FURNITURE REFINISHING, NYC

Refinishing is often the most dramatic procedure of restoration. 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 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 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 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. 

Dining Table Refinished, Glossy Closed Pore:

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

Desk refinished by French Polishing, High Gloss:

Modern Root Table, refinished:

Refinishing to Change Color and match other furniture:

Turn of the Century Vitrine:

Sun Bleaching of Rosewood on Herman Miller Eames Chair:

Chinese Rosewood Antique Desk

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

Table before refinishing

Gray/black bacterial discoloration from humidity

Table stripped, bacterial gray discoloration eliminated

After refinish, shellac & wax finish

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

Conserved, not refinished

Woodrow Wilson Table at Princeton College - refinished

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:

Raymond & Whittier Pump Organ, ca. 1884-

Rebuild organ elements necessary to correct damage from prolonged garage storage: mice nests, moths and other pests. Replace broken phosphor bronze reeds, French polish.

Our expertise includes the repair and refinishing of  modern fiberglass , wood, and metal furniture by Herman Miller, Arne Jacobsen, George Nelson, Pierre Paulin, Jean Prouve,  Vladimir Kagan, Eero Aarnio, Cassina, B & B Italia, Artifort, Stendig, Ron Arad, Tom Dixon, Gehry, Gaetano Pesce, Vigo Magistretti, Ettore Sottsass, Mario Bellini, Verner Panton, Wendell Castle, Olivier Mourgue, Hans Wegner, Finn Juhl, Tobia Scarpa, Gerrit Rietveld, George Nakashima, Warren Plattner, Geoffrey Harcourt, Joe Columbo, Charlotte Perriand, Eero Saarinen, Franco Albini, Marco Zanuso, Gio Ponti, Poul Kjaerholm, Sari Yanagi, Isamu Noguchi, Aalvar Aalto, Norman Cherner, Harry Bertoia, Erwine & Estelle Laverne, Frank Lloyd Wright, Edward J. Wormley, Eva Zeisel, Robbsjohn Gibbings, Jens Risom, Eileen Gray, Bruno Mathsson, Marcel Breuer, Russell Wright, Le Corbusier, Ludwig mies van der Rohe, Charles Rene McIntosh, Josef Hoffmann, Otto Wagner, Antonio Gaudi, Emile Galle, Louis Majorelle, Michael Thonet, Carlo Mollino, Florence Knoll,  Philippe Starck, Milo Baughmann, and Karl Springer, and other notable designers and manufacturers.

Lastly, the selection of a finish is important to the client for the furniture to stand up to its intended use without damage.  The unique usage pattern for each piece a client owns, and the clients’ preferred appearance determines whether a regular lacquer finish Is appropriate, or a French polish finish, polyurethane,  compounded “piano finish”,  oil, wax, or other finish. Our shop has the ability to work with any of these finishes, as well as other specialty decorative finishes, including faux marble, faux wood, and trompe l’oeil.

Pickups & Delivery by our truck throughout metropolitan NY, NJ, PA, and CT-

Pickups of entire assembled Eames Lounge Chair may be inexpensively arranged throughout the Midwest and Eastern US, from Texas to Chicago, Florida to Boston

We arrange pickup and delivery promptly throughout metropolitan NY, including NY and NYC, NJ, PA, and  at CT at modest cost.  We can arrange for pickup and delivery of furniture throughout the United States east of the Mississippi, as well as all of Louisiana and eastern Texas with a recommended common carrier, TSC Moving (Hallandale, FL),   They are very reliable, and surprisingly economical for long-distance moves. Fine furniture deserves the best care, and is worth the trip.