Going into 2025 I have learnt so much throughout 2023 and 2024. I wanted to share the tips and tricks that I would be continuing to use throughout 2025 and also techniques that I found did not work too well throughout 2023 and 2024.

 

Starting Off With The Positives:

  • Sanding down every piece. Even bare pine wood still needs to be sanded lightly with 220 grit to ensure no excess grease, dirt grime or clear polyurethane is attached to the wood surface. This is a tip I would continue to reinforce throughout 2025 with all furniture pieces.
Before and After of sanding a Plain Pine Wood Drawer. Although the Drawer has never been painted the plain pine wood discoloured over time with a orange tinge. Painting on top of orange tinge pine wood risks the paint chipping later on. Now that the wood had been sanded the surface looks much more cleaner and smoother.
  • Protecting every piece with a wax or polyurethane. EVERY SINGLE TIME! A tip I would continue to emphasise is Wax or Polyurethane that piece of furniture you spent so much time making look great again! Even with All-In-One paints that states that it has a topcoat built in, I like to personally add my own wax or poly on top for peace of mind. 
  • Even though in point 2 I hinted that I don’t fully trust all in one formulas, lets talk about Valspar Furniture Paint! I do highly recommend Valspar furniture paint which has a built in primer and paint! During 2023 and 2024 I tried Valspar paint on many occasions on different types of furniture surfaces. This included; Wood furniture, Veneer furniture and MDF furniture and with all 3 types of furniture the paint has successfully adhered to the surface. I have a piece of veneer furniture in my home that I upcycled with Valspar paint and Rustoleum Furniture Wax and it still looks brands new with no chips or scratches.
Valspar paint has a built in primer but not a built in topcoat in the furniture paint range. This paint has worked perfectly on MDF, Veneer and Wood surfaces
  • Steel wire wool, cheap white vinegar and warm water to clean handles. It is such a simple, non complicated way to clean handles. What is great about this method is I will often leave the handles in the warm water and white vinegar solution while I get on with painting a piece of furniture. After an hour, I will come back to the handles and using the steel wire wool and a clean cloth, the dirt, grease and discolouration comes off so easily!
Using Just Steel Wire Wool, Cheap White Vinegar and warm water to clean these handles you would never think they were the same handles!
  • Using a door handle jig. This is one of my favourite purchases of 2023. It makes drilling holes for even the hardest handles the easiest job! I will continue to use this door handle jig all throughout 2025.

Things I saw online that DID NOT work for me:

1.       An all in one paint without the need to use a separate wax or poly on top. Yes we would all want an easier way to fix up our furniture in the quickest way possible with the least amount of products to use. For me all in one paint isn’t the answer. I feel that although a top coat is supposed to be included in the paint I feel that the paint is still too exposed and could easily chip at a later time!

2.       Using a roller to apply paint. After seeing loads of recommendations online regarding using a roller to apply paint I thought I would give it a go. However I did not like the finish it gave which meant I started again. I felt it left more of a wall texture rather than a factory flat finish. I find using good quality paint brushes and a paint sprayer are my favourite ways to paint a piece of furniture that results in that flat factory style finish that I prefer.

 

3.       Using tape to mark the handle holes to drill into the drawer. While this technique works for simple design handles it does not work for more complicated handles that come apart. Instead investing in a door handle jig worked so much better for me throughout 2023 and 2024 and put my mind at ease when applying handles. At the end of the day nobody wants a drawer full of holes.

I found this Drawer Jig on Amazon and works amazing at ensuring that all my holes are lined up perfectly and central to the drawer front

This is some of the things I have learnt throughout 2023 and 2024 that has helped me grow and expand my existing skills. Finding tools and techniques that work best for you and your business is so important and that’s exactly what this blog reinforces.

 I have linked everything that I enjoy using or have found to work really well for me in my Amazon Storefront link below!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/handcraftedbysev

Happy Crafting!

Sevs Little Finds

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