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Furniture Refinishing New York City by the Old World craftsmen
New York magazine said are "The Best of New York"

 

Furniture Refinish NYC is often the most dramatic procedure of restoration. Furniture Refinishing can be as unobtrusive as touching-up scratches or damages on-site, or might  require the complete removal of existing finish,  dyeing and staining and application of a new finish. If an original furniture finish can be maintained, that is often the preferred alternative.  However, finishes used from the very beginning of the 20th century until today were usually nitrocellulose lacquer, or later derivative of lacquer or other catalyzed finish.  These modern furniture finishes contain plasticizers that evaporate out of the finish over a period of decades, and when the plasticizer is gone, or light damages the finish, the finish is brittle, heat marks badly, loses adhesion with the wood beneath, and generally performs poorly in use. Such decayed furniture finishes are usually better to remove than trying to save.  Any finish put over the top of such a brittle finish, will transmit its problems through any new finish put over them. 

 
Lacquer finish chipped out of center and yellowed elsewhere before Lacquer finish chipped out of center and yellowed elsewhere after

Dining Table Refinished, Glossy Closed Pore
Closed pore finish after Refinished


Refinishing of Dining table of Glossy Lacquer Finish

Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table After Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table Before

Furniture Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table After
Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table During Finish Buildup


 

Early 18th Century Queen Anne Period Marquetry Chest of Drawers, after French Polishing:


Early 18th Century Queen Anne Period Marquetry Chest of Drawers, after French Polishing


Desk refinished by French Polishing, High Gloss:


Desk refinished by French Polishing Before Desk refinished by French Polishing After


Chinese camphor wood chest with paint spattered and stains, removed without stripping Chinese camphor wood chest with paint spattered and stains, removed without stripping furniture refinishing

Chinese camphor wood chest with paint spattered and stains, removed without stripping. Existing finish refurbished


Modern Root Table, refinished:


Modern Root Table, refinished Modern Root Table, refinished


Refinishing to Change Color and match other furniture:


Refinishing to Change Color and match other furniture Refinish to Change Color and match other furniture


Typical first half 20th Century Dining Table Top before Typical first half 20th Century Dining Table Top after

Typical  1st half 20th Century Dining Table Top before and after


Turn of the Century Vitrine:


Century Vitrine before Century Vitrine after


After stripping Before stripping

After stripping


Skillful refurbished depends on careful preparation. If the finish is not removed thoroughly, the new finish will not last as it should and will be susceptible to loss of adhesion, cloudiness or flaking off of the finish. Sanding is another critical issue.  Sanding the wood thoroughly will remove wood bleached over the years of exposure to light, and erases the patina of the furniture.  Loose or missing veneer and inlays must be reglued or replaced.

Sun Bleaching of Rosewood on Herman Miller Eames Chair:


Sun Bleaching of Rosewood on Herman Miller Eames Chair

Sunlight  bleaching. The light rosewood on the outside of the upper furniture shell of an Eames Lounge looked like the  rosewood of the lower shell on the inside of the Lounge below it over 30 years ago, but it was covered by upholstery and didn't bleach from light


 

Chinese Rosewood Antique Desk


Chinese Rosewood Antique Desk


Sunbleaching of the furniture exterior of these Chinese Desk pedestals leaves the wood color highly uneven; to sand or not to sand? The answer to this question by its owner was to sand:
Sunbleaching of the exterior of these Chinese Desk pedestal Sunbleaching of the exterior of these Chinese Desk pedestal


Refinishing 17th or 18th Century Ships' furniture Table to remove gray/black discoloration from humidity


Table before refinish Gray/black bacterial discoloration from humidity

Table furniture before refinishing
Gray/black bacterial discoloration furniture from humidity


Table stripped, bacterial gray discoloration eliminated After refinish, shellac & wax finish

Furniture Table stripped, bacterial gray discoloration eliminated
After furniture refinishing, shellac & wax finish


Danish Modern Oil-Finished Dining Table before and after refinishing and veneer inlays:


Danish Modern Oil-Finished Dining Table before Danish Modern Oil-Finished Dining Table after refinish and veneer inlays

Turn of Century Oak Veneer Dining Table in poor condition, with Dutchman Inlays, and a re-carved apron which is also a Drawer front.


Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table After Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table Before

Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table After Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table Before

Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table After Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table Before

Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table After Glossy Closed Pore Dining Table after

Removing lacquer finish and refinish natural color Removing lacquer finish and refinish natural color

Removing  lacquer finish and furniture refinish natural color


Old water stains, appearing as black blemishes in the wood, may be removed chemically with the proper acid, that furniture might not be removable by sanding, as such staining can be over 1/4" deep, and veneer is only 1/40" on modern furniture, or less.  Furniture stains can be removed without altering the patina of the furniture, and can dramatically improve the appearance without sanding.

 

Furniture Staining and dyeing are also key elements in successful refinish. By combining the use of dyes and stains, an antique patina may be reproduced and difficult for an expert to discriminate between an original finish, and refurbished wood. We employ artists trained as classical artists in four or five-year European college level art schools, that possess exceptional abilities in color matching, and graining damaged or replacement wood elements, to blend in inlaid with adjacent wood. Our artists are key factors in our being able to say, “if you can see repair work, then it has not been well done”.  Under the hands of a skilled touch-up artist, damages disappear.


 


Woodrow Wilson Table at Princeton College - refinished


Woodrow Wilson Table at Princeton College Woodrow Wilson Table at Princeton College


Woodrow Wilson Table at Princeton College Woodrow Wilson Table at Princeton College


Woodrow Wilson Table at Princeton College Woodrow Wilson Table at Princeton College

Faux finishing of an inexpensive carved mirror, to give it more of an old walnut feel.



Cabinet used for Retail Display at Juicy Couture


This Victorian Period Mahogany and Bamboo display cabinet, was left largely distressed, with some repair of missing elements, and then refurbished in a whitewash glaze:

 
Missing bamboo pilasters replace, missing base mahogaany and beveled tempered glass replaced, and refinished Missing bamboo pilasters replace, missing base mahogaany and beveled tempered glass replaced, and refinished

Missing bamboo pilasters replace, missing base mahogaany and beveled tempered glass replaced, and refinished


Missing bamboo pilasters replace, missing base mahogaany and beveled tempered glass replaced, and refinished


Gallery



     President Woodrow Wilson's office                                               Bank of England Chairs

 

 

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By Peter Triestman

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