The Home Improvement Show (HGTV) has been a popular source of inspiration for many viewers, with its carefully curated and impeccably designed pieces from Erin and Ben Napier. However, the question of who pays for all the furnishings on the show remains unanswered. Some shows require a renovation budget of at least $100,000 and being willing to give up some control over the design.
In addition to the furniture and decor featured on the show, the final layouts of homes are often staged, meaning the homeowners don’t get to keep the furnishings. This is a major concern, as the homes are often staged, meaning the final layouts may not be as appealing as they would have been if the renovation budget was at least $100,000.
HGTV debuted a new kind of home renovation show, “Bargain Block”, in April 2021. The Detroit-based series features familiar elements of HGTV shows, but it also delves into the restoration process of antique furnishings and home accessories. The show is not technically an HGTV show, but Brett Waterman of the Magnolia Network series Restored has broken the mold of the traditional home renovation show by restoring homes to be what they were originally supposed to be.
Restoring furniture is a challenging and time-consuming process, but it is crucial for preserving the piece’s integrity, longevity, and aesthetic appeal. The show is highly recommended for its attention to detail and the restoration of great old houses, such as Victorian cottages.
However, the reality is that most homes are staged, meaning the homeowners don’t get to keep the furniture and decor shown on TV.
📹 Where Restore-A-Finish works best and where it will not!
Note: I meant to say the very fine steelwool was 0000 not 000. Also denatured alcohol not mineral spirits, excuse me. Thanks to …
📹 How Vintage Leather Furniture Is Professionally Restored | Refurbished
Furniture Clinic specializes in leather cleaning, repairing, and restoration. Its lead technician, Steven Aiston, walks us through the …
Well done. Summary: Restor A Finish comes in 8 colors. It will fix very light scratches or white stains from cold drinks n hot drinks IF THE OLD FINISH IS SHELLAC OR LAQUER, but not fix the more modern polyurethane finishes – polyurethane or the other poly. To determine if shellac or lacquer, test rub an inconspicuous spot with a Q-tip with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). If the q-tip removes a tiny hint of finish, then it is shellac or lacquer.
Thank you! I learned something useful today. ETA, and sorry if this sounds dumb, but how do you decide on the colour(s) to buy with eight to choose from if you can’t bring the items to the store for a match, like say, my kitchen cupboard? I suppose getting some swatches beforehand would do the trick!
I agree 100 percent. I had a miraculous effect on kitchen cabinets, saving us from a huge replacement cost. Then, I tried to use the same product on a recently made wooden card table, and it was a disaster. It didn’t restore the finish; if anything, it made big ugly and dull wipe marks and we had to go another way. So yes, this is a miraculous product for a lot of finished furnishings, and no, it doesn’t work on the more recent items that are finished with a polyurethane stained finish.
Well this explains it. Somebody gave me a cabinet with some of the edges scraped off, I took it because I could just use the restore stuff I already had. I had the same results you did on that chair, nothing. This I knew was a crap furniture and was finished dark so the scrapes of the finish completely off stood out. Then I remembered I had a minwax scratch pen and it worked a treat. I had to put 2 coats in some places, but it looks new, and would work on your chair. Thanks. (the pens look almost like a sharpie, or exactly like that tide pen for stains, which they at least used to sell)
This is super helpful! I have a couple pieces at home that could definitely use a little bit of a makeover. I’m artsy – I’m NOT your girl when it comes to what I call heavy duty diy. Sanding? Id rather not. I have high hopes that this product can make my coffee tables and dresser look fresh with minimal effort on my part. Now I know how to go about it and how to figure out if it’s even going to work. Fingers crossed that these pieces are old enough to have the right kind of finish on!
I just wanted to find out if we have to worry about old furniture lacquer or schlack or any type of gloss because I NEVER worried about that on just Natural looking wood. I thought lead was only inside of colored or white paint but I just want to make sure because I heard something somewhere that I wasn’t sure anymore but from other searches it looks like it doesn’t usually have it but since you’re an expert on it please let us know. I had several items that I wanted to buy and I’ve had things I’ve bought in the be sure about the new ones I’m about to buy… As the weather this needs to be a concern or not.
We refinished the table top on a 1920’s dining room table and used a polyurethane spray for the finish. Now several years later, there are small patches of film on top that need to be removed. I did the q-tip test, and it passed the test so restore-a-finish could be used. But removing the film buildup is my dilemma – any suggestions? Thanks for your time!
I have two wooden dressers that I accidentally spilled isopropyl alcohol on not too long ago. It seems the topping is shellac or lacquer because the alcohol left some white marks on the finish. I have been looking for ways to remedy the situation. Would Restor-A-Finish help remove or cover up the white marks caused by the alcohol?
Thank you for your tip to first wipe the surface with 50/50 vinegar/water. I have been using Howard restor-a- finish for years and never before thought to remove residual furniture polish before applying Howard’s. I can recall now, times when there was clearly a build up of old wax polish that I should have cleaned first. I just never knew what to use. Now I do! Also, I used to leave the restor-a-finish on the surface for at least 30 minutes before wiping off the excess. Now that I learned that the product breaks down the original shellac or lacquer finish on my antiques, I will remove the excess as soon as I am satisfied with the color blending. Best!
Thank you! I just bought two antique/vintage furniture pieces (one 1940s & one 1960s) and the finish on them both is, understandably, pretty tired. I don’t want to strip them back until next summer (I’m in Scotland, so winter is not the time for these things unless you have a huge shed) and wanted to just improve the worn bits for aesthetics in the meantime. I’ll go and buy this in the colours I need and use your advice to get a decent finish 😀
I’ve used Restor-a-Finish since the late 1970’s and absolutely LOVE IT. I have golden oak and walnut antiques and golden oak plantation shutters – I use the golden oak Restor-a-Finish on my walnut antiques too, so no need to buy a separate can of walnut colored product, and they look beautiful. I also love using Howard’s Feed-N-Wax, a mixture of orange oil and bee’s wax. Howard’s makes great products!
Man, I have inherited a beautiful cherry wood furniture set and the bedroom set is all wierd looking. It’s has nicks, smokey areas from I assume trapped moisture but on a footboard???? Blotches from the cherry stain on cherry wood – I don’t know why either, and I am kind of shocked. I took some Murphys oil soap to it and the built up “slime” kimd of moved with the direction of the rag but didn’t come off. I’m thinking pledge but pledge made my debroom oak set look absolutely stunning but I maintained it like a new born. I love oak gosh that honey warm feel and the grain – uh it’s perfect. This cherry though is ……. to high end for me to put pledge on, I can’t figure this one and don’t want to learn on it either. The vinegar I know would work, it is absolutely reasonable but ….. I would hate to dry out the cherry. I’m almost at a point of taking it in for a full restoration but leave it at a natural look so it ages beautifully on its own with oil and beeswax at the end if recommended or just oil. I think – never been able to afford cherry furniture -but if you allow it to age naturally it will become so magnificent the older it gets. Some woods you shouldn’t rush amd allow it to be itself and I think cherry is one of them. Again, I grew up with nothing more than muscle and anger so I haven’t been able to watch cherry wood do anything ever. I do know it’s sought after and high end so that tells me maybe just maybe if I left it to nature it’s best. The scary thing…..label says made in China so .
I picked up a large computer desk with enclosing doors. Oak and very thirsty looking. I guess the clue is it was not shiny so not poly. Restor did in an excellent job reviving the finish. I did half with one color and then forgot which color and half with a different shade but they are close enough. Most wouldn’t notice.
@askingspot do you know if you can darken the finish on a piece with this as you are eliminating the scratches?? I’ve have a dining room table that needs to be refinished for over a year now … i have chronic pain so i can’t get out and and it myself and finding someone to do it isn’t going well… if this stuff would work for me i can do the whole thing myself!! however, the end goal was to darken the finish from the brown to a black… they have this in the ebony so that’s what i would use, but does it work that way?? just put it over the cleaned finish it has now and I’ll get a darker finish…. oooooo please say yes!!
@AskingSpot I’m a pretty hands-on guy around our home and we have a few pieces of older furniture that I’ll now try RAF! My question is I noticed the antique hand pulls on this dresser of yours. Do you happen to know of an online store where I can get the same style pull for my dresser? I’ve been searching for that exact antique drawer pull for almost a decade now! Any guidance would be much appreciated!
After reading all the comments I Googled vintage Chesterfield chairs. Though the color is not my “cup of tea” it’s right on the money. The color is oxblood, not red. I can picture the chair in a library with a fireplace, silver tray with crystal decanters & glasses. Just like the old black & white movies. 🎥🎞📽. Beautiful job.
To everybody mad about the result: The black pigment looks overwhelming, but it will fade to show more of the red over time and last longer. You get a gorgeous goldilocks period in the middle instead of it being straight downhill. Think of it like cutting your hair slightly shorter than you actually want it so that you can wait longer before getting it cut again.
That is literally how a Chesterfield chair SHOULD look, if you buy one brand new it’s gonna have that real dark color and very sparse red (or whichever color you get) undertone. The person who had it before had worn away all of the darker color to it’s red base, regardless of people complaining and saying “it looked better before” yall need to understand that they are craftsmen doing their job EXACTLY the way that they should. You want a bright red ass chair, then go to literally any furniture store in the world and you’ll find one there, but don’t tell a master craftsman that they did their job wrong.
For the complainers, you can see the OG color of the chair, under the butt pillow section. That’s how the chair looks, that’s what the guy says. This was a very dark shade, not pure red. That’s how this chair looks + this is what the customer wants, not what the refurbisher/restorer wants. Stop waxing philosophical about should or shouldn’t if you don’t know what you’re talking about.
As leather specialists of over 20 years I would say this article is spot on for explaining and offering information to the general population who may not be aware what is done during a re-antique / restoration.. I personally have do me this to sofa that have been over 50yrs old and had them looking almost new .. regards to the comments about the finish, this is exactly how the finish should appear as antique leather generally reveals base colour over its lifetime giving it a unique character/patina ..
Everyone down here freaking out about the color does realize that they’re only doing what the customer requested, right? If they wanted an antique two tone finish on their chair, the company is going to do that. Because it’s not your chair, it’s not the company’s chair, it’s the customer’s. You’re not required to like the same colors and same design tastes that another person has. Y’all need to chill out.
He’s got a Geordie/north east accent. I’m assuming he’s from Newcastle or somewhere else in north east England. I understand that people liked the original red but the black and red refurbishment is how traditional Chesterfield sofas/chairs look. If the owner wanted it restored/refurbished to look like the original style then they did a canny job
Comments: (thinks hair was better red* Me: Hm… googles antique chesterfield sofa and chairs Job well done the chair looks as intended in the restoration. Just because you guys like the chair red better (which is a fine opinion to have due to individual ascetic interest) his intention and goal was met with the restoration and work he did. After looking it antique chesterfield furniture up yes thats what it is suppose to look like and he did a very good job at achieving the results intended.
do you people realise that the final paint job is literally how a ton of those chairs look like? it may not look good to most people but like thats just how it looks and what the customer requested. i personally think it looks like shit but like google it and you’ll see the red ones look exactly like this one.
I looked up vintage chesterfield chairs and sofas after perusal this and thinking they ruined it with the black paint, but vintage chesterfields do look like that in it’s original state. Imagine dark academia common room, or The Godfather. It’s not my cup of tea but they did this perfectly. Great job!
(My range of emotions throughout this article) 5:10 ooo pretty nice job! 5:13 I mean ok I guess to add some dimension with the black but that’s a tad bit too dark. 5:25…. I mean they have to be doing a thing where they paint the crevices dark and than paint the surface back over in orange so there is some added depth… I hope… 5:37 Ō n Ō __ __ 5:52 unfitfully cheery music playing playing in background (me)👁 👁 👄 …….. (Me after article is done looks up what this kind of chair is) (Ok it turns out this is exactly what it is supposed to look like for the style but…… not my taste looks dirty and tacky and not aged)