Furniture Restoration
Bring it back to life!
The decision to restore a piece of furniture, or a furniture set, involves the same calculations you might make for whether to repair it.
Will refinishing cost more than replacement?
If so, is it an irreplaceable piece of furniture?
Was it handed down to you, and are you wanting to be able to hand it down to someone else, but perhaps improved to its peak condition?
Once you’ve made the decision to restore a piece, J.R. Smith Custom Furniture dives in and does the work needed.
Stripping and finishing
The ultimate re-do for a piece of furniture.
Deep cleaning
Sometimes a thoughtful deep cleaning can restore a piece to the needed condition.
“You can achieve a good look from something just by cleaning it, a deep deep cleaning,” says owner J.R. Smith. “A buildup of furniture polish over the years tends to blacken the furniture, and you lose a lot of the detail in the wood. We can bring it in and strip all of the waxes off the furniture and polish back up for a third of the cost of what stripping the whole finish down, color, sanding it down and reapplying stain and finish would be.
“I’m shocked on a lot of them, too, when we bring them in and actually get to see what’s underneath all of the dirt and grime. Because you would be amazed of the detail of the wood grains and ribbons in it that you don’t see with all of the goop on it.”
Stain, paint and touch-up
As much finishing and refinishing as the piece needs, that’s what it gets. Sometimes, and here’s where our experience and craftsmanship come in, a newly fabricated piece needs to match an existing set that has been in use for years.
“To replicate what’s there, you don’t want to make it look brand-new,” says owner J.R. Smith. “So we have to replicate the age of the finish also.
“There’s a lot of trial and error on it, just to get it to match up. But the ultimate goal is to give the piece back to the customer and them not know where the repair is.”
- Lacquer finishes.
- Oil rub finishes.
- Polyurethane finishes.
- Epoxy finishes.
Before restoration can occur, sometimes repair must take place. Here, a chest of drawers with a side piece added in, is readied for the next step.
This custom-made door featured old barn wood. It is a heavy beast! A solid – formidable, even – entryway to a rustic cabin.
What constitutes an heirloom? In this case, a kindergarten set that held many memories for a large family was too sentimentally valuable – as well as solidly constructed – to do anything but commit to a full restoration. Here, the stripping process is under way.
Layers and layers of paint that have accumulated over the years are carefully – and patiently – removed from this classic old kindergartner chair.
phoenix chair restoration
Rarely is a valuable vintage piece too far gone to restore. But do keep in mind that the TLC it takes to do a proper repair and restoration can be a commitment of resources. In the case of this walnut-and-leather chair, the results were worth every penny.
When a family heirloom means something special to you, like this old leather + walnut beauty, we take ultimate care to do what it takes for a great restoration.
Patience and care are the watchwords when it comes to proper application of stain on a vintage antique furniture piece.
This curly-maple table was a favorite of ours. Every surface was lovingly restored.
When a customer’s great old piece, such as this side table, is fully brought back to beautiful condition, we do sometimes stop and pause and just enjoy gazing upon the lovely results.
Finished! The secretary, closed up and ready for transport, is now ready to return in its full glory to service in the client’s home office.
A venerable old secretary desk offers itself in rejuvenated form for use for generations to come.
Are we strippers? Yes, we do some of that. We admit it. Here, a rocking chair receives the full treatment.
After the long patient process of stripping has occurred, this nice old rocker is now ready to be refinished into the beautiful piece it was meant to be.
This spindle chair, seen here mid-spray, got returned to glory in glossy black.
Her days of stripping now behind her, this old rocker now can settle into a long life of comfortably – and beautifully – being enjoyed by a satisfied refinishing client.
Old doors often tend to be good solid doors, but the ravages of weather over decades can take their toll. Here, an old door gets the attention it needs to return to beautiful service.
The finished product – in this case a dining room table, back in context – can be super satisfying to behold.
It’s just fun, sometimes, to work on a great piece of furniture and bring it back to life. This dining room table literally shone after its turn in the spray booth.
After careful staining in multiple colors, this headboard went to our spray booth for the finishing coats to be applied.
A deep finish and delicate features.
Long-weathered finishes can be a great challenge to match, when you have to repair and then combine portions of an old/new project. We take pride in our ability to match pretty much whatever you throw at us. Here, an ancient-looking door set gets the new-to-old treatment.
Here we have the “before” shot of a double-door set that has seen its share of sun, wind and rain over the decades.
These massive double doors, refinished in place, now are ready for the elements for many years to come.
This dresser came in with a stained finish, to be repainted in blue.
After repainting, this dresser set gained new life in slate blue.
Our shop at J.R. Smith Custom Furniture is outfitted with numerous pro tools, such as this thickness planer, that enable us to make quick work of furniture projects.
J.R. takes a moment between spray applications in the spray booth.
J.R. Smith Custom Furniture from time to time purchases choice materials to have available for custom furniture. Here, a portion of a bowling alley lane from Colonial Lanes in Huntington, W.Va., undergoes restoration, in preparation for use in a made-to-order vintage industrial style table.
Working on furniture is our thing. Here, J.R. Smith emerges from a storage unit containing pieces in line for repair and restoration.
