Restoration and reconditioning of old furniture

I recently had a conversation with someone who told me how he restored an old piece of furniture by replacing a wooden handle that had broken off with an antique metal one that matched the furniture very well. I explained to him that what he had done was not called restoration, even if the furniture looked better than it originally did. Based on this I thought it might be useful to explain what furniture restoration is and how it differs from furniture refurbishment.

According to DEX, restorationis "the repair, restoration, reconstruction of a work of art, an architectural monument, etc., respecting the original form, original style". In other words, when restoring an old piece of furniture, nothing needs to be changed in either design or appearance. Moreover, the repair is done using the materials originally used to make the furniture, excluding the use of similar modern products on the grounds that they are more durable and easier to use.

Furniture restoration cannot be done by anyone at home as a diy project unless that person is a professional restorer. A restorer knows the old techniques, has a knowledge of art history and certificates attesting to their specialisation. Through restoration the value of old furniture increases and it becomes a valuable object. As a case in point, I can point to the auction at Christie's, where a 16th-century Florentine cabinet sold for $36 million. It's the most expensive furniture ever sold, but there are many other examples of furniture sold for a considerable amount of money.

In the case of furniture, restoration is as difficult as restoring a work of art. You need to identify the style and period when it was made, to see what materials were used and how any missing parts should be restored. You may remember the series of articles on styles in furniture. Each style has specific identifying elements - the shape of the legs, the carved elements, the colours used, the wood essence, etc. - which can be found, in part or in full, in each piece of furniture. From these elements the style and the approximate period when the furniture was made is identified. Materials are used that were used then, even if they are less durable than those used now. The important thing is that the furniture is representative of the past, not that it has increased resistance to steam or alcohol stains.

If you have old and rare pieces of furniture, call in the experts for restoration. It's not cheap, but don't risk it because not everyone who knows about wood knows how to restore old furniture. Years ago a friend wanted to restore an old extending table with an original wooden hook extension system, what can I say, a beauty. He ignored my advice and took the table to a well known furniture factory where it was repaired, spruced and lacquered. They simply destroyed it. Don't get me wrong. It was well glued, stain-free stained and with the lacquer well stretched and glossy, but it had nothing of the beauty of the table it had been. It was useful, but worthless.

If the old furniture you have has only sentimental value and you would like to repair it preserving as much as possible its original appearance, then we talk about furniture reconditioning. Reconditioning, again using the DEX, means repairing, restoring to working order. It is practically irrelevant how this is done. The important thing is that the object is functional again.

What does this mean for furniture? It means that the boundaries are no longer so rigid, that the sofa's brocade no longer needs to be carefully cleaned and restored but can be replaced with a beautiful velvet, the table can be lacquered with a more durable lacquer, the wooden handle can be replaced with a metal one and the old mirror can be replaced with a new, beautifully veneered one. The furniture will be clean and functional again, and the memories associated with it will not suffer.

Although it is much simpler to do and in this case it is better to call in people who are skilled, especially as you will have lower costs compared to restoring furniture. It is much harder to restore an old thing than to make a new one from scratch. And this is where you need experienced people if you want your furniture to remain as you remember it.

There are also firms in our country that deal with both furniture restoration and reconditioning and doorsmade of wood. They are people who have many years of experience in the field, and if you need certifications they can give you those too. Don't start repairing furniture in your home unless you want to reinvent.