Antique & Furniture Restorers
Furniture and fitted joinery in old buildings often need the same skills: cabinet making, veneer and marquetry repair, traditional glues and finishes, and an understanding of how timber moves. The restorers in this category work on freestanding antique furniture and on fitted pieces that form part of a building, such as panelling, built-in cupboards, dressers, shutters and staircase joinery. Conservation practice favours retaining original material and finish, using reversible adhesives, and repairing rather than replacing components, so that the object keeps its history and any later work can be undone.
What this category covers
- Cabinet and structural repair to antique furniture
- Veneer, marquetry, inlay and turned component replacement
- Traditional finishes: wax, shellac, French polish and oil
- Fitted joinery, panelling, shutters and built-in furniture
- Traditional upholstery and seat frame repair
Clive Beardall Restorations Ltd
Clive Beardall Restorations Ltd is a small firm of furniture restorers in ...
Lomas Interiors Ltd
Lomas & Pigeon is a furniture restoration and upholstery workshop whose craftsmen ...
Stonebridge Fine Finishing
Stonebridge Fine Finishing is a specialist in wood finishing, French polishing and ...
The British Antique Furniture Restorers’ Association
CRAFT ASSOCIATION BAFRA is a trade organisation and the UK professional body ...
Commissioning furniture restoration
Decide between conservation and restoration first. Conservation stabilises what survives and keeps the object's history legible; restoration returns it to working or original appearance. Both are legitimate, but they lead to different decisions about stripping, refinishing and replacement.
Protect the surface. Original finish and patina are the first thing lost and the hardest to recover, and a piece that has been stripped and repolished loses much of its interest and its value. Ask what will happen to the existing finish before agreeing to any work.
Expect reversible methods. Animal glues, shellac and traditional waxes can be undone by the next generation, whereas modern adhesives and lacquers frequently cannot. On anything of significance, reversibility matters more than convenience.
Ask for a written record. A short report describing condition, what was done, which materials were used and what was replaced belongs with the piece. For fitted joinery in a listed building, it also forms part of the building's record and may be required as a consent condition.
Questions to ask
Will restoring an antique reduce its value?
It can, if it goes too far. Stripping original finish, replacing sound components and over-polishing all remove evidence and typically reduce value. Sympathetic structural repair that retains original material and surface generally does not.
Is fitted panelling covered by listing?
Usually. Fixtures such as panelling, shutters, built-in cupboards and staircase joinery are treated as part of a listed building, so altering or removing them normally requires Listed Building Consent even though they might look like furniture.
What is the difference between restoration and conservation?
Restoration aims to return an object to a former appearance or function, which may involve replacing lost parts. Conservation aims to stabilise and retain what survives, with minimal and reversible intervention. Which is appropriate depends on the object and its significance.
All 5 businesses listed under Antique & Furniture Restorers
- BAFRA Shropshire
- Clive Beardall Restorations Ltd Essex
- Lomas Interiors Ltd Essex
- Stonebridge Fine Finishing
- The British Antique Furniture Restorers’ Association Shropshire
Directory information is provided to help visitors identify potentially relevant specialists and suppliers. Inclusion does not constitute a recommendation, approval or guarantee by Tuscan Foundry Products. Please check current services, credentials, availability and suitability directly with each business.