Let’s get started on this restoration.

We picked up this cedar chest last summer and finally had a few days and a free spot in the shop to get it restored. It has seen better days but we’ve had worse in here. The bones are excellent, and the wood itself is in fantastic shape. It just needs a little TLC and it will be beautiful again.

It came to us with three wooden hearts on the face in the middle of four fake drawer fronts. This isn’t exactly a style choice we would have made, so we are removing them all for a crisp appearance. There is a time and place for pseudo drawers, but we are looking for a cleaner aesthetic to the final piece.

As you pry off wood that has been glued together for years, you can expect some damage to occur. This is ok. We plan to paint the exterior of this particular chest. By painting it, we now have the option to use some impressive wood fillers. Using wood filler when you are just going to stain or clearcoat a piece is delicate as it shows up like a neon sign. Color matching wood filler is not an easy task. However, since we are painting this chest, we don’t have to worry about the filler color, and we can focus on getting a beautiful smooth finish.

You can see the chest in its original state here. Expect to see some progress shots as we move along. In the meantime, we’ll have to decide on what color it should be painted…