If you want to fill your home with antiques, then you can shop at flea markets and estate sales. However, you will rarely find an antique that is in perfect condition, so you must learn how to restore it to make it beautiful and useful. Damaged antique furniture costs less, but you will need to spend a lot of time repairing it. Here are some tips for restoring your antique furniture.
Restore Furniture Tip 1: Clean the Furniture
Cleaning antique furniture is essential, but make sure to use the right types of cleansers and cleaning tools. Use soap that is formulated for removing debris from wood furniture, but avoid using abrasive cloths or brushes. Cleaning antique furniture is a time-consuming process that you may need to complete in stages over several days.
Restore Furniture Tip 2: Stripping the Furniture
If the paint or wood finish on an antique table or chair is degraded, then stripping the finish is necessary. This requires the application of specialized chemicals that will loosen the paint or wood finish. After the finishes begin to lift from the wood furniture, you will need to scrape it away carefully with different types of tools. You may also need to sand the antique furniture lightly.
Restore Furniture Tip 3: Replacing Upholstery
The upholstery on old furniture is often in tatters with torn material and loose fiberfill. You may need to tear away all of the old upholstery in order to reach the underlying wood or metal springs so that you can make repairs before adding new upholstery to the couch or chair.
Restore Furniture Tip 4: Painting or Applying Wood Stain
After you remove the wood stain or paint, you should reapply the finishes properly to have a beautiful piece of wood furniture. Make sure to use the correct types of brushes to paint or refinish the wood furniture, but wait between coats so that the surfaces look perfect.
Restore Furniture Tip 5: Make Minor Repairs To the Furniture
You may need to make minor repairs to the antique wood furniture such as fixing loose table legs or gluing a drawer back together that was in a chest of drawers. Fixing these types of items might seem simple, but it is actually a complex process, so you may need to contact a professional carpenter for assistance.
Restore Furniture Tip 6: Replacing Knobs and Drawer Pulls
If you are restoring antique furniture that has drawer pulls or doorknobs, then you may need to replace these items. Wooden drawer and door openers frequently crack or degrade, making the items unusable. However, metal devices will also rub away over several years. You can find authentic or replica replacements for these items.