The ideal workspace for refinishing wood furniture has several characteristics which all make the space easy to navigate and simple to clean. But, just as important as the ability to move around and stay organized is the ventilation in the room.
Some people are lucky enough to have a designated room in their basement or a spot in their garage that can be used as a workspace. But, if a spare room is not available you can surely use a portion of a room, a shed, or an area in your backyard to create an ideal workspace for refinishing furniture.
Setting up a workspace so that it is safe and organized takes a little bit of effort, but the amount of time you will spend getting things ready will make things easier for you in the long run.
Refinishing Can Be Messy
Remember that even if you believe you can refinish a piece of furniture without making a mess, you are probably wrong. Refinishing is a messy job! It involves applying chemicals to the furniture, sanding, dusting, applying finish, and sometimes painting. Even if you try really hard to complete all of these steps without making a mess, you are sure to spill something on the ground, splatter something on the wall, or drop something that will leave a stain. In order to prevent permanent damage to your workspace, make sure to place a thick drop cloth on the floor, and cover the walls if you are concerned about damaging them.
Make Sure You Can See What you are Doing
It is difficult to work on furniture in the dark. If your workspace does not have windows that let in enough natural light, make sure that your workspace has overhead lighting or enough portable lamps so that the room is lit brightly. It can be difficult to see details on wood when it is placed in a poorly lit room, and since your ultimate goal is to create a nice looking piece of furniture, make sure you can see it clearly!
Use a Room with Several Windows or Access to Fresh Air
Because you will undoubtedly be working with chemicals that emit dangerous fumes, it is imperative that your workspace has proper ventilation. If you are working in a basement, make sure the room has plenty of windows. If the room has only one tiny window, it is probably not adequate for ventilation. Be smart and take care of your health: do not use chemicals that emit fumes in a room with poor ventilation. If you want to use a room with poor ventilation as your workspace, then apply chemicals and finishing products in another separate location – such as a garage our outdoors, and save the poorly ventilated room for other stages of the project.
Keep Supplies Organized
When you know where things are located it makes getting things done a whole lot easier. When initially setting up your workspace install an organized storage system such as hooks to hold paintbrushes, shelves to hold finishes and oils, and drawers to hold screwdrivers and other tools. Having an organized workspace is ideal.
Have Bins Available for Placing Knobs, Drawer Pulls and Other Hardware
When you are in the various stages of the refinishing process, you are likely to remove pieces of hardware from the furniture which you will then re-add to the piece when the project is complete. Wouldn’t it be unfortunate to lose pieces because you misplaced them or they were accidentally thrown away? The ideal workspace has designated bins or containers to hold furniture hardware until the project is complete.
Clean Up at the End of Each Day
After you are done working on your project for the day, it is not a good idea to simply drop everything and retire to bed. Important refinishing supplies can be ruined if they are not cleaned after each use, and messes can dry and become permanent if they are left too long. Cleaning up at the end of each day will allow your ideal workspace to remain nice and organized and it will encourage you to continue working on your project until it is complete.
One Response
Was looking for a floor layout on how to set up my small garage as the place to refinish furniture.
I have a 1-car garage and have a frig & a washer/dryer in it as permanent fixtures. Would like to know what I specifically need & how to store tools & items for refinishing furniture, not building as a wood worker! Finding wood working layout is easy but not for simply refinishing furniture itself!