Furniture refinishing and furniture restoration are two very different things. When a customer asks to have their piece refinished, that means stripping its original finish, sanding, staining to match the customer’s color preference and spraying with lacquer to match the desired sheen. While all of those tasks are included in a restoration, they don’t make up the real challenge.
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Often I get calls from potential customers stating, “I don’t have an antique piece of furniture, can you help me refinish or transform it?” The answer is always a resounding yes!! People tend to think of their grandmother’s glossy dining room furniture as things that get refinished.
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A saying I often hear is “less is more.” As it relates to furniture refinishing, some pieces are so pretty that they speak for themselves. Sometimes, restoring a piece of furniture means bringing it back to its simple intended beauty. Painting or staining it would just detract from its best characteristics.
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Have you ever wished you could take your old furniture and make it tie with a new piece you’ve purchased? Then the painful reality hits, all my existing furniture looks like it’s from the 70’s!! How am I going to afford to throw all my furniture away and start over!
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Often time’s customers look at their furniture and see a piece of junk. To be fair, it’s hard to imagine a dilapidated chair, table or cabinet being anything different. This post is a testament that anything can be transformed into something beautiful again.
A few months back, I received a call from a customer who wanted her former built-in cabinets turned into stand-alone cabinets. Because they were built-in, the dimensions on the tops and sides weren’t correct for cabinets that would stand-alone. Therefore, new tops and sides would have to be built to make each side match.
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Stripping is arguably the most crucial step of the refinishing process. It sets the proper foundation for sanding, staining and applying lacquer. Stripping is also the worst part of refinishing. The stripper will have deal with fumes, grime, possible skin irritation and strenuous labor. The vast majority of people/businesses don’t have the facilities or supplies to properly strip a piece. Also, over-the-counter products often don’t work on today’s tough finishes. Have you ever wished somebody would offer this service at a reasonable price and get the job done right?
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Gambling has always had a romantic quality throughout American history. Its been portrayed in countless movies depicting the wild west, Prohibition times and various other genres. Some people make their living at it, others just enjoy sitting around a table with good friends.
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Have you ever taken on project because it was the right thing to do? Maybe its that stray dog you take in or the friend you help move. I’m not sure if the recent pie safe we overhauled is a proper comparison, but its the best I can do.
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Often when we think of art, we conjure up images of famous paintings by Picasso, Michelangelo or Warhol. Most, outside of furniture enthusiasts, have never heard of George Hepplewhite. Hepplewhite is regarded as one of best English furniture makers of the 18th century. None of the furniture he built exists today but his designs are timeless works-of-art.
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