"It’s a story from a world that seems like a lifetime ago. Christmas gifts that included items like this…. Radio cabinets that became a part of the family… part of a home.
This old lady had seen it all. Now just shell housing nothing but potential for a new life ahead. We decided keeping her original was a nod to her past and honestly how could we NOT enhance those amazing brass cap feet and those burl fronts.
When you look THAT fabulous naturally- than that is what it should be! Stripped...
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Gray
Good prep is key on translucent wood finishes like this, so I spent a long time removing the old varnish and sanding the wood to a beautiful finish before applying any product. I chose General Finishes Hard Wax Oil in Gray, and both me and my customer are mega chuffed with the results. This product accentuates that beautiful grain in such an incredible way, and because it's an oil based product it really nourishes the wood too
"Just finished a fun build for a friend. His fantasy football league was in need of an upgraded trophy to hold another few decades worth of winners plaques. Built out of oak and cherry and finished with several coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal semi- gloss." - Saw Dust Garage Studios
You all know my affinity for walnut and finding out this old vanity-turned-nightstands was SOLID and not veneer was the happiest surprise a wood lover could ask for.
Stripped down chemically so as not to mess with the aging in the wood, we left some tone variation because we absolutely LOVE the look.
Of course not ALL the tones were correct so we did a little toned down stain correction to make sure these brownish babes didn’t pull any orange tones out.
They’re sealed with satin perfection...
"Sometimes natural is the best way. This lady is no exception. She had such beautiful grain patterning, it was hardly an actual decision to ‘not add paint’. Stripped naked. Sealed in our signature satin Arm-R-Seal finish by General Finishes." - Restoration Reserve
"There are FEW shops that will touch Vintage Heywood Wakefield pieces unless it’s to paint them….. but here we see the beauty in the natural tones! This stunner had the usual selection of nicks, scratches and water stains…The client found some amazing pieces at an estate sale and we decided to tackle them one piece at a time. So this baby is sitting pretty au natural! General Finishes Arm-R-Seal to the rescue yet again, on bringing those stunning grains to life again!" - Restoration Reserve...
"1960s MCM Drexel Walnut side table. Stripped, sanded and refinished in my favorite topcoat for raw wood General Finishes Arm-R-Seal in Satin. It really shows off the beautiful grain patterns of the walnut along with the Burl accents." - Twin Grove Design
"Fully stripping down and refinishing this Kent Coffey “The Wharton” mid century modern dresser set pushed me to my limits. After working on the furniture all day, at night I’d watch YouTube videos about mid century modern furniture restoration, tutorials on how to repair veneer, how and when to use toner. I learned so much, and was humbled time and time again when the trial and error cycle repeated.
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When you fully refinish a piece, you get to know every square inch of that piece. All...
"Refinished and repurposed this circa 1960 Mathes Walnut record cabinet. The electronics were fried inside but Mathes was a premier record cabinet company so I had to save the piece. I decided to repurpose it into a bar cabinet/entertainment center/small buffet and it turned out amazing! Gutted it all and put a solid maple drawer box with new heavy duty slides. Installed new maple cabinets into the speaker area with pivot hinges and push open catches. Made new solid maple open fluted style...
"Another table heading home. Removed the tired and dated stain that had worn away, sanded and then sealed with a satin polyurethane……no stain here folks just its natural colour in all its fall glory. General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. Natural wood grain and colour. Back to the basics"
"Hand forged metal wrapped around exotic woods, shown off on a simple and yet stately dual pedestal table base. We’ve been thru the ringer bringing this guy back to life… almost 2 years in the making actually!
Top has been stripped down, sanded and finished in our favorite hand applied General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. Finish coat in satin. Base has been stripped, sanded stained in Kona and toned with a black wash poly finish. Metal has been chemically cleaned, steel wooled and aged with a...
"I enjoy making mid-century furniture when it can showcase spectacular wood. Here’s a curly cherry and black walnut mid-century floating-top bar cabinet. It has interior brass rod keeper rails and SOSS Door Hardware invisible hinges. Spectacular curly cherry is from Irion Lumber Company. Finished with General Finishes Hard Wax Oil. Design was adapted from an original Bayard Pickens piece. This one’s for sale, including the glassware. It’s destined for the Fine Furnishings Shows on the first...
Mission accomplished. Stickley inspired desk in quartersawn white oak with black walnut string inlay in the drawer fronts and windowpane cross-banded walnut inlay in the desk top. Finished with General...
Ship sculpture made from walnut finished in General Finishes Arm-R-Seal
"Svelte in Universal black by Ben Moore. Drawer faces salvaged. Stripped sealed in General Finishes Arm-R-Seal in our own blend of semi-satin. Original textured brass bar hardware polished and pops off those amazing grains." - Restoration Reserve
"This family heirloom had definitely seen better days. Broken hinge, broken leg, and broken chain inside. To make matters worse, somewhere along the line it was either cleaned repeatedly with wax products or someone tried to refinish it with wax and you can see how much it dulled out the color of the piece in the before photos.
It took a lot of work to remove all the wax and varnish from the piece but once it was completely sanded down, we sealed it in General Finishes Arm-R-Seal in a Satin...
Just want to give a shout out to General Finishes. We don’t believe there’s anything around that would bring out the beauty of this Walnut like General Finishes Arm-R-Seal.
Important pieces, from beautiful wood, and hours of craftsmanship, deserve a superior wood stain and topcoat, and not inferior products from a big box store.
We were able to provide this top for less than half the price quoted from a local cabinet shop.
Absolutely stunning and intricate custom handmade clock with a custom designed walnut table with maple inlay finished with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal Gloss.
"This was a labor of love! I salvaged three amazing vintage trolley carts and knew immediately I wanted to save the wood yet make it functional. I ended up sacrificing one of the smaller carts to use some of the wood.
*Removed an entire side to repurpose as a new top
*Built a removable box shelf for extra storage options
*Payson cast iron casters date back to early 1900’s and still maneuver beautifully
*scrubbed the wood with a wire brush for hours and hours to remove gunk yet keep...
"The tones. The craftsmanship. The SOLIDDDDDDD walnut. Not one veneer here.
Buttery smooth. Beautiful aging left in the details. I wish I could photograph these details better, but trust me when I say you just have to run your fingers along these curves.
We repaired what we could without doing cheap bandaids. The rest we just accept as character of a 1925 set of furniture. I’m truly in awe. Hours and hours of slowly stripping back years of furniture polish and grime. A fresh General...
"My favorite table build to date. Solid walnut top built from a tree by Lake Mills. Paduk bowties that really bring attention to the natural figure in the walnuts crotch section. Solid oak trestle base, with through mortise and tennon and dowel construction. Wedges built from Paduk. Solid joinery for a table that should outlast me. Finished with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal." - Crosscut Fabrication LLC of Klemme, IA
"Bare vs. topcoat of Arm-R-Seal by General Finishes! Stay tuned for finished product!" - Sugar Creek Furnishings
"Top: Curly maple, wenge, jatoba, and sapele. Extra wide for hosting, ends rounded for a touch extra space.
Base: All hickory. Mortise and tenon/ half lap jointed. Legs are curved, leaned inward, and joined at an angle. Finished with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal Satin." - Link Woodcraft
Ash bowl finished with General Finishes oil based Wood Bowl Finish.
"Perfectly matched pair of MCM or Danish inspired style curly maple chairs with added ottoman. Stripped the chairs fully down, and clear coated that beautiful grain in General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. Because that’s like wood magic right there!" - Restoration Reserve
"I found an old 90s entertainment cabine at a local thrift store. It was ALL beautiful hardwood cherry, not a piece of plywood on it besides backer boards and drawer bottoms. Only problem is, nobody needs giant entertainment centers for tube tvs anymore!! So I decided to buy it, break it down and build furniture....out of furniture. I've been on a MCM kick lately and I decided on building this cherry and maple mid-century modern inspired sideboard with a black walnut pull on the custom maple...
"Have we got a rustic gentleman for you! He’s a home built pine tool bench we took from outside! Sanded down, burnished, sealed and painted. I think we did a little of everything and still managed to keep a TON of his original character! Body in black. Drawer fronts and top burnished and sealed in General Finishes Arm-R-Seal." - Restoration Reserve
"This clients table went simply from blah to beauty in one week!
I got a little obsessed when I found the clarity in this wood grain and ended up staying late one afternoon just to strip the whole thing…. Because I couldn’t wait to see the result! And I definitely wasn’t disappointed. Clarity is my MOST favorite thing when pulling down old finishes and revealing that original wood below again!
All she needed was a full thin and strip down, a gentle hand sand so as not to lose that...
"Refinished mid century dresser, sanded to bare wood and simply sealed with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal for gorgeous results. Unique finger edge brass handles were cleaned to a new shine." - Just a Touch of Paint 2.0
Great little walnut top with the greatest character and all the little flaws we love to see!
Top stripped, sanded and refreshed in natural walnut and our hand applied...
"Here she is! This Bassett tallboy wasn’t in “terrible” condition but definitely had a hazy vintage finish and veneer damage throughout the case. I sanded her down to her natural glory, sealed the drawers with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal to let her natural tone and grain shine, and painted the case in Limousine Leather satin enamel. And then of course those drawer interiors needed a little flair." - Rising Phoenix Refinishings
"A little over a week ago this old lady walked in after being in Loft storage for over 40 years! She had years of dust and grime, and a darkened old lacquer that didn’t do her deep grain structure much justice! We carefully stripped and thinned her down, unable to truly sand, but cautious enough to reveal her glorious burl again!
Sealed in General Finishes Arm-R-Seal, after some stain filling on the previous damages- we’ve got all that old character and a brand new sealed surface for years...
"I worked on another diamond in the rough last week! This custom job turned out soooo good! Sanded to bare wood, and top coated with Arm-R-Seal from General Finishes" - A Life Refurbished
"I hardly recognize this piece. This was a complete revival from head to toe for this jam cupboard. I just love the interior shelves and how the rough sawn markings are now exposed. It took a can of stripper and several sanding pads but I could not be more surprised and pleased with the final results. Good bye to the “big green giant”. Hello soft and natural wood tones. General Finishes oil based Gel Topcoat." - Paint and Hammer
"Vintage Mid Century Modern High End Marden Walnut Coffee Table, Long and Lean with solid wood construction. Stripped down revealing some fantastic walnut grain and beautiful multi-tones! Sealed in General Finishes Arm-R-Seal." - Restoration Reserve
"What a spectacular specimen of Maple! I'm not usually a huge fan of Maple, but the graining character in this piece really changed my heart here! She's stunning. The construction is impeccable. The four Mid Century style peg legs! Look at the way that top is assembled! Stripped down naked and sealed in our absolute ONLY favorite General Finishes Arm-R-Seal for a beautiful glow." - Restoration Reserve
"Bassett mid century dresser refinished to natural wood and sealed with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. Gorgeous brass handles, feet caps, and lower accent bar make this piece a stunner." - Just a Touch of Paint 2.0
"This custom beauty needed very little work, except refinishing the top and touching up the rest, along with polishing the handles to get that brass shine back. Gorgeous mid century piece. Top sanded and sealed with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal." - Just a Touch of Paint 2.0
"Custom Bassett mid century dresser ready for its new home. Refinished with General Finishes oil based Arm-R-Seal Topcoat on the drawers and Lamp Black Milk Paint on the frame." - Just a Touch of Paint 2.0
"The table top was sanded to raw wood and sealed with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. The base and chairs were painted in General Finishes Queenstown Gray Milk Paint and sealed with High Performance Topcoat." - Just a Touch of Paint 2.0
"Lane Perception nightstand refinished to natural wood and sealed with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. Two toned wood give this mid century piece a unique look." - Just a Touch of Paint 2.0
"This gorgeous Bassett dresser is ready to find a new home! Refinished to natural wood and sealed with General Finishes Arm-R-Seal, this mid century piece has unique legs and handles featuring a two toned wood design." - Just a Touch of Paint 2.0
Absolutely stunning walnut veneer MCM dresser! There's no stain on this beauty! Sanded and topcoated with GF oil based Arm-R-Seal and accented with GF Lamp Black Milk Paint.
"Another custom request out the door. Lynn wanted a Walnut log slice end table for her daughter so we made it happen! After removing all the bark we sanded it, epoxied the cracks in the wood and sealed it in General Finishes Arm-R-Seal in Semi Gloss. The customer got to pick the legs and the specific height she wanted and that's it!!" - Upcycling by Amy
"General Finishes Arm-R-Seal made this wood look amazing! No stain needed. This beauty is finished and sold." - Just a Touch of Paint 2.0
"Walnut build. This is probably my favorite table due to the incredible grain. This table will see many years of family gatherings, and has plenty of room in its 9 foot length to seat extended family." - Mack Wood Worx
"Classic mid century dresser redesigned in General Finishes Lamp Black Milk Paint with drawers sanded to a gorgeous wood grain and sealed in GF Arm-R-Seal." - Just a Touch of Paint 2.0
"I had some time last week and this 1957 Drexel Campagna drop leaf table had been sitting around the shop since last year, so I figured now was as good as time as any!! The apron, legs and chairs are all finished in General Finishes Enduro White Poly and as I was sanding the top down I noticed that it was a beautiful Walnut Veneer with Pecan accent so all that needed was to be sealed with GF Arm-R-Seal to make it pop! Reupholstered the chairs in a cool check pattern and it was complete. This...
"Benjamin Moore Avocado on the outside, and stripped down to the bare base of MCM Walnut. We've brought these ladies into the modern world and haven't asked them to give up any of their originality in the process! With beautiful grains like that, why would we need anything further than General Finishes Arm-R-Seal over the drawers and tops! Beautiful original sweeping brass pulls." - Restoration Reserve
