See this & P&P's other creation on Aparment Therapy DC

Since I’m on the subject of restoring furniture, I must tell you about on-line shop, Primitive and Proper. Owners Cassie and Teresa share my passion in salvaging and restoring and they do an amazing job. Check out their photo gallery.  I e-mailed them once to get some advise on ridding salvaged finds of their old furniture smell.

If you’re looking for an answer to this question, here’s Cassie’s advise:
“There are a few things you can try before you take more extreme measures…..
put some baking powder in each of the drawers and let it sit for a day or so to absorb odors and then vacuum it out.
let it sit outside to air out and see if that helps
febreeze (i don’t really find that this neutralizes odors as it is supposed to, but if you have on hand worth a shot).
and the last resort would be to paint the insides of the drawers- prime them first with a very good and strong oil based primer. this will kind of lock the odor inside the drawer, creating a barrier almost. if it is really bad i would almost do 2 coats of the primer and the paint.
there really aren’t any tricks that can help get rid of the odor, but hopefully this will help!”

She was so nice to get back to me and her suggestions were helpful.  

Primitive and Proper was recently featured on Apartment Therapy Washington DC. Check it out. Way to go ladies!

Tags: get musty smell out of old furniture, how to get rid of old furniture smell, Primitive and Proper, shabby chic furnoiture