It used to be, in our grandmothers' day, that a distressed piece of furniture meant that it had been around for generations, and much of the paint had worn off in areas that had been rubbed by ...

Q: My childhood dresser is beautiful but the wood stain looks faded. I’d love to update it with fresh paint and new hardware, but I’ve heard that you can’t get good results painting over stain.

If you've been out shopping for furniture lately you may have noticed a recent trend in case pieces: Many fine wood pieces have distressed surfaces, giving them the look of an antique. Although ...

If you've been out shopping for furniture lately you may have noticed a recent trend in case pieces: Many fine wood pieces have distressed surfaces, giving them the look of an antique. Although you ...

Remove any old paint, varnish, or wood stains by sanding the entire piece. Another option involves using chemical strippers or paint strippers. This method is probably the fastest and easiest method.

Q: Is it possible to paint over wood stained a dark walnut color? There is so much of it in our house – cabinets, trim and so forth. I don’t want to have to sand them. A: There is no need to ...

There is an “undo” button for painted wood, but it’s pretty tedious. Get more home improvement advice at realestate.boston.com.

The stripping and removal of paint is a pretty radical—and arduous—task. Start by using 600-grit wet/dry silicon-carbide sandpaper wrapped around a sanding block to sand smooth any big blobs ...