How to Restore Worn Cane Furniture

Meet the ever allusive piece of furniture in the guest bedroom makeover that kept me scouring thrift stores for weeks and scrolling for hours on all of my secondhand thrift shopping apps.

I was determined, but this vintage cane headboard finally made its way to the Shaver abode last week after I found it on eBay! (BTW, here’s other budget-saving cane furniture here.)

How to restore worn cane furniture

And even though it was a beaut, it absolutely reeked of stale, old cigarette smoke, and the worn places on the cane left a little to be desired.

(Some affiliate links are provided below. Full disclosure here.)

So little tip to remove cigarette smell from furniture:

Simple Green is your best friend.

How to get stale cigarette smell and tar out of furniture

We spritzed it down three times and removed layers of brown yellow tar. Yum.

And then…

Little tip to restore worn furniture cane:

Old English Scratch Cover rocks my socks.

How to restore worn cane on furniture

It works beautifully for scratches on wood furniture too, by the way.

Wipe it on and done.

Would you like to save this?

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

So now the guest room actually looks like a real guest room!

Guest bedroom makeover with linen skirted vintage style bedding and thrifted cane headboard

We’re still waiting on a massive piece of art that will go on this blank wall and a rug will be arriving soon to cover up the old carpet until we can one day gather up the funds to refinish the hardwoods underneath.

But can we just talk about this Hunter Fan Co. white and brass ceiling fan?! Er meh gersh!

Guest bedroom makeover with linen skirted vintage style bedding and thrifted cane headboard

But for now, you can find all of the other sources we’ve used here:

Guest bedroom makeover with linen skirted vintage style bedding and thrifted cane headboard

And now that the bed itself is put together, I totally plan on taking a nap on this bed soon because the budget mattress and cheap sheets we chose feel absolutely dreamy.

The Shaver Bed & Breakfast will be open for business soon! Just kidding. Please don’t come knock on our door. I love y’all. Don’t make it awkward. 😉

Inquiring minds want to know while we work out the finishing touches though:

What amenities do you look for in a guest room? A framed sign with the Wi-Fi password is already on the list of must-haves. Any others? Maybe that will be a helpful post idea in the future.

If you need to save this post for later, you can pin it here:

How to restore worn cane furniture

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

20 Comments

  1. As soon as I read the title of your post I was thrilled! I love your beautiful cane headboard, what a find!
    I have recently bought a caned bench, it is now in my guestroom and I think it is so beautiful. I covered the seat cushion with an old toile fabric, and it is so old fashioned and elegant, I am very pleased.
    I do have one question, though, that I was hoping you would address. On the side of my caned piece, theres one area where some of the cane is broken, which makes a hole a little bit smaller than a dime. I was hoping you would give suggestions of how to repair little patches. Right now mine is just covered with a little side pillow. Do you have any ideas?

    1. I have this exact headboard, someone left it inside a storage unit I rented, what a free score! I wound up chalk painting mine though because it looked so bad.
      Later on I found 2 chairs that matched in someone’s trash pile!
      I love it when things like that happen!! Your room looks great!

  2. Its coming along so nicely! Bet those lamps are so cozy at night,! Like how the light shines through the head board. You have such a knack for pulling colors and styles together in a budget friendly way! My Mom always recommended Simple Green and Old English. Funny….maybe I’ll try them on my kitchen cabinets.

  3. Just in case you or others are in need of replacing some of cane on furniture, https://www.VanDykes.com, has sheets of cane material you can purchase to replace damaged cane. Sometimes you find just the perfect piece but the cane is damaged, This company has all types of replacement furniture parts.

  4. A small tray or dish on nightstand to put earrings, coins, etc. I’ve actually lost an earring at a condo one time–put it on the bedside table never to be seen again 🙁 Pen/pencil and small notepad can also be nice. And make sure outlets are easy to find/access for charging phones.