Furniture Restoration – Breathing Life Into Your Home

The following is a guest post by Tom on behalf of Furniture 123.

Overview

In the current rising age of austerity, now probably seems as good a time as ever to be tightening the purse-strings and reducing spending. People are sacrificing past luxuries – cars, holidays and even furniture have risen beyond the spending capacity of many families. There are, however, other ways in which you can satiate your desire for a new-furniture fix – and while it might not prove quite as fulfilling as a brand new sofa or dining table, home restoration can be captivating and almost certainly less expensive.

So Just What Can Be Restored?

Well – in short – just about anything! Wooden, metal and upholstered furniture all make ideal subjects for budding restoration gurus. Dining tables, sofas, chairs, fireplaces, bookcases, display cabinets, coffee tables, footstools (you get the picture) are all suitable. You should never underestimate the impact that a simple amount of work can have on your furniture.

How Can I Restore My Furniture?

Metal Furniture

Generally, metal furniture is widely acknowledged as the easiest to restore. Find yourself some metal furniture spray paint, allocate a few hours of your time and an ideal outdoor area and get down to work! Note that this is best done on a dry day. Leave to dry and after a few hours, sit back and enjoy the results.

Wooden Furniture

To clean your wooden furniture, orange oil and a textured cloth are often used as the preferred tools. For wooden furniture which is chipped and worn, dramatic results can be observed through sanding and oiling. Find yourself some fine sandpaper and get down to some real ‘hands on’ work. When you’re happy with the results, varnish/paint the piece as required, leave to dry and voila! A real labour of love. For those pieces of furniture which have suffered from serious wear and tear, you might want to consider wood putty or a liquid wax mix to fill undesired nicks and holes.

Upholstered Furniture

Follow the given instructions for cleaning your specific fabric, ensuring that it isn’t washed at too high a heat. Use a spot shampoo such as Vanish to remove any obvious stains. For instances in which the upholstery is too badly stained or damaged, consider buying a cover to slip over the furniture, or adding pillows and cushions in strategic positions. An added advantage of this is that it allows you to change the décor of the room at will.

And The Results?

Of course, results deviate dependent on the time and care spent on the restoration, but it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t showcase some of the success stories out there…

Taken from Green Restoration.

Taken from Nere Finishing.
If you have any of your own examples then we’d love to hear from you, please leave a comment or get in touch.