Danish Chair

Danish Chair Before

Danish Chair After

I love taking on projects that involved such a lovely piece of furniture as this Danish cherry chair. The chair was extremely well made, thus also quite heavy, but after removing the cushion, I realized the weight wasn't in the wood, but in the cushion. Once that was removed, the chair itself was fairly light and easy to handle.

On the back of the chair was a stain, as if someone had spilled a darker stain on top of it and it made its way down the rear left leg. Someone tried to cover up the damage by adding glaze over the legs, which

Petite Old Dresser Painted Black

Petite Dresser Before

Petite Dresser After

This little dresser was in really rough shape when we found it at an estate sale on Ursuline Street in St. Clair Shores two weekends ago, and we almost overlooked it. After we gave it a second glance, we knew we found a treasure. Seldom deterred by "ugly," Jim saw the potential in this unique petite piece and knew he could transform its outdated, rough look and give it a new and unique personality.
The dresser sports fluted sides, a rounded backdrop and the front two legs rest on rounded pegs for support. This little piece shows true craftsmanship of days gone by. Its five drawers were in excellent condition, but the exterior was in need of new paint. Given the luck we've had with black paint for the other dressers we've recently restored, we decided to use black paint again. We purchased new drawer pulls that we felt best suited the dresser's unique style and just as we thought, the dresser assumed a whole new identity, not at all resembling the sad little dresser we originally bought at the estate sale. It's now a respectable piece of furniture that anyone would be proud to own. With a little elbow grease, time and patience (of course vision), this old beauty has a modern, timeless look.

Here's another dresser that needed paint and TLC: http://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2013/08/old-dresser-new-life.html

Antique Round Table

Antique Table Before

This was an adorable little antique table I found up at an estate sale last year, around September, 2012. I had begun working on it late summer and didn't finish it until spring, 2013. It far exceeded my expectations as far as the amount of work I had to put into it. It required a great deal of sanding as it is made of cherry (typically very hard to work on) and the details, such as the "button style" feet made it indeed a difficult piece to sand. The "fluted" top edge makes this a special little table as it shows the craftsmanship that went into it so many years ago.

Antique Table After

1960's Desk Refinished

Desk with New Handles

I came across this desk last summer at a garage sale. It was solid maple, but in need of refinishing. After carefully stripping the old varnish and stain, the desk had started to take on a brand new appearance. In the interim, a friend had told me, "I'm looking for a desk." I told her, "Well, you're in luck, because I just bought one and am working on it now!" She couldn't believe it. I sent her the photos of the desk, and she said, "I love it. I want it." So, she selected the new handles for it and brought over the stain, which she chose as Early American. I completed this desk and had to modify the original holes to accommodate the new handles. I've discovered that furniture made in the 50's and 60's have a different standard for handle hardware and the ones sold in the stores don't match. Luckily it was less than an 1/8" inch off, so I was able to make her new handles work. She's using this desk for her son's computer and like many other pieces I've restored, it has a new chance at life. Unfortunately, I can't find the "before" photos of this desk, but you get the idea. It looks great!