Bare is back....

I started sanding the pieces I am going to stain. I wasn't sure how much (or how little) I needed to sand off the original stain, so I did some homework first. I can't believe how many blogs and websites are out there dedicated to up-cycling and living frugally! It's totally refreshing to see, and helps folks like me just starting down this road.

I found a couple very helpful sites on re-finishing and painting furniture here and here. There are a couple different approaches on painting furniture, so I decided to go with the first site's instructions. It just seems to me that sanding a piece down first will allow the primer (if you are painting) or the stain to better bond with the wood.

In case you haven't met her, here is my favorite tool - Suzie the sander.

She is my first power tool. I have to say, my husband loves Porter Cable tools, and I do too. Most of his tools are cordless, but Suzie plugs in, which is just fine with me. I picked this sander because after trying a few others, this one had the most comfortable grip for my hands. You can definitely tell most tools are geared for men - I could hardly wrap my hands around other company's sanders.

So, I started with one of the night stands (there are two). After removing the hardware and the drawer, I sanded all the old stain off. It was not easy - the pieces are older, and the stain job was a good one. The nightstand now looks like this:

Once all the other pieces are sanded down as well, I will use this little guy as the guinea pig and start staining him first. I have a beautiful color stain I have used elsewhere in the house (for other projects) and I want to use it on the entire bedroom set.

I will post initial pics one I start staining.