On these pages we display items from one category of furniture per page as a sampler of the furniture refinishing work we have done. The goal is still to offer a sense of the variety of the furniture refinishing projects that can be done and some of the options and outcomes which might not be expected. We very often have customers come in who are surprised by how much can be done beyond the most basic coloring and coating work. Indeed, sometimes the simple is the best, but often, part of the visual delight of furniture is the interaction of the design of the finish with the design of the physical form of the piece. On another page we have given a lot of information about options in finishing, on these pages we want to illustrate many of those options for you.
Enjoy the show!
Living Room Tables
Chairs and Rockers
Display Cases
Desks and Desk Chairs
Miscellaneous Items
Children's Furniture
This chair caught our fancy. It is so simple yet someone valued it enough to invest the money to have it refinished. It definitely needed it. Someone had tried to whitewash it but you can see the result, uneven application and prominent runs. Just below you can see it after stripping. Much more even and the variations that can be seen are the grain of the wood not a badly applied finish.
The owner wanted it finished in this fairly strong red mahogany finish. It actually looks good! Somewhat industrial with the casters, but again, it is the way she liked it and that is what counts to us.
Arts and Crafts style reclining chair. The color is likely very close to the original. We added the brass casters for the customers originally it had wooden or metal casters.
An upholstered arm chair as it came to us.
Finished with a light brown finish.
Old finish removed and joints re-glued.
TOP OF PAGE
Now that you have seen what we have done for others, what can we do for you? CONTACTING AND FINDING US
The rocker in the above photo doesn't look too bad, but the the detail just below tells the story why refinishing was needed. Besides the poor condition, the owner wanted to change the color.
This rocker was one of thousands sold in the 1970s, sometimes finished and sometimes out of the do-it-yourself, unfinished furniture stores of that era. By the time it got to us the finish had worn and the entire chair was wobbly with every joint loose. We removed the old finish, completely disassembled it, re-glued it and refinished it, better than new!
Don't know the style name for a chair like this but we think it is beautiful, with slender lines, graceful curves on the back rail and arms and the narrowly spaced back spindles. It is probably a variation on a comb back windsor style. It was made around 1900 and looks great with this finish chosen by the customer, applied by us.
It was disappointing to lose the floral decal on the headpiece of this rocker, but that look was also very dated and not attractive to its owners. Once it was refinished, the rocker looked stunning, the floral decal would have detracted from the look.
By the way, the first picture is after stripping. It illustrates that not all wood stains are removed with stripping. Stains formulated primarily from dyes deeply penetrate the wood fibers and permanently color them. Although we successfully removed the finish, the effects of the dye are still apparent.