New Year, New Furniture: Restoration, Repair, Refinishing

As a new year begins this is the time where people start saying "new year, new me". Instead, why not new furniture? This is the time to make your plan for the year, finally redesign your kitchen, fix your old antique furniture, or fix/refinish/restore all of your aging furniture.
 

As time goes on furniture starts to break down through usage, accidents, and damage from water, sun, and more. By making your old furniture new again it can breathe life into a space that has become an eyesore.
 

Now ask yourself, "what work will my furniture need to get into the condition I want?". Depending on the current condition of your furniture and what you'd like it to look like is what will dictate the work needed. The following will describe different options that are typical in restoring old or damaged furniture.
 

Furniture Refinishing

Typical when the furniture has aged and over time the finish could lose it's color, shine, or just be worn down and damaged. Refinishing the piece would bring back that brand new color and shine making furniture that's ten years old look brand new. The process might start with wood stripping or removal of the old finish along with paint, varnish, and shellac. From there, choose the right type of finish to match the look that you are searching for.

• Surface Coating - adds depth and warmth
• Natural Finishes - adds character
• Pigmented Finishes - resembles paint
• Penetrating Finish - country or modern look
• Waxing - rich-looking and typical to rejuvenate old finishes
   

Furniture Repair

Instead of purchasing new furniture, consider repairing damaged furniture instead. It can save time, money and frustrations. 
 

Typical types of repairs are:

• Remilling of a missing part
• Gluing a loose joint back into place
• Replacing a piece of veneer
• Repairing broken legs on chairs, tables, etc.
• Replacing table glides
• Tightening up moldings
   

These repairs will allow you to keep that old furniture you have loved for years while saving money and time.
 

Touch Ups

Sometimes you do not need to go through the refinishing process. Depending on the condition of the furniture all that may be needed is a touch-up. This allows for improved appearance of the finish without the need to strip the old finish and apply a new one. Touching up saves time and money but depends on the current condition of the furniture and your goals for how it will look.
 

Color Matching

This is typically performed to repaired woodwork in order to match the color of the room that it will be used in. However, another great use to color matching is buying a piece of furniture that will fit what you are looking for then changing the color to match the room it is designed for.
 

Nothing is worse than trying to find a piece of furniture to match the existing color of the room. It limits your options and thus makes it near impossible to find the right fit for you. By matching the color you can choose nearly any piece and get the color you need. The vanity below for example was previous white and gold now resembles a mahogany color
 

As you start the new year think about what you can do with your furniture and contact us to see how we can help.