Hello friends!

I’m so excited to share this new product with you from General Finishes.  It’s going to be a game changer for those of you who love to refinish wood.  They sent me a can of their new Seal-A-Cell.  It’s basically used in place of a stain to bring out the natural beauty and grain in the wood.  And boy does it work some magic…  let’s dive in and I’ll tell you more.

This post contains affiliate links for some of the products I used in this post.  Links are for your convenience and don’t cost you a thing to use!  Any proceeds go to support more awesome projects 🙂  To see my full disclosure policy, click here. 

Here’s how this pair of dressers started.  I got the pair for a steal, and they have such pretty details I knew I wanted them to be white with a natural wood top!  The grain was already pretty, it just needed a little refresh.  

I also used a quick trick to update the pieces a little, I filled in a couple of the holes to make them knobs instead of pulls.  And I pulled off the skirt on the base of the dressers, to give it a more modern, clean look.  

The tops were sanded down to bare wood using 80, then 120 grit sandpaper and my pad sander.  Then I applied the Seal-A-Cell instead of a wood stain.  I applied it with a cotton rag and watched the grain come to life!!

BAM! Isn’t that impressive??  I don’t know how it works, but it literally makes the wood glow from the inside out!  

This is an oil based product, so it does need to dry for a while (I let it dry overnight).  

Then it was time to add the top coat.  Arm-R-Seal is the recommended top coat for this product, and it too is oil based, so just be careful with it.  Dispose of your rags properly, wear gloves, and give yourself ventilation.  

I wiped on three coats of Arm-R-Seal letting it dry between coats and sanding lightly with 400 grit sandpaper when necessary.  

While all those coats on the top were drying, I started working on the base.  Because I was going pure white (Snow White), I primed first with GF Stain Blocker.  The dressers each got 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of Snow White Milk Paint for full coverage.  Painting white is just a pain, but the results are soooo worth it!

I distressed the edges to bring out all those pretty details.  I used 80 grit to distress this piece, and even with all the coats of paint, it distressed easily.  

I chose this hardware from D. Lawless Hardware.  It’s one of my favorites because it’s so classic, and goes with many styles of furniture. 

Look at that top after it’s all finished.  It’s just gorgeous!  I love wood working because we are just enhancing the beauty God already laid in the wood.  

I’m smitten with this pair for sure! There’s a good chance I’ll put these in our new house somewhere!  The classic white and wood combo is always a winner! And I’ll for sure be playing with the Seal-A-Cell again! 

Before I leave you, I wanted to show a comparison of the stains and top coats.  This isn’t perfectly fair because the wood isn’t the same, but I think it’s accurate enough to show the comparison of the products.  This also shows how much the Seal-A-Cell makes the grain POP! 

Try something new soon!

Until next time, 
Jenni