Making mounts for coathooks and bulldog clips

An unusual request to make mounts for these items but an interesting project

Repairs to a Shoolbred dressing chest

This good quality figured ash dressing chest was in poor condition prior to coming in to the workshop. The top and left side had suffered severe water damage causing the timber to turn a grey colour. The whole piece had to be cleaned down before repolishing and waxing. For French polishing advice please visit our website polishing page

Restoration of mahogany sideboard

This very elegant early nineteenth century sideboard was covered in sticky olive oil. The whole piece had to be hand stripped ,restored and french polished before a final coat of wax. For information and advice about french polishing

To restore or not to restore. That is the question

This late Victorian burr walnut centre table was almost declined for restoration as the top was extremely damaged. Totally destroyed finish caused by moisture and the lifting of large parts of veneer prooved to be a real challenge.

However after totally stripping the top and relaying the veneer, the whole piece was stripped ,cleaned and repolished. Missing veneers were replaced and coloured out to match the surrounding timbers before the whole piece was waxed. It was a challenge but paid off in the end

Polishing a mahogany dining table

This is quite an unusual table. on first appearances it looks like a standard reproduction regency style D ended table with an additional leaf, but after working on it for some time i came to the decision that it is a well constructed hand made table. The inlay in the top is quite unusual and very effective, being strung in ebony with pointed corner motifs. The table had to be stripped prior to French polishing and waxing. There were some problems with the central leaf being darker, probably due to the sun fading the outer leaves when it was not extended. This was overcome by tinting the French polish and slightly toning down the outer leaves

This mahogany card table was in pretty good condition and just needed some cleaning up. The top swivells and opens up to expose a green baize surface. Dating from around the early 1900`s this is a pretty example of a useful table.

Bringing back the beauty of old furniture

Hi, and thank you for visiting this blog. I have decided that I would like to share with you some of what I have learnt over the past 35 years dealing with the restoration and re polishing of antique furniture. Over the following weeks I hope to share with you many aspects of the furniture restoration industry including buying, fixing and polishing old furniture. For a more in depth view of what we do at riverside restorations  please visit our main site at  Cornwall Furniture Restoration

Cleaning and re baizing a rosewood card table

This early nineteenth century rosewood card table was purchased in very good condition, except for some minor blemishes around the base. Unfortunately the baize was the worse for wear and needed to be replaced. Deep blue baize goes well with rosewood. After minor repairs the table was then lightly cleaned and re polished and finally waxed

Restoration of antique Windsor chair

An old chair repair

This early nineteenth century Windsor chair had suffered much damage to the extent that the back arm joint had been severely weakened ,resulting in this somewhat basic repair probably carried out about 50 years ago.After dismantling the old repair ans cleaning, the joint was repaired by sandwiching the horizontal wooden rail between two metal plates. The repair was then filled and coloured in as you can see in the image.

The chair after restoration

Restoring a country chair

This late nineteenth century elm and beech chair is one of a set of eight, and although it is not one of my favourite styles, this chair is very comfortable to sit in. It has had a very rough life and has been restored quite severely. The loose joints had been fixed with nails which caused problems when dissassembling the frame. There is also some signs of worm. After taking the joints apart the old glue was cleaned off before reassembling and gluing cramping. The chair was then treated for worm and cleaned down using some mild solvent. The chair areas was then stained and  given a thin coat of french polish. Finally the chair was rubbed down and waxed.

Repairing an Edwardian clock case

This image on the left shows the concave side of an Edwardian figured oak mantle clock. It had lost some veneer and had to be restored and re polished. The difficulty was in getting the right shade of colour so natural pigments had to be used. Below is the clock side after repairing and colouring in. There was also a fleck in the grain that had to be simulated.

Restoration of 18th Century corner cupboard

This unrestored late 18th century corner cupboard on the left is made from oak, having a mahogany cross banding. There were several pieces of molding that were missing as well as loose veneers. After restoration the whole cupboard  had to be cleaned and polished, finishing off with fine wire wool and wax. A key was then made for the lock and the brass ware cleaned. For more polishing information visit our website
French polishing

Restoring a pair of chairs

This attractive pair of fruit wood chairs had spent several years in a barn . They had to be fully treated before re gluing the frames and repairing. The chairs were then cleaned and polished, finishing off with wire wool and wax.

Restoring an Edwardian inlaid chair

This was a very challenging and rewarding project. This beautiful Edwardian armchair is inlaid with bone and boxwood. The inlay was starting to lift in several places and had to be glued back. Also some of the joints were loose. Once the frame had been repaired the chair had to be cleaned and polished. Finally the seat had to be reupholstered. This involved taking off all the old stuffing and webbing. The chair was then re webbed and the stuffing reworked and covered with calico.The seat was then finished off with a really nice covering. The Edwardian cabinetmakers produced some really fine furniture and this chair is a good example.

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