In most cases, choosing to restore furniture rather than purchase new is beneficial to the environment in many ways. But you must make sure you’re employing environmentally appropriate restoration techniques.
- Shop around for used wood furniture that you can easily transform into new pieces or simply restore as-is. Aside from flea markets, yard sales, the side of the road, and even the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, consider searching online for buy/sell groups.
- Clean It Up – Try cleaning your furniture with environmentally friendly products like vinegar and water, soap made from plant-based ingredients, or paint remover. You can place an online order or visit your nearby hardware store. Observe all cleaning, stripping, and disposal instructions for old paint.
- Sand It – Sanding naturally releases pollutants into the air, so you should wear a mask and try to capture as much dust as you can. This dust can be recycled or disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner.
- Keep It Simple — For some types of wood, all that is required is to strip it, add new hardware or thoroughly clean the existing hardware, and then refinish it with beeswax or eco-friendly oil. The simplest designs for wood are frequently the best and most beautiful.
- Take Pictures – In order to repair furniture, you might occasionally need to disassemble it completely. To remember how to put everything back together, it would be beneficial to take pictures and document everything.
- Purchase Used Parts – Rather than purchasing brand-new knobs or pulls, search eBay and other used retailers for the ideal components to give your restored piece a unique appearance. Alternately, if there are all of the old ones, you can clean them up.
You might prefer to color your artwork. * Use green paints. These days, you may choose from a choice of eco-friendly paints without having to give up vibrant hues.
- Go Slowly – Refurbishing furniture is a labor-intensive process. To determine what functions best, you must conduct study on each component. On Pinterest and YouTube, you can do that. Books on renovation and the interplay of various textiles are also available. Take it slow above all to avoid having to correct mistakes. Let your piece dry completely between each process, for instance.
Restoring furniture is a terrific method to lessen the amount of trash that ends up in landfills and transform something into an heirloom that future generations of your family will adore and treasure. It will be greatly valued even if you have to remake that shattered old cedar box into a smaller version of itself.
