Resurrection cedar chest

Lane cedar chest-finished!

Top view-before.

Front view, note uneven stain and varnish.

I inherited this 1940s Lane Cedar Chest from my grandma's house when she moved out after grandpa died. It had been hiding away in an upstairs closet for who knows how long; dried glue on the veneer, polyurethane wrinkled and spotted...it was begging for a resurrection! I loved that it was my grandma's, so I really, really didn't want to mess it up.

This was one of my very first wood projects, so I learned a ton. To refinish it, I started by sanding the whole thing down with a power sander. I regret that-- always start with the most minimal effort! I was so lucky that the veneer was thick enough that I didn't sand through it. I probably should have stripped it first to see where that got me, then broke out the 150 or 220 sandpaper by hand, THEN used a vibrating sander if needed.

Once there was a good surface I played around with stain. The front was still a bit uneven, like it was faded in places. I mostly used a natural stain from Minwax, and just did several coats where it was lighter.

It has a couple different varieties of veneer on it, and I wanted to let each piece show through, so I used a shiny polyurethane over the top, several coats. I wasn't sure if that was the thing to use... antique restoration websites say don't use poly on antiques. BUT... my chest is technically not an antique, since it's only from the 1940s and not over 100 years old. And based on the pictures I Googled, these chests are pretty shiny. So I went with it, and I think it works. I think it turned out so good, and is now one of my favorite pieces of furniture in my house!