Occasionally, I’ll stumble into an older piece of furniture—a desk, dining room table, side table, coffee table—and all it needs is a new finish. Minimal scratches. No real damage to repair. Just a new finish.

If the piece is choice, like this midcentury Lane Cedar Chest that a client dropped at my shop this week, my role is discernment. Not every piece needs toner. Not every piece needs lacquered. Some pieces need the basics. Only.

And that’s my goal today: to show you the simplest, most straight-forward way, to get a clean, professional finish on a piece of furniture.

Step 1: Sand down the surface

This chest had damage. But it looked worse than it was. Once I’d carefully sanded the wooden veneer with 150 grit on my Festool orbital sander (Did I mention to BE CAREFUL?), most of the water stains and blemishes were gone.

Step 2: Clean off the surface

If I’m using an oil-based finish, which is what we’re about to use, I clean off the wood (and the residual sanding dust) with a rag and odorless mineral spirits. Then, I wipe the surface with tack cloth. After those two steps, your pieces surface should ready for the finish.

Step 3: Apply Danish Oil (or Stain)

As I wiped down the walnut veneer with mineral spirits, I noticed its color richen close to the color of the veneer on its sides. It lacked a little red, so I opened up my shop’s cabinets and located Watco’s Danish Oil in Medium Walnut. After I applied the Danish Oil, the color was an exact match to the original finish on the sides.

It rained right after I applied the oil, so it took a full four days to get a cure. Then, I could move to the next step.

(Technically, you don’t have to apply a topcoat to Danish Oil because its a varnish in itself. But, given this chest would be sat upon frequently, the owner and I decided an extra topcoat would be helpful for durability.)

Step 4: Spray polyurethane

For a long time, I thought the use of polyurethane would sacrifice the quality of the finish (when compared to lacquer). Until I began working with oil-based polyurethanes. Oil-based products do take longer to cure, often days longer, but the ultimate finish is much less waxy and infinitely more durable than water-based polyurethane. And, to my eye, it just looks less cheap.

After three light coats of Varathane’s oil-based polyurethane, giving four hours between coats and always sanding the nubs smooth with 220 grit sandpaper between each layer, the piece was complete. After the last layer of poly, I wiped it down with 0000 steel wool.

Here’s the finished product:

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Looking for the right supplies and tools for furniture refinishing and furniture flipping? Check out my full workshop here.

(Disclaimer: Not all of these products are affiliate products, but some are attached with a link. If you purchase the product after clicking the link, I receive a small commission in return.)