Time again is the thing we all seem to be trying to save in order to keep our balance. With this in mind sometimes we know it is possible to take a piece of old furniture, strip the finish, stain and varnish in order to have a beautiful looking finish for it.

This is when that old nemesis "time" comes into being. If you, like I, walk past the piece a hundred times and often in the back of our mind is the thought, "I will get around to it, but then you just never are able to do so."

There is a quick way to do something with the piece without getting into a lengthy project. It is so simply and easy to do just maybe. I'll never again do the work the old way. Having worked with paint for most of my life I think is what gave me the bravery to do this.

First of all, lightly sand the furniture. Do not get into trying to remove the whole finish. Dust it off well with a damp cloth. On the darker wood you simply use black acrylic. For a lighter piece of furniture try to match it with an acrylic color more to the color of the furniture. Acrylic paint in the little bottles is very inexpensive so you can purchase several different wood tone colors, such as yellow ochre, burnt sienna, umbers and such. Squirt a liberal amount on a glass plate. Lightly moisten a wet soft rag. Dip that rag into the acrylic and wipe over the surface. If it is heavier and the black shows wipe over the surface again until only the scratches are covered. You can quickly go over the whole piece with little effort much like you were simply dusting it. Remember you are not painting it but more or less simply staining the scratches on the wood.

Now after this has thoroughly dried, maybe an hour or so you will go over it again in the same manner and same way with what is called Acrylic Satin Varnish. The brand name on mine is Accent and it is best purchased in a small bottle at your hobby shop. It cleans up with soap and water. This product dries so quickly you cannot rub over it twice. You must put enough on the first time to rub over it once. If you try to go back over it the surface will already be drying and will catch and pull at the rag. So, the advice is to work quickly, just like you were dusting the furniture.