About the service
I restore old furniture — the kind that has stood in a family for decades and has started to wobble, shed its veneer or lose its shine. Every job begins with a look at the piece and an honest conversation, because the main question is settled before I pick up a tool: do you want the age kept, with the wear, the darkened tone and the marks of hands that prove the thing has lived, or do you want it fresh again? Those are two different jobs, and the answer changes every decision that follows, from stripping to the choice of handles.
After that it is ordinary bench work. Loose joints come apart, the old glue is cleaned back to bare timber, because new glue will not hold on top of it. Missing tenons and dowels are cut fresh from matching stock, fitted and clamped up. Lifted veneer is re-laid; losses are patched from a sheet chosen for grain direction and tone, not for the species name alone, so that the repair does not read across the room. Knocked-off carving is rebuilt by hand and mouldings are worked back in place. Hardware is repaired where it can be, and where it is gone I match it to what survives, so the piece speaks one language instead of collecting eras. Seats are re-upholstered in the fabric or leather you choose.
A few limits I state before we agree on anything. Old coatings and paints can contain harmful substances, so there is no dry sanding in my work at all: stripping and levelling are done by wet methods with extraction running. On a genuine antique, removing the original finish completely lowers its value — if the piece really needs that, we discuss it in advance rather than halfway through, and a museum-grade object belongs with a specialist conservator, not with me. Timescales depend on glue and finish curing at their own pace, and that cannot be shortened.
— inspection and a plan: keep the age, or return the fresh look
— disassembly, removal of old glue, re-gluing of loose joints
— new tenons and dowels where the originals are gone
— veneer repair, patching and colour matching
— old lacquer removed where it is justified, patina kept where it is worth keeping
— rebuilt carving and mouldings
— hardware repair and matching
— shellac, oil or lacquer finishing to suit the piece
— seat re-upholstery in fabric or leather
— collection and return delivery
After that it is ordinary bench work. Loose joints come apart, the old glue is cleaned back to bare timber, because new glue will not hold on top of it. Missing tenons and dowels are cut fresh from matching stock, fitted and clamped up. Lifted veneer is re-laid; losses are patched from a sheet chosen for grain direction and tone, not for the species name alone, so that the repair does not read across the room. Knocked-off carving is rebuilt by hand and mouldings are worked back in place. Hardware is repaired where it can be, and where it is gone I match it to what survives, so the piece speaks one language instead of collecting eras. Seats are re-upholstered in the fabric or leather you choose.
A few limits I state before we agree on anything. Old coatings and paints can contain harmful substances, so there is no dry sanding in my work at all: stripping and levelling are done by wet methods with extraction running. On a genuine antique, removing the original finish completely lowers its value — if the piece really needs that, we discuss it in advance rather than halfway through, and a museum-grade object belongs with a specialist conservator, not with me. Timescales depend on glue and finish curing at their own pace, and that cannot be shortened.
— inspection and a plan: keep the age, or return the fresh look
— disassembly, removal of old glue, re-gluing of loose joints
— new tenons and dowels where the originals are gone
— veneer repair, patching and colour matching
— old lacquer removed where it is justified, patina kept where it is worth keeping
— rebuilt carving and mouldings
— hardware repair and matching
— shellac, oil or lacquer finishing to suit the piece
— seat re-upholstery in fabric or leather
— collection and return delivery
