The "new" Drexel server....
I shared my plan for this wonderful vintage piece HERE….
I know purists cringe when people even talk about painting vintage pieces.
This is a prime example of “doing what you love.” If a piece will be more loved and treasured in a different state then go for it.
I painted the first one I found years ago and have had it in my dining/breakfast room…
…I recently swapped it out for the china hutch (featured HERE) and sold it.
Now this piece, a Drexel Accolade, has some value as is….if you do a little research you will find they sell for hundreds. But for me “hundreds” is not a value that will keep me from giving a piece a little makeover. If we were talking tens of thousands, yeah, no.
I also have a Drexel nightstand I refinished and shared HERE.
I planned to sell this piece after it’s makeover but I have moved it into my dining room and now I am kind of liking it…hum…guess we will see.
So…what did I do to give this thing a little more appeal?
First, I removed all the old hardware and brightened it up.
The hardware on these pieces are solid brass but after a few decades of neglect it is hard to tell. You can tell if something is solid brass with a magnet. A magnet WILL NOT stick to solid brass.
If the hardware is solid brass, the only way I have found to really brighten it up and get the decades of grime off is with Brasso and SOS pads.
Coat each piece with Brasso. I use a little chip brush to coat the pieces. After that sits for awhile, take an SOS pad and scrub away. You may need to repeat this process a time or two. I also use an old toothbrush to get in all the nooks and crannies.
After all the pieces are really clean, I scrub them with “Never Dull.” It seems to get the last layer of grunge off and gives them a little bit more “brightness.”
Not the easiest or fastest way to clean brass hardware but I just don’t think you can beat beautiful brass hardware.
Now, if the hardware is NOT brass and you want to spruce it up (without the cost of replacing) you can always give it a good scrubbing, prime it with metal primer and then paint it with spray paint. (TIP: put the screws back into the screw holes so that you don’t get paint in the threads.)
I shared another brass hardware restoration project HERE.
So, the hardware is done. If you find a Drexel piece and it is missing any of it’s original hardware, you can find replacements on Ebay…but be prepared to pay dearly for it! Each pull can range from $30 to $110 EACH!!!
I decided to strip and oil the drawer and door fronts. On the last Drexel makeovers (the bedside table and server) I painted the entire piece. This time I decided to shake things up a bit.
While I like wood grain, I am not a huge fan of oak. No biggy since, again, my original plan was to sell this piece. To highlight the pretty wood grain, I stripped the drawer fronts and doors using my trusty 1/2 and 1/2 mixture. 1/2 acetone, 1/2 lacquer thinner. HERE I posted a pretty lengthy tutorial on how to use this mixture to strip even the most stubborn finishes!
After stripping off the old finish I gave the drawers and doors a little mineral spirit wash, lightly sanded, wiped with tack cloth, then applied 3 coats of tung oil finish…my current favorite being Waterlox.
After that had dried and cured well, I taped and papered the doors and began prepping the cabinet for paint. (I removed the drawers to strip and oil them!)
I didn’t need to paint the inside of the cabinet so I taped that off, along with the black laminate under the flip top. I primed with Bullseye primer, then sanded smooth with 220 grit paper and wiped it all down with tack cloth.
I decided to paint the cabinet with high gloss black lacquer spray paint. I am obsessed with the high glass finish on these pieces. I just think it really makes a huge impact, especially with the bright brass hardware.
(You may notice I am all decked out for Easter…that is my new thing…decorating for each holiday/season. Next up will be Memorial Day/4th…patriotic stuff…then “summery”…then fall…then Christmas…then Valentine’s and back to Easter. See what happens when you “retire.”)
The trick to a flawless spray paint finish is LIGHT COATS…lightly spray, let it dry, spray again. It may take 3-4-5 coats but it dries quickly and in the end you will have a beautiful finish. If you go heavy handed you will have drips and runs and will be hugely disappointed!!!
Also pay attention to the temperatures and humidity. If it is too hot or too cold, or if the humidity is really high, you may have issues!
HERE you will find some additional tips on how to property paint furniture…very helpful!
After the paint had properly cured (gave it a good day or two) I replaced the hardware and OH. MY. GOSH!!! I seriously love this piece. Even though I am not a huge oak fan I am really loving it!!!
So the past few weeks I have been tackling a MAMMOTH project. Maybe next week I can share it. Hint, in entails A LOT of the thing I hate most….but man will it be worth it…I think…I hope….
