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Work In Progress




Many people have seen or had items refinished before but we thought that it would be a good idea to show our customers some of our steps. In order to grasp the concept of refinishing, we thought that the best way, was by creating a webpage where our customers/followers could track and watch us work. Refinishing is indeed a hard job but I believe that the main thing that a person needs to have is, patience.

New Project-Update-Feb 24-Antique Church Pew

I found this really cool antique church pew that I just couldn't pass up. As you can see, it's a bit of a mess. It is missing a foot and an arm on the pew. The wood is really worn and when I pulled it to move it into my work room, it fell apart! If I ever had a challenge before, it is this baby! It looks like it is a tiger or quarter cut oak.

-Update-Mar 04-Antique Church Pew-Now finished.

This baby is now finished and ready for someone's entrance way! I added parts to make it more sturdy and balanced ut. I sanded and filled holes. It also have 2 coats of my stain and 3 coats of varnish.


Update-Feb 20-adding this to my work list-
Reclaimed Pine Dish cupboard with Pull Out Bin

This is another type of cupboard that Bricabrac designs. I've already filled in the nail holes and have given it one sanding with the heavier grit. Next I'll be sanding it down with a finer grit to take out my fill and make the wood smoother for staining and varnishing.



Update-Mar 03-Now finished and ready for someone's home!-
Reclaimed Pine Dish cupboard with Pull Out Bin

This cupboard is now finished and has turned out quite nice.





Update-Feb 06-
My newest work in progress items. At this moment, I am actually working on 2 projects. The first one is an antique hooiser bottom and a pine corner cupboard.

Antique Hoosier Bottom

I found this really cool bottom of an antique hoosier cupboard. I loved the natural antique look to it and I'm going to be turning it into a kitchen cupboard.

Update-Feb 15-
I have now added 2 pieces of reclaimed pine to the top of the hoosier bottom. I also cut out a board to turn into a splashboard for the back of the cupboard. I cut the wood to have a 2" overhang on each of the sides. Sanded the wood, filled it and then resanded it with a fine sandpaper. Next I will be putting the top into my stain.

Update-Feb 19-
I have now added 2 coats of my mixed stain and 1 coat of varnish. I will be hand sanding in between the next 2 coats of varnish.

Update-Mar 03-
This cupboard is now completed. I have also varnished the inside of the cupboard and added one shelf. I used varnish for just paint on the outside of the whole hoosier unit to keep the old paint from chipping. This item is now ready for someone's home! Lots of room in this cupboard for storage etc.


Reclaimed Pine Corner Cupboard

Update-Feb 06-
This is a pine corner cupboard that Bricabrac builds by hand. Usually, we do the whole thing in a natural look but this time I think that I want to do it a totally different way.
With this one, I'm going to be painting the whole cupboard a flat black and do the inside of the shelves as the natural colour. I think it will be quite sharp done. Many of our customers really like what we are doing with the 2 tone items. Of course, distressed black is an antique looking colour anyways and works well with our new and reclaimed pine items. I think that I may be leaving the door off as well and use it for a different project.




Update-Feb 15-
I have now given the whole body of this corner cupboard a coat of black flat paint.




Update-Feb 19-
I have now given the inside of this cupboard, 2 coats of my stain and I have also distressed parts of the black body.




Update-Mar 03-
This corner cupboard is now completed and is ready for someone's home




Antique 3 Drawer Dresser with Mirror.


Our first project is for one of my newest customers. She's been wanting this dresser refinished for quite some time now and it seems like everything else, it got put off to the side as to be done later or down the road.
Well, that time has now come! :-)

As you can see from the images, this dresser is missing the original pulls so they will be changed later on when we get close to the finished product. This set has approx 2-3 coats of paint on it but I won't know for sure what is under the wood until I start removing the paint. The mirror may or may not belong to the dresser as many times, mirrors from other dressers are married to each other all the time. It just seems to me that the dresser part should also have some carvings on it to balance itself to the mirror. No matter, one way or the other, we will make this piece match at its final stages.

From looking at the drawers, I can tell that the dresser and the mirror is fumed oak that is most likely on maple. But again, I will know for sure once I start taking it down.

Now that this page is built, I will be starting on this order in a few days. Once I get the paint removed from the parts, I will update this page so that you can see what it looks like. Thanks!



Project started: NOV 7, 2009
UPDATE-Nov 10 :As you can see, I have now dry stripped off the layers of paint from the 3 drawers. I then sanded them down to take off the old varnish that was underneathe the paint. After I did that, I fine sanded the drawers as well. These drawers are now ready to be put into my stain. But first I will taking down the box dresser part and do the same process as I did for the 3 drawers. As I have guessed, the wood for the drawers is maple.

UPDATE-Nov 19 :As you can see, I have now dry stripped off the layers of paint from the box part of the dresser. I then sanded them down to take off the old varnish that was underneathe the paint. After I did that, I fine sanded as well. Next I'm going to stain the drawers and box part, let it dry and then give it a second coat of stain. I like to give the first coat of stain a few hours to dry. If you put 2 coats of stain on the wood too early, it will take a lot longer to dry. When I'm finished that, I'll move on to the harp and mirror and get those parts taken down as well. As I mentioned earlier, the wood for this dresser is a maple but it also has a nice bird's eye maple in the wood as well. It will be quite pretty once the varnish gets added. Stay tuned!


UPDATE-Nov 22 :As you can see, I have now given the dresser and drawers 2 coats of stain. They will be dry enough to start varnishing in about 12 hours time. Always make sure that you don't add the second coat of stain too early (if you need 2 coats) as the 2nd coat will take a lot longer to dry.


UPDATE-Nov 28 :As you can see, the dresser and drawers have now been completed with varnish. Always make sure that you don't add the coat of varnish too early as the additional coats will take a lot longer to dry. A lot of refinishers use only 1 or 2 coats but we add 3-4. It all depends on how we feel about the look and feel of the wood. It should always be smooth with no specks of dust. Too many coats of varnish will give you a shiney look but certain types of varnish can bring the final coat down to a natural look. Extra coats are especailly added for any surfaces that get a lot of wear.


Again, here is the before and after of the dresser part. As you can see, I also added 6 brass handles to complete the look.


Next I will be moving on to stripping down the mirror and the harp.

I have now completed the mirror and the harp. It turned out quite pretty and my customer was very pleased with the end product and my work.

I am located near Victoria Harbour. If you have an item that you would like refinished and need a quote for, please email me the info. If you are local to me and wish to come by with the item in question to get a quote right away, please also email so that I can give you directions or to set up an appointment.

Also, even if you just have a question about what I'm doing, please feel free to drop me a note. Thanks!


Thank you ~ Please Come Again



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