Mistakes to Avoid in Furniture Refinishing REAL LIFE DIY & How to Lighten Wood Furniture With Bleach

We've all been there. A DIY project that goes wrong. We can either scrap it and move on, or we can learn from it! Today I'm sharing the many mistakes to avoid in furniture refinishing as I walk you through my real life DIY attempt at updating this pine cupboard.
Thankfully, along the way I learned a ton about refinishing wood and how to lighten wood furniture with bleach and other various methods. Learn how to get that raw wood finish, DIY style.
You can find all of my researched knowledge on how to do it the right way, and the method I finally used, in this blog post:
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[@WornWithTime]

I loved this video so much!!! I feel like with every single DIY nothing ever goes 100% true to plan!! I cant imagine how hard all of that was! You are a rockstar!!😊

[@GraceInMySpace]

I’m so glad you enjoyed it! DIY definitely has its ups and downs.

[@PaulNordvik]

Love the end result! Small possible correction: isn't that "red oak" (hence the red/orange undertones) not pine?

[@kebbyt3896]

Incredibly helpful to see what doesn’t work and why, as well as what did. Thanks for taking one for the team - this will save me loads of pine time! Well, i can only hope. Going in with sanding, bleach, and wax. Fingers crossed. Thanks again.

[@GraceInMySpace]

Glad it helped!

[@bellagirlgirl8827]

You deserve an award! Congrats!!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thanks! 😃

[@carolyost6733]

No one can say you aren't persistent. You had a vision, and you didn't give up.! I love your personality. Gtrat job!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@adelplace3378]

I LOVE the video!!!! As someone who has done a lot of DIY's ….It's so REAL!!!!! You're AWESOME! You live and you learn :)

[@GraceInMySpace]

Live and learn for sure!

[@joycetaggart3123]

Hello! I have been watching you for a couple weeks. I am enjoying you! I wanted to add my experiences on refinishing. I did antiques and furniture for 25 years. I did it in my basement. I enjoyed it. I mostly stripped the piece first and then sanded. Stained and used poly on most everything . One project was a huge hutch . It took me 3 years of picking out engraved pillars. I worked on other pieces while I did that. Most of all the wood needed to be cleaned up and that was with stripper. I know things have changed. I retired about 10 years ago. I have bleached. You name it I did it. Thanks for sharing and it turned out great. long way around. That is life. Joyce

[@GraceInMySpace]

Sounds like I could learn lots from you!

[@Skylarkhouse]

Such a great video! I love the #reallife story. Working on furniture isn’t always “easy” or “fast “. The final result looks fabulous 👏👏👏

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@smilejesuslovesyou8108]

I needed this!! I’m doing this with my doors and did all of the steps and now I know to just sand through the coats of poly and start bleaching! Now I’m headed to bleach! I have watched a million videos and this is the only one that actually had anything close to what I’m working with lol and with my desired outcome as well

[@GraceInMySpace]

I hope your project turns out as you hope!!

[@sherrysodergren5920]

Absolutely Beautiful! Your perseverance definitely payed off.

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@vutsup1]

Your perseverance paid off, the cabinet is absolutely beautiful! Kudos

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@jankinman4685]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have an armoire that is very orange. I really want the bleached look. You have saved me from learning the hard way!!! I will be following your steps. Thank you for sharing your mistakes & displaying perseverance!

[@GraceInMySpace]

I’m glad it’s helpful! Good luck on your project!

[@takishabaker7520]

I appreciate your realness!! It's so true How the process is!!!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Always a process!

[@belishious7813]

This was so refreshing 😂 I literally had the same issue with stripping the wood... just sanding for me...

[@GraceInMySpace]

Stripping can be so tricky!

[@ACottageGirl]

Turned out amazing! I watched with that sinking feeling 😁, having been thru this type of thing SO many times with refinishing old wood! I’ve since decided for my style, I don’t mind some red or orange tones as long as they aren’t obnoxious… but my next technique to try is simply scrubbing an old piece with soap and water cause I love the look of some pieces I’ve seen online using that method.

[@GraceInMySpace]

I've seen that method too! I love that you've found what works!

[@meceiza5575]

Good job and way to stick with your idea!! It turned out beautiful!!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thanks so much! 😊

[@robindestasio7563]

I am so glad you made this video. I have a very similar cabinet and want the same exact results, now I know what to do and what not to do, you saved me a lot of time :)

[@GraceInMySpace]

Glad it was helpful!

[@cathyagugliaro559]

I watched as it all unfolded and was on your team to keep the wood look and not paint it. I probably would have given up completely and left it in the garage unfinished! I admire how you preserved!!!! It is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@mckinleystepan1996]

You need your own show. This was very entertaining to watch😅 you're funny

[@pamdillinger4588]

It looks amazing!! You are very tenacious!!

[@GraceInMySpace]

I’m just happy it worked out 😁

[@maranatha4133]

It turned out beautiful! 🤎🤎🤎

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@leem200]

Do not like telling people what to do but you should take your rings off when you refinish or work on furniture. Love it.

[@debrabemis3115]

perseverance!! great job turned out amazing!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@starsaint]

In the middle of a DIY turning a painted door into a beautiful weathered wood like yours. It's simply too heavy for me to take it off its hinges on my own and I cannot tell you how many times my family have told me to "just paint it". They don't seem to understand that if I wanted a painted door, I would not have started this in the first place. The end result of your hard work is beautiful! And great video showing the process. We learn so much more watching the mistakes than just a video without mistakes. Thank you for the effort to show us!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Good luck on your project! It will be worth it!

[@_ktbelle_draws_3223]

Oh gosh - haha every turn a wrong turn! I've definitely been there!! Turned out great :)

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@HomeFrugalicious]

Oh my goodness girl! 🤣 I had a similar experience when I did my table and benches makeover, it was never ending! But at the end your cabinet looks incredible and your arms still intact😅 Have a wonderful weekend!😀 😊

[@GraceInMySpace]

We made it 🤣 Thank you so much!

[@christiroadfeldt7696]

Thank GOD for you!! Thank you SO much for sharing this video and all your other videos. I learn something new every time. I am at the beginning of my DIY journey, and something like this happening is my greatest fear. Thank you for sharing your tenacity and working through all of this so I could see for myself what worked and what didn't. You never know what advice you can trust these days! I am so excited to get at some of the wood pieces I've collected, of course realizing that I'm not a wood worker and I may get different results. But if that happens, I will figure it out - just need to have faith (and patience)!

[@GraceInMySpace]

You can do it!

[@robinsmith4499]

Patient was the key word. 🥰

[@GraceInMySpace]

Absolutely 😉

[@karendeclouet1290]

This just saved me so much of a headache. Thank you!

[@GraceInMySpace]

You’re welcome!

[@ownandbehappy]

Oh my gosh, I started getting anxiety on your behalf about 5 minutes in. I am so glad to see it came out amazingly in the end. It would've been so discouraging had you not pulled it off. Ive been there so i think thats why it gave me such anxiety turned happiness! I want a kitchen full of cabinets similar to that so im researching the methods. Bless you for your perseverance! I am inspired!

[@GraceInMySpace]

It was definitely a nail biter!

[@kristens.8881]

I completely agree with being frustrated with a DIY!!!!! lol

[@GraceInMySpace]

It’s worth it in the end! Usually…😆

[@dicksisutcliffefolk212]

I love it!!! I have pine bedroom furniture and over the years it has gotten more orange and I hate the color. This technique-the one that worked…D, E,…F?!, 😉 is definitely worth a try. I love the color of your cabinet!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Haha thank you! I hope one of these methods will work for you!😉

[@SuperSweetgirl007]

Great job, so proud of you! I would’ve given up on the project ☺️

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@debbiestott3651]

Looks so good. All that hard work does pay-off eventually. I hate the messy Jobs but they have to be done. Xxx

[@GraceInMySpace]

Indeed they do! Thank you so much!

[@catbee1452]

Great job 'hanging in there'. SO frustrating! Yes, I can totally relate. I refinished a huge armoire (with dark-reddish stain) for my shop; sanded, primed multiple times with stain blocker and painted it white. The RED color kept seeping through. I then put a specific stain blocker on the problem areas (which, I was told, would "definitely" block any color seepage), and it kept seeping through the white paint. I gave up and waxed it. I was DONE. In the end, a person bought the armoire b/c they loved the "pink tones" peeking through...lol. And there goes that. Maybe the gold art deco pulls I put it on made the difference. One will never know.

[@GraceInMySpace]

Oh boy! Those challenging projects always test the limits.

[@AnastaAnam28]

Whoa. I am literally living your exact experience, right now. Except with my kitchen cabinets. Ugh.

[@GraceInMySpace]

Oh no! What a job. You’ve got this!!

[@Cranky_Crone]

Ahaha I love this!! This is how EVERY DAMN DIY project I do works! Nice to see your “learning curve” (I would’ve given up and painted it by your halfway point, but I totally get how frustrating that is when you know what you want!) Great work, tho. Persistence does pay off (sometimes!)

[@GraceInMySpace]

Haha thanks for the support!

[@sandyjenkins7138]

I love this! The whole time you were struggling I was saying Get the bleach out……lol. This is what I want for all my kitchen cabinets. Big job tho. I just love how your cabinet turned out. Thanks for sharing and being real.💕

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@mayporter1758]

Ohh you’re hilarious been there done that. Turned out beautiful!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@tammyi363]

Very happy to have found you from Farmhouse on Boone channel!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Glad to have you here!

[@mrs.morgan]

It is so good!! I’m sorry, it was funny to watch but I know it was not funny for you! Excellent job persevering, your hard work paid off!! 👏🏻💪🏻😍

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thank you so much!

[@eternalfizzer]

9:00 I dunno ... it looks kinda rustic after the (second) stripper. I've learned to adjust my taste to suit what befalls me sometimes ;-) Sooo glad you neutralized with vinegar (too many youtube videos where people think they're neutralizing with water only). Thank you kindly for showing me the *whole* process, including a lot of steps I might have tried. Love your tenacity!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Hope it was helpful!

[@carlapavao2955]

For this projected you could have tried easy off oven cleaner first, it’s easier because you just soak that thing in easy off, the wait about 1h and wash the whole thing with water outside. Sometimes you need to do it a couple times, scrubbing with a brush but it’s much easier than stripping! Anything is easier than stripping 😩 Then after you could bleach it. Like you said I would not want to sand that baby either, the texture of the wood is beeeeeautiful!! And it gives such a rustic/antique vibe , I love it. It was a lot of work, but it look great! DIY is like a surprise box, we never know what’s going to come out 😂

[@GraceInMySpace]

I’ve done that with a smaller piece but wasn’t a huge fan on how it dried out the wood. You’re so right, you never know what you’re going to get! So glad you like how it turned out.

[@green542]

Been there and still working on my project, very frustrating it turned out beautiful.

[@GraceInMySpace]

I hope yours comes together quickly for you!

[@marm2371]

OMG!!!! I soooooo can relate!!! I am struggling right now with a piece of furniture.. now I am going to try and bleach it next. I too am avoiding painting it. I really wanted to do a ceruse finish on my oak cabinet as I have done that in the past and it's gorgeous but this piece of oak furniture had a very dark stain on it and the deep grains is leaving all my efforts splotchy/uneven coloured. Driving me bat @#$ crazy!!!

[@GraceInMySpace]

You can do it!!

[@marm2371]

@@GraceInMySpace so the bleach didn't work on the dark stains and the wood is looking so dry. I don't know what else I can try. Thoughts?

[@MaryR1231]

I'm here with my oak cabinet that I stained and hate it. I don't know what to do now except hopefully sanding it down again and use green in the stain to minimize the red/orange color.

[@GraceInMySpace]

You’ve got this! Trial and error is sometimes the way to go!

[@blueberryblues3365]

I feel your pain! But I think it turned out just great and what a beautiful addition to your kitchen. Maybe it was not pine? But a red oak? Or something else? Once I received an antique Hoosier cabinet as a gift that had peeling white paint and I wanted to bring it back to the wood. What a mistake. It took forever to strip it and then all of the wood pieces were different colors. Ugh. It looked awful. And sadly, I did end up painting it (red!). It was a great addition to the kitchen and when we sold that house the new owners loved it and bought it from us. Now I am trying to decide if I should paint my mothers old china cabinet navy blue. I saw one on line that was painted like that and then they installed mirrors on the inside back which reflected thru the glass front and sides, back into the room. Sounds crazy I know. Thanks for a great site.

[@GraceInMySpace]

Sounds like a beautiful option!

[@playsball]

I feel your pain! Citristrip is the absolute worst!

[@GraceInMySpace]

I agree! I had great luck with it the first time I used it but ever since it’s been a no go🥴

[@helenk5579]

Wow that is perseverance! Great job!! Plan E??!!!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Lol Thank you so much!

[@Pipsterz]

Oh nooo! The bleach part you skipped and that's the part we waited to see you do. What type of bleach? How? How long? etc etc?? Do you have a video on how to bleach furniture? Thanks.

[@GraceInMySpace]

Sorry! I didn’t find the bleach helped much but I just used regular bleach. Wood bleach would work much better but I don’t have experience with it.

[@fayecervantes7479]

Use stripper for painted items..for stain wood sand it then bleach wood

[@jenw5854]

Oh my goodness.

[@sableann4255]

I am stripping a 100 year old door...Painted on one side, stained on the other. The painted side was a piece of cake to remove! The stained side....UGH, not so much! I am still stripping, scrubbing, sanding & bleaching! :)

[@GraceInMySpace]

A labor of love! Good luck!!

[@tnmtnmorning1178]

Some projects just fight back.

[@GraceInMySpace]

Very true!

[@charlenecarroll8218]

I'm need to your channel and just ♥️!!!

[@GraceInMySpace]

Thanks for being here!

[@emilymeyer6985]

I went to bleach night stands and it somehow opened the pores of the wood and now it smells like moth balls and i can’t seem to block it or get rid of the smell

[@PatraSmith1]

A couple of ppl have used vinegar after a bleach treatment (rinsed with water 1st). They say it neutralizes the bleach. (I’m just researching techniques right now)

[@carolepeck3829]

I'm there right now with a couple of chair. The project was supposed to be a quick turnaround. It's been weeks.🙄

[@GraceInMySpace]

You can do it!

[@catbee1452]

Doesn't look like pine. Is this piece 'red oak'? The grain sure looks like it.

[@GraceInMySpace]

It was awfully soft to be oak. But could be I suppose!

[@kelleybishop6275]

Could you have bleached the wood?

[@GraceInMySpace]

I did! 😁 But next time I’d try wood bleach. I think it would be more effective.

[@teresabacon3788]

Hard to trust the process