Finale Furniture Restoration Services, LLC: lock

Monday, August 22, 2016

1948 Lane Cedar Chest

Cedar Chest Before

Cedar Chest After

I found this lovely Lane cedar chest at an estate sale on my way to the grocery store. It was the last day of the sale and everything was half off! I was thrilled that this cedar chest was still there after a few people had expressed interest in it, but never came back to buy it. It was as though it was saved just for me. It was exactly what I had been searching for since spring. I was determined to find one that I could afford since I still had to put work into it to make it pretty again. My patience had paid off!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Elegant Cedar Chest Revival

Cedar Chest Before

This was a classic antique cedar chest, similar to the others we've done, but the first one with a combination lock on the front. It was in the family of my customer for many years, so she wanted it refinished to maintain of her family's treasures. It had seen better days, for sure, but that didn't deter us from making it better than new.

First, like most project we do, total stripping and sanding was in order. This revealed the beautiful linear design of this remarkable cedar chest. It was in great shape already, so a little refinishing made a huge difference. We were so glad the veneer was in tact, as many older chests lose their original veneer over the years, because they get used and see a lot of wear.

Cedar Chest After

After stripping and sanding, we applied a light stain which brought out the true beauty of the cedar. We added the proper hardware to the interior, which had an incorrect hinge set on the back and nothing holding it up safely. The front combination lock needed to be polished. It looked fabulous!

Once everything else was accomplished, a good interior cleaning and the chest was complete. My customer was speechless over the results. This chest was truly a unique piece of furniture which deserved all the TLC we could give it. Check out the other cedar chests we've worked on at these links: http://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-waterfall-cedar-chest.html
http://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2014/10/solid-cedar-chest.html
http://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2013/12/1945-lane-waterfall-cedar-chest.html

Jim’s Background

Jim has many years of experience in both woodworking and metal work. He retired in 2020 from a company where he was an industrial painter. He’d always been interested in woodcrafting and creating things from his imagination. Since he retired, he has been able to spend more time helping me with furniture work. His input is invaluable since he does the bigger repair work as well as making things for projects. He finds creative solutions to unique problems that are part of the restoration process. Jim and I both have completely renovated our home in St. Clair Shores, where we resided for 24 years prior to moving to Marine City in 2016. That renovation was a testament to our problem solving abilities that transferred well to restoring and refinishing furniture. If you know how to take something apart, you have a better insight as to how to put it back together again, but not without careful planning and attention to detail. That’s what makes us a great team!