Strippers Furniture Restoration Blog

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strippersonselby — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:14:03 +0000

Comments From Cynthia on Her Bird’s Eye Maple Dresser

strippersonselby — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:28:54 +0000

I just picked up my Great Aunt Genevieve’s (b.1891, d.1981) Bird’s eye maple dresser from Strippers Furniture Restoration today. It’s beautiful!

When I took it in, it had many layers of white paint on it – and blue ceramic knobs. The layers of paint were chipping. My intent was to repaint the dresser with a “clean ” coat of white paint and take it to our farmhouse.

After the dresser was stripped, I went to pick it up and saw the beautiful bird’s eye maple that had been hiding under layers of paint. I did not have the heart to paint it. I had Strippers refinish the dresser and replace the knobs with ones more fitting that style and era of dresser. The results speak for themselves (see photo below). It’s gorgeous! Another store customer offered to buy the dresser from me if I decide I don’t want it.

Additionally, as George was working on refinishing the dresser, he discovered, tightly wedged beneath the bottom drawer, an 1898 Indian Head penny. Perhaps put there by the carpenter who made the dresser? George took the penny home, polished it up, and put it in a see-through “coin packet” to give it back to me. I was very touched.

I have used Strippers Furniture Restoration for many years, with many different pieces and types of furniture. I have always been pleased with their work.

I highly recommend them.

Sincerely, Cynthia W.

Dresser Before Stripping

Birds Eye Maple Dresser After Refinishing. Restored to its original beauty.

Strippers says:

Thank you Cynthia. We’re so glad you’re pleased. We enjoyed working on your dresser. It’s always fun to strip a painted piece and find beautiful wood hidden under the layers of paint.

We Strip & Refinish Molding and Doors

strippersonselby — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:58:07 +0000

Remove your doors, molding, or cabinet doors and drawers and bring them into us to have them stripped and refinished.

Or if you’d like we can just strip them and you can do the refinishing yourself. Call us today for prices. 651-645-1394

Painted molding before stripping

Molding after stripping & refinishing

Preserving Old Wood

strippersonselby — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 01:59:31 +0000

Refinishing furniture and architectural wood helps to reduce our demands on the environment by preserving furniture, doors and molding created long ago, and prevents cutting down and wasting trees growing today. It also helps us to improve our homes with updated fine quality pieces that might otherwise be overlooked, and clog our waste dumps and landfills. Fine, old trees were cut down in decades or centuries past, and utilized in the production of furniture that is eventually in need of maintenance, not discarding. Old furniture finishes, especially twentieth century finishes including lacquer, turn dark, translucent, and finally semi-opaque, hiding the beauty of the wood beneath. An old finish is then susceptible to whitish heat and humidity marks, becomes brittle and scratches easily. Keep in mind that the damages are just to the finish, and you will start over when the finish is removed. If the old finish is remove and a new finish is applied the furniture can display the original beauty of the wood. It will be as beauty as when it was created, but with an antique patina to the wood that is irreplaceable. The quality and species of wood available and used years ago was generally better than what is available today.

There is little comparison between craftsmanship of yesteryears and today’s shoddy manufacturing. Older furniture that was made more than twenty years ago will out last just about anything made today. Refinishing preserves old furniture and does not waste resources to produce new flake board, melamine, laminate, or MDF and their waste products in the production of new furniture.

We have a responsibility to tomorrows’ generations, preserving our heritage and the environment is something all can appreciate. The vintage antique, or designer furniture we admire from the 50’s, 60’s, or 70’s, including Eames, mid century modern, or Danish is often available in local thrift shops, Craig’s list, from yard sales, or flea markets. Often, you need look no further than in your own homes to find candidates for refinishing. Open your imagination to wider refinishing possibilities for such handsomely designed furniture.

Let’s face it; even if you can get the Ikea stuff put together, it’s not going to last for another hundred years.

Upholstery – Before & After

strippersonselby — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:12:46 +0000

There was no way to skirt the fact that these chairs needed a new look.

The only question was to “skirt or not to skirt?”

Before Re-upholstery without a skirt

After Re-upholstery with a new skirt added

Before Re-upholstery with skirt

: After Re-upholstery without a skirt

Upholstery – Before & After

strippersonselby — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:19:19 +0000

Before Re-upholstery

After Re-upholstery

We Refinished and Upholstered this Handsome Chair.

strippersonselby — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:45:57 +0000

Tufted back arm chair with faux leather

Mahogany Linen Cabinet Sheds Sheets of Paint.

strippersonselby — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:39:22 +0000

Reupholstering Offers New Life to Old Furniture.

strippersonselby — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:02:00 +0000

Instead of tossing out old and worn furniture, reupholster it to bring new life, and cut down on waste and further resource use.

In this time of budget-conscious and green living, clients (and potential clients) are curious about having their existing furniture reupholstered, instead of replaced. But, does reupholstering always make sense?

If your furniture piece is of high quality, it is almost always worth reupholstering. The quality of an upholstered piece is only as good as the foundation it rests on. Quality frames are constructed of solid hardwood which are assembled with corner blocks, dowels, glue and screws and have heavy gauge coil or zigzag springs.

If your furniture piece has sentimental value, or is a precious antique, it is always worth reupholstering the piece. These types of pieces cannot be replaced, so the costs are easily outweighed by the sentiment and memories attached to the piece.

If your existing furniture fits just perfectly in your space, it makes sense to reupholster the piece, rather than try to find something new. If you have been furniture shopping recently, you have noticed that furniture has gotten really LARGE overall. Overstuffed sofas, chairs-and-a-half and ottomans are all huge, and often not scaled to most family homes. If you have a small-scale sofa that fits perfectly under your living room window, you may not be able to replace it easily with a new sofa that fits as well. So, even pieces of less quality may be worth reupholstering, rather than going crazy trying to find an equally perfect piece for your room!

The fun thing about re-upholstering is that you get to select a fabric that you love or select several fabrics to be used on one piece. The range of possible colors, textures and styles of fabrics is nearly limitless. You could also add trims or nail heads – the options are endless.

If you are unsure about whether your particular furniture pieces are worth reupholstering, and you wonder about the costs involved, we can help you figure that out. Stop in to see us or email some pictures to: strippersonselby@aol.com

A New Life for Comfortable Club Chair

strippersonselby — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:12:30 +0000

Before Reupholstering

After - Ready for another 40 years!