ReStore Furniture Flip: 4 Key Considerations for Choosing Your Perfect Project Piece

Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores are a great source for project pieces. Whether you are looking to revive a piece for your home or to resell, here are 4 considerations that I keep in mind when purchasing.

material

A solid piece of furniture is a good basis for a project piece. For me, this usually means a piece made from wood (entirely or at least the top and face frame). Below is an example of a piece made from wood that just required some sanding. This sanded down nicely! Check out this blogpost for the “after”.

A material with a surface that is in good or near good condition may also be a good project piece candidate. In this example below, the piece was very solid, but not wood. This surface was easy to paint. Check out this blogpost for the “after”.

surface condition

Surfaces that are in good condition or easy to repair make me happy. For me, this means:

1. Wood – with no/few scratches or gouges if it is to be refinished with stain.
2. Veneer -with no/little peeling or lifting (Photo below. In the end, I covered both ends with pole wrap to avoid removing the veneer. )
3. Painted – with no/little peeling or chipping and the piece will just be repainted. I tend to shy away from stripping painted furniture. There are so many project pieces available, I try to avoid this time consuming step.

furniture style

Consider whether you will be able to achieve the look you want with refinishing. Meaning, will paint/stain, hardware, embellishment lend to an interesting and beautiful “after”? And, will it work with your existing furniture if keeping or would it be a sellable item?

This item below is dated. Take a look at this blogpost to see the “after”! Huge transformation. In this case, paint, embellishments and hardware made a big difference!

FUNCTIONAL

I prefer not to repair drawers and doors that are broken or do not slide. For me, this is a bit out of my skill set and would take me some time to repair. So, I shy away from pieces that need repair.

Project pieces are abundant! So, be sure to keep in mind what is going to add to your project or just be more work!