Antique China Cabinet Refinished

China Cabinet Before

China Cabinet After

Grandmother's antique China cabinet needed an overhaul. While in pretty decent condition (we’ve seen much worse!) Made of mahogany, this cabinet had plenty of space with shelving on the top and doors and drawers on the bottom. 

The middle top had a decorative piece of wood that had broken and become disconnected, so Jim glued it back together and put it back on top where it belonged.

In the process of restoring this cabinet, it was necessary to remove the decorative wood that covered the upper door to properly stain that area. The glass was removed to preserve and protect it during the restoration process. Each step is carefully taken to get the best results.

Our customer had wanted to replace the original wooden knobs with new ones and she chose black knobs, which looked great with the refinished cabinet. Jim used a red mahogany stain with satin polyurethane which was the perfect finish for this piece. Upon completion, this old cabinet certainly looked much better than when we got it.

Antique China Cabinet

China Cabinet Before

China Cabinet After

A massive oak China Cabinet such as this is always an impressive piece of furniture and requires a great deal of respect and special handling. While in overall great condition, this cabinet needed some love. It had a broken left panel on the right door, held together with tape. It was necessary to carefully separate the wood from the glass so it could be glued back together. The veneer was chipped, so I carefully filled it in and stained it so that it wasn't noticeable. I cleaned the entire surface with boiled linseed oil, which brought out the wood's natural beauty. The glass was original, as you could see the wavy nature of antique glass and in perfect condition. Over the years, someone decided to add a fourth shelf, therefore changing the position of the three original shelves. I left it as it was, figuring that the person who buys it can simply reuse the original holes to reposition the shelves. I recommended using it as a bookshelf since the solid oak shelves would be sturdy enough, but the buyer said she'd rather use it as it was intended, a China cabinet. And why not? This classic China cabinet was from an era gone-by, but with a little TLC, it should last another 100 years.

China Cabinet Before

China Cabinet After