was losing  my lead at this point but it's still works now I'm going to take the tape and I'm going to  put it over the veneer I'm going to trace out that   area cut it and then that's the piece I'm going  to actually glue in and patch in that missing veneer for Scuff sanding while that's drying I'm going to move  on to scuff sanding I am going to try a   gentle restoration I'm using general finish's  protocol of putting gel stain over an existing   finish you need to either sand 150 or 180  you're just scuffing up the surface a little   bit so that it can accept the gel stti then  you're going to clean it with a 50/50 mixture   of denatured alcohol and water it's going to  be a really good sanitizer get any additional   grease off you can see the shine on the left  as opposed to the right where it just kind of   dulled down that surface I'm just trying to  kind of etch it up kind of knocking back the   shine so I had a little area there where you  can still see some shine so I'm going to go   back with my 180 hit that again and then clean  it back off I have an area that has a scratch   or something I might go a little bit deeper  maybe 15 but I try to kind of stay with 180   cuz I'm really trying not to break through the  existing finish I'm just kind of roughing it up this is something extra that I do for the  detailed areas I like to hit it with a little bit   of liquid sandpaper just to make sure that it's  etched up well enough so that it can accept the   gel stain I'm going to use veranee gel stain  in the color Hickory it's very easy to apply   Staining gel stain sits on top top of the surface  I'm using just a little stain applicator   and I'm applying it in a circular motion going  against the grain I'm just going to apply it let   it set for just a couple minutes and then I'm  going to pull back the excess with a lint-free rag I'm using Mohawk's epoxy putty just  to fill in a few areas on my repair hair   Veneer fill on the veneer where it didn't quite meet in  with the existing wood so I'm just going to   use that to fill in those little areas right  there I used light Walnut um they have it in   a lot of different colors but this is  my first time using it so I usually use   quickwood but I've heard really good things  about Mohawk so this is my first time using it I'm going to continue working my  way around the whole cabinet giveing   Continue staining a nice good scuff sand so that I can go  ahead and start applying the gel stain   and I'll sand that repair area and then  begin the process of blending that in as well for I didn't feel like that was dark enough so  now I'm going to go back with the second   2nd coat coat after that dried for 12 hours and  I'm going to use General finish's Java   I just feel like it needs to be a little  bit darker so we're going to just keep   working it and layering it and to get it  to the right tone that I'm looking for [Music] so here it is after two coats of the gel stain  I like it but it's still not exactly what I'm   looking for so I think what I'm going to do  it's really close to the tone I'm looking for   so I think what I'm going to do is I'm  going to tone it so I'm going to add a   Toning little bit of dark walnut into my top coat as  a toner and I'm hoping that that will give me   exactly the color that I'm looking for so you  can usually put in couple teaspoons usually   I think they say about 10% I have about  a cup of the top coat and then I'm just   going to add a couple teaspoons in I kind  of eyeball it so I don't have a particular   formula but then I'm going to apply it and see  if that will give me the tone that I'm looking for I'm still working on that repair I'm going  to tape it off and use some Mohawk blend doll   Veneer blending sticks just to kind of blend it in the area  where it was missing they had like a little   lighter colored detail on it so I'm trying to  blend that in to the existing area so I'm just   going to keep kind of working it with my blend  doll sticks I'll come back and use some of the   toner then I'll also layer over that some gel  stain so sometimes it's just a matter of layering   it's kind of like what you would do as an artist  you're just layering and you're just trying to   get things to look like the surrounding wood so  does it had to be 100% perfect no you would be   surprised it'll just all blend in but I just kind  of keep working it until I get it where I like it I do like the tone so now I'm ready to seal  it so I'm going to use the same sealer I was   Sealing using before this is a polyurethane by  Minwax and it's in a beautiful warm flat finish as a final touch I'm going to do  a little bit of gilding with some gold   Gilding wax and I'm just going to use my finger and I'm  just going to go over some of those tiny little   details for the hardware I boil some water add  some vinegar let it soak then I come back with   Polish hardware some Barber's friend very fine with steel  wool or a very soft brush and I polish all   the hardware you can see how much tarnish  was on there and then I'll spray mohawk   brass for lacquer this is just going to slow down  the tarnish process let's look back at the before   of this orange little beauty was in good shape  overall I mean quality piece but obviously we   had some failing finish I had a big chunk of  veneer that was missing but after all of those   repairs and a gentle restoration with gel stain  here is the finished product isn't it lovely I   After really like the tone I had the two coats of gel  stain but it just still was wasn't quite what   I was looking for so the toning with the dark  walnut really made a big difference and I just   think that matte can you believe that beautiful  very subtle shine on there this is a beautiful   polyure thing I'm really loving the matte finish  right now can you believe that Hardware absolutely   stunning I'm always amazed when I polish up the  hardware just the huge difference that a Polish   makes but the wood grain you can see I had a lot  of failing finish but the gel stain just filled   all that right in and then the multiple coats  of polyurethane Seals Everything I do like the   subtle uh gilding it's not very bold but it's very  subtle so I think it kind of matches the piece I   am glad I left it would because I think it helps  with the functionality as of our cabinet when   you're opening and closing the fliptop I think  it makes it very durable and usable so overall   I think it's a very beautiful piece I think it  really brings it into the 21st century what do   you think do you like this one did you like the  tone tell me what you think and thanks so much for watching e e e e e so what do you think do you like the tone  I really do I I'm you know do you like the   tone I really do it has still has a lot of  the variations in the wood but I really felt   like it needed to go a little bit darker and I  think adding that dark walnut um toner over the   existing two coats of gel stain really just made  it Shine that existing Hardware polished up all   day beautiful subtle gilding love it too so I'm  a fan I think it's beautiful so obviously it's a   quality piece it's a burn heart so it's always  really fun to be able to refurnish it's really   fun to be able to refinish such quality pieces and  and allow somebody to be able to use it in their home I'm glad I did decide to  keep the wood because I think   that it really helps with this particular type of I'm glad I was able to keep the wood  and not paint it because it's just a lot   more functional especially when you open the  fliptop area and you're opening and closing   those using it as a bar um making if you're  using it as a bar cabinet I think it's just a   lot more functional and more durable because  you're not going to have chipping paint so I   think it's a really beautiful piece and I I  think it looks definitely a lot more modern   what do you think do you like the tone what  do you think do you like this tone of wood or   did you prefer the orange tell me in the  comments and thanks so much for watching