Barn Rescue: Sprucing up Some Truly Filthy Furniture - Thomas Johnson Antique Furniture Restoration 

It was a good thought, showing what can be achieved using only a few common hardware store items. I think this will encourage many people to not be afraid of going for a furniture find that they may otherwise have passed by. 👍

I have the honor of giving this video the first thumbs up. That is easy to do with a Thomas Johnson lesson. What a humble master of wood. We all know it will be good before we even hit the play button.

I have become addicted to this channel. The artistry ,patience and love for furniture Tom has is what is missing in this world. The gentleman of fine furnishings !

This is the first video of your that I have seen that shows something I might be able to do. Thank you for sharing it!

The only issue I have of your videos is that we need more of them. I am always happy to see a new one. You transformed that desk, such a diamond in the rough!

I've learned so much from you Master Thomas, even from this simple restoration... thank you !!!

Now THIS is something I can do! Thank you so much for taking the time to teach us lay folks how we can make a difference in an old piece of furniture!

Enjoyed the video Tom. That is an amazing transformation with you doing minimal restratoration. Thank you for your time in producing the video. Y'all take care and God bless.

Not only are you great at restoring pieces, you're also great at motivating people to give it a try. This is a superb video for that! I hope some lovely, but forgotten, pieces will be saved because of this video!

Thank you Tom for presenting a starting point for all of us to at least give it a go and hopefully more beautiful antique furniture will be given a once over and cherished for years to come.

Another great video. Enjoyed the fact that you used items anyone could purchase from the hardware store and proved that professional products are not always necessary to get a good result especially for the everyday DIY'er.

You’re amazing and I love how you showed all of us that you don’t have to have 20+ years in the furniture restoration business to make a piece look beautiful again. Keep these videos coming as I learn a lot and enjoy sharing your videos with my friends who do woodworking.

What a great transformation using easy assessable products. Really enjoyed watching you work, and then my heart exploded with the end scene of the calico cat falling asleep in the hay 😻💓

Thank you! You have gold hands and In your hands everything becomes gold.

When I was in College, I was expected to get a part time job to help cover my living expenses. Instead of going mainstream & signing up at the local fast food joint, I choose to refinish antiques & sell them at a local farmers market. After College I got married and had two sons. The sons turned out great but the marriage not so much. Just turned 50 in February and found myself purchasing antiques again to restore & sell to make extra income. Your technique is inspiring and I am glad I found your channel. Keep them coming! Cheers! 🧡

Just a vacuum then a clean started to show the grain on the verniers was nice and end results brilliant 👍

That was so fun to watch. I love to resurrect anything that is filthy. Seeing that little desk return to usefulness was very satisfying.

Even though it's not an antique, it's still a very nice desk. Your restoration work is outstanding. Looks great Tom!

Thankyou for making a good restoration within the grasp of normal people. This is very helpful🌲

Thank you Mr. Johnson. I appreciate your knowledge of furniture restoration, your videos are interesting and satisfying to watch. I especially appreciate the nature and animal scenes at the head and tail of your videos.

What a great idea--showing people how to restore/rejuvenate a piece of furniture using easily found items and products from one's local hardware store. This is so helpful for the non-specialist who needs to touch up something from new, and mildly worn, to a dramatic furniture revival, as shown. This video is kind, thoughtful, generous and encouraging. Thank you for sharing.

I love thrift store and barn find restorations. So satisfying in your videos to see pieces come back through repair and refinishing (regardless of the skill level or products/tools involved). I'm going to go back to watch the Quistgaard tray one now...

Quite a spectacular restoration, really shows what can be done with simple products. 0:30 Your dog is obviously hard worked and stressed out 😉. Thanks again.

I can't tell you just how grateful I am for this video! I often watch other videos and try to figure out what I'm capable of doing with the tools I already have. This eliminates any questions about how fine a job can be done with minimal tools on hand. Outstanding!

This is inspirational because it applies to so many people who have grandmas beautiful stuff languishing in the dark recesses of a basement. I hope lots of folks get inspired and consider this as an alternate to buying a cheap new piece when a little work may resolve the need and create a beautiful link with their past. Great idea and video.

OMGoodness! What a good heart you have to rescue these beautiful furniture. What an honor it would be to own one. You are incredibly talented and dedicated. I am praying some young men are also watching your videos and will learn these skills. What an honorable way to live life! Bless your heart all the days of your life. ♥️🕊🙏💫✨

Thank you for sharing your many years of experience. This dusty old desk was simply waiting to be gently cleaned and repaired. Again, thank you.

Thank you for the demo! It's encouraging to see the results that can be achieved with a little effort and some common products. And the calico "chicken" is adorable!

I like the cut of your jib, Tom. I do this kind of stuff all the time and am always happy with the results. Glad to see a pro sharing how easy it can be to fix up some forgotten treasures with minimal supplies.

You know, these pieces of furniture are a this or a that, but really they become a Thomas Johnson. Love what you do Thomas. NZ

Great idea to show what's possible with easily a accessible supplies! Scott

Very entertaining and USEFUL video for homeowners. Thanks Tom.

I like your new chicken!!! Got a feeling you won't get many eggs.

This was really useful as the materials are easy to get. I am still chasing down some of the others. Thank You again you have a master touch

Lovely work. The near asmr quality sounds of working with concise instructions was very nice

Boy, with the amount of dirt on the piece it must have been in the barn for many many years. In a way the film of dust has been a blessing. The dust covering may have prevented the bleaching and fading of the top veneer. Such a project would be a great intro for beginner furniture restorers. Turned out great.

What a brilliant idea for a video! So many times I pass on items because they're not in quite good enough shape to be able to use, but a true refinish or restoration isn't feasible either. This video gave me the info I need to take a chance on something. It's also inspired me to really wax the drawers on a beautiful midcentury bureau I have in the living room instead of cursing at it every time I try to shimmy it open or closed.

Very nice, Tom. I love that kitty at the end. I think I’ve seen that kitty grown up. 🖤🧡🤍

Tom, you have got me motivated. Now I've got to find a discarded or better yet a flee market find and hopefully turn it into something as nice as you did on the desk. You are one great teacher and I also think it "looks pretty good". Fully enjoy all your restorations.

I like the way you replied to the dig about clamps you seem to get. Seems like folks don't seem to get that it's clamp power that enables the glue to hold well. Keep up the good work.

This video seems a natural place for a Dutch uncle lecture on proper disposition of oily rags.

I like the candle wax on the runners trick. I'll have to remember that one! Nice video as always, Thomas!

I'd love to see a few more of these, if you enjoyed making it. Maybe a project that doesn't require much technical skill, but that has problems your average DIYer might try fixing in the wrong order?

Great and lovely job. We visit Maine most summers, in Belfast. I would love to visit your shop.

I wish you’d do more like this one. I really liked it. Thank you

When you said "truly filthy", it wasn't an exaggeration! Came out great!

It’s not about the products you use, but about the knowledge on how to use them correctly. You have just given everyone at home hope for fixing that piece they truly love that is in disrepair. Thanks again #AntiqueSamurai

That turn out very nice Tom! Thank you for sharing the video with us.👍👌😎JP

The before and after is nothing short of a miracle! Wow! 🥰🤗🤗🤗

I think the cat did a splendid job of supervising the entire project.

I enjoy watching furniture being restored to beauty again ! Thank you for sharing!

Even with out your beloved brown glue you are still god’s gift to furniture restoration,

Retired now, I started doing custom furniture and restoration work too. I didn't want the stripping and refinishing aspect because I had a garage shop, so I offered my services to the refinish shops in my area who were only too glad to sub out the mechanical restorations they had to endure, and stick to what they did best: the chemical aspect, it was a profitable symbioses for both of us. One can get a university- level body of knowledge from repairing/ restoring "broken" furniture; you get to see what worked well, and what methods failed and incorporate that wisdom in you own works. That payed off greatly in my custom commission work, all out of a 600 square foot garage in the Chicagoland area. ☺

This was a really fun one to watch. Thanks

Nicely done. You also do a fine job with your video editing.

Nice job Tom. I have been watching a bunch of your videos over the years from Windham. Love how you explain every step

A great find and a great facelift ... Enjoyed it thoroughly thank you once again Tom.

Haaaaaa, there was enough dirt on there to plant a crop. Good information. Amazing what just a little elbow grease and item’s from the shelf can do for you.

Excellent work Tom,as always.

Fantastic clean up. I’ll be looking at old dirty barn stored stuff with a more critical eye from now on.

At the start of the video, I was wondering why the desk was covered in cardboard... Now I know what my house will look like if I don't get the duster out!

This is what I recently did to a chair a friend bought for a few dollars at a trading post store. She was going to take it back, having second thoughts, but I applied techniques I learned from watching you, using only an oil finish and some glue here and there and the result was surprising. Thank you.

A great demonstration that dirt and a little wear and tear, doesn't mean "ready for the trash"!

I just love the bees wax polish. It leaves a nice look and it doesn't attract dust like the polishes I had been using. Getting my furniture " spruced up" one piece at a time thanks to your advice. Almost all my furniture use to belong to someone else. I think they would be pleased with how they are now looking today. The furniture I did purchase is pushing 50 years old. lol

WOW!!! I WAS born in a barn......wish I looked that good

I liked the video! He did a really great job showing how the regular folk can “restore” something instead of just chalk painting it. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😊👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻What’s with the dislikes! 🤨

What a beautiful little desk.

Great training for the general public. Thank you Tom

thanks for your excellent videos, i love watching them and other "maker" (for want of a better word) videos, i feel like i've accomplished something, with out all the mess, effort, and skill. I've actually been somewhat inspired to pick up some scratch-cover and bee's wax polish and have a go at this $6 estate sale table i have.

You did a great job Tom. I like using Howards' Wax and Feed myself. I also use it to dissolve dirt on surfaces. I noticed that you could have used it on the sides of the drawers where the dovetails show when opening. Again, Great job.

It's amazing what elbow grease can do when properly applied! Nice piece and thanks for showing us the how to!!

That's a really nice little desk. The mahogany veneer on the side looks amazing! I also really like the shape of the front legs.

What a beauty under all this dust! 💖

A much needed lesson. Thanks!

This is a nice idea for a video. It's fascinating to watch your professional restoration videos, but it's also useful to see what an enthusiastic amateur might be able to achieve. Also nice to see you wearing hearing protection when using the vacuum cleaner - those things will damage hearing just like any other power tool.

I'd say it's a really good thing that desk had a quarter inch of nice thick dry dust on it. That's probably what preserved the finish.

Amazing what you can do with household items, looks great!!

Looks like a masterpiece!

Got some Krud Kutter (aka: "commercial cleaner/degreaser") after seeing you use it on this channel. That stuff is pure magic! It works so nicely on everything!

WOW fantastic job, Thomas. Thanks for teaching me useful tricks of the trade

Very good clean up. From neglect to a soft shining beauty.

Turned out nice. A pretty and usable desk. 🌸❣️🤗👍

Thank you Mr. Johnson for the nice and useful video. I would like to add also one item to the list, in my opinion the most important one :-), it is love for this job. You can have the most basic tools, if you do it with love and passion you will do the best work ever on restauration. Although you never mentioned it but is clearly visible in your work that you have a passion for restauration and every furniture restored contains a great amount of love and attention from your side. Thank you again for it and wishing you all the best, keep up the good work.

Certainly looks better than it did. Good work and noticeable improvement Tom Johnson. Appears the sloping lid on the drop-front desk does not lay flat.

I like the Scratch Cover! All the nicks in the cabinetry around the house look better because of it.

Nice change of pace, Tom. Thanks!

Amazing what can be done with common items. Thank you very much for the great lesson.

Nice job Thomas, don't you just love it saving something like that, have a nice day , Brian UK.

Great work/video Young Tom, as to be expected!

Very nice. Hope the drawer settled in right. I really like your dog.

It’s hard to believe it’s the same furniture. Well done. You really bought our the Beaty of the wood.

This piece cleaned up beautifully!

I love your patient, clear tutorial. Subscribed so I can learn more. Thank you!

I think it looks pretty good also, Tom. Very friendly and relaxing visit. Thank you.

Greeting from the Emerald Isle Thomas. Absolutely love your videos and they have inspired me to go back to college when i retire next year and study furniture making. Many thanks

the difference is the person and their skill set, you Thomas with your skill set makes those types of products perform with their optimal results...

"Now, you're thinking, 'Tom's not going to paint that raw wood where the veneer is missing?", well, yes I am." ❤

Amazing video and incredibly useful.

great save, great demo

Thanks for affirming my process for furniture refreshing. I'm also happy to hear you approve of the feed bees wax, as I was unsure of it benefits and wondered if there is a build up; however I also love the finish it gives.