Re: Help with veneer

Martha, Please, please,please don't paint it!!!! In 30 years I have painted exactly 3 pieces of furniture for customers. (I don't count my grand daughter's brite red chair.) I don't know the age of the piece, but quite often older furniture - especially the better pieces were made of solid wood with a cabinet grade veneer over the top. The problem is that the ground (underlayment) was usually constuction grade lumber. Because the ground is different colors doesn't mean it is different wood though. I recently did a solid walnut table for a customer with a bunch of different colors but all the same wood. It would be rare for the maker to have used different types of wood but it is possble.

If new veneer is out of you budget, you might treat the ground like finish wood (veneer). JUst for the heck of it, take the part that looks the worst, sand it, stain it and put a coat of finish on it. It might look good! With luck. If it does, you could do the whole piece until you can afford to do it right. It can always be vennered later (after some stripping of course). I was once told I could finish an orange crate and make it look good. I tried it once - it looked good!