DIY RESTORATION: PAINTED WOOD PANELING

DOES YOUR MID- CENTURY HOME HAVE WOOD PANELS THAT HAVE BEEN PAINTED OVER BY PREVIOUS OWNERS? DON’T DESPAIR! CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING TIPS IF YOU PLAN TO DIY A WOOD PANEL RESTORATION: • Determine what kind of wood your paneling is. oftwoods are more diffi cult to work with, because they have more porous surfaces ardwoods can take a little more n easy way to gauge wood hardness is to fi nd an edge that isn’t in view and press it fi rmly with your fi nger nail oftwoods will dent easily, while hardwoods will resist ook closely at the grain, pattern and color and compare them to online pictures to see if you can fi nd a match

• Sand it. epending on the type of wood you have and the amount of time you want to spend, sanding is a great way to remove unwanted paint while prepping the wood surface for a refi nish • Strip it. If sanding is a no go, use a paint stripper ust remember that if you’re working with a soft wood, be careful when scraping the paint off— you don’t want to accidentally gouge your walls • Stain or oil it and then seal it. lways do a test patch to see how the wood will take your stain pply the stain or oil in thin layers so you have more control over the medium

• Paint it … again. If it isn’t possible to remove the paint, you can always consider choosing to paint over it with a color that better re ects a id od vibe o for classics such as mustard, orange, brown or tur uoise