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Refinishing Chairs
8/8/2006 5:12:00 AM
Everybody has them, chairs, there are as many kinds and styles as you could possibly think of. In The united states alone there dozens of different kinds and materials to choose from, there are stools, benches swivel chairs reclining chairs wood ones metal ones wicker and rattan, Chippendale, Duncan Fyfe, and Sheridan, just to name a few. By far the most common would be some type of Classic wooden chair.
Wood is a valuable and renewable resource that has been used extensively for thousands of years and continues to be a good choice and that is the material we will be focusing on today.
Of the multiple millions of wooden chairs currently in use today, thousands and thousands will be discarded for no better reason than their owners don't know what to do to keep them in good and serviceable condition. In days gone by the idea of discarding otherwise good stuff just because of issues of wear was unthinkable. Thankfully there has been a trend toward better stewardship and most people have understood the folly of the disposable mindset of the eighties and nineties.
When an otherwise good set of chairs begins to show wear and the finish becomes ugly, there is a process where the worn finish may be removed and another fresh finish can be reapplied. The variety of finish colors and sheens is almost endless. Often through refinishing, your chairs can take on an appearance of completely different chairs. For example, in the 1960's the use of early American decor called for an extremely orange color that was commonly used on birch and maple chairs. The early American stain became so identified with that period that when the early American phase passed, nobody seemed to want those old orange maple chairs, so we refinished hundreds of them.
Then again around 1970 or so the phase of dark pine furniture came into vogue, many people never even noticed that the same chairs from the sixties were now being finished in a tone more in keeping with the design trend of the day and millions of them continued to be sold with almost no design change, and again in the late eighties the trend toward Cherry reached full effect and colors changed again.
So it becomes more and more understandable, that when one owns otherwise good chairs that have become a little worn, it makes good sense to consider refinishing.
Older chairs typically offer well-seasoned wood, good quality joints and workmanship of a higher level than most made today, so think twice before you decide to pony up your hard earned dollars for new ones, and you too can enjoy better quality chairs for less money than you thought Possible
John VerHines is the president at Gramco Furniture Restoration. LLC. and an ASID i.p With over 40 years of experience in the craft of furniture restoration.
To learn more about furniture restoration you can visit http://www.gramcofurniturerestoration.com/Chair%20refinishing.html
Copyright 2006Gramco Furniture
About the Author (HTML)
John VerHines is a seasoned restorer and the president of Gramco. With over 40 years of experience in the craft of furniture restoration.
To learn more visit http://www.gramcofurniturerestoration.com/Chair%20refinishing.html
Copyright2006 Gramco furniture restoration LLC.
our site
8/4/2006 6:02:00 PM
To learn more about Gramco Furniture Restoration
80 seems hot.. till it gets 90.
8/3/2006 10:38:00 AM
Thank God it's a little cooler today. funny thing how people can compalin about it being hot at eighty or eightyfive.
but when it gets up to nintyeight for a few days then cools back down to eighty five, it seems like a cold snap.
Interior design and your family legacy
8/2/2006 4:39:00 PM
After 40 plus years as a furniture restorer, it still warms my heart when a client brings in an old item for review, wondering if it might be possible to do something with it. There was a time long ago when if the item presented was not really worth the time, I would recommend against the restoration. As I have grown a little older I have begun to realize, there is a kind of value that defies appraisal.
The furnishings and other artifacts we have, and pass along to our kids and grandkids are more about preserving a family tradition and carrying on a pride in our family and loved ones than just a place to sit.
As I slow down and really listen to what my clients are saying, it starts to become more and more clear, It isn’t really about the chair or end table or whatever on the surface it seems to be. The little thing they brought along for me to see. The thing they are trying to grab onto is really more a legacy than any thing else. It’s a way to preserve what seems good about the past, and to bring that forth in their home today.
Maybe that thing lives inside the chair, where as a kid they remember Grandpa sitting on the front porch, smoking his pipe and telling stories of how it was when his daddy raised him. It's a reminder of stories from a time before people had electricity in the house, and chilly visits to the outhouse on a cold November night.
For example, not long ago, a client of ours named Barbara stopped by to drop off a family piece. My associate commented about a rocking chair, it was laying just inside the door of our shop in pieces where barb left it just a moment before, I think something like “why in the world, would anybody spend money on that?” At face value, it’s a valid question. The chair wasn’t that good. The cost of restoration probably was every bit or more what it would cost to replace the rocker, but there was more to it than that, he had totally, missed the point as so many do. The rocker belonged to Barbara's Mother whom had used it to rock barb and her little brother when she herself, was a young mother, it was a gift to her from her mom and in turn Barbs Mom had given to her just before passing away. I’m pretty sure that Barb had a lot of other chairs, and I’m sure she could have gone out and bought one just as nice for the money she was spending for the restoration, but knowing what we now know, that’s not the point is it?
As time goes on, my hair gets thinner, and my belly gets thicker, and I see more and more, the importance of leaving a legacy, as individuals, families and even as a country. And the stuff we have in and around our homes, while it is so true that we can’t take it with us, what we leave behind helps us to tell a story. The story of what we hold dear, the values we ascribe to and the example we set for future generations to model.
Christmas dinner on Grandma’s dining set will always taste better, and a book enjoyed in front of a fireplace is more intriguing if you are seated in mom’s rocking chair.
So, when taking inventory and planning what to do with potential heirlooms when they come your way think twice. Remember, it’s not only about cost benefit analysis and replacement cost.
When you decide to keep that rocker, or table or dining set, keep this in mind, these things are heavy laden vehicles, vehicles that transport fond memories, important values and sometimes several lifetimes worth of identity. I believe, that if you plan your interior design projects with these thoughts in mind, you will develop a real beautiful and warm home, a back drop for all the things you hold dear, and an opportunity to teach the next generation what is good and true and praiseworthy in life.
Description
Christmas dinner on Grandma’s dining set will always taste better, and a book enjoyed in front of a fireplace is more intriguing if you are seated in mom’s rocking chair.
About the Author (text)
John VerHines is the president at Gramco Furniture Restoration. LLC. and an ASID i.p With over 40 years of experience in the craft of furniture restoration.
To learn more about furniture restoration you can visit www.gramcofurniturerestoration.com
Copyright 2006Gramco Furniture
About the Author (HTML)
John VerHines is a seasoned restorer and president of Gramco. With 40+ years experience in the craft of furniture restoration.To learn more visit http://www.GramcoFurnitureRestoration.com
Copyright 2006Gramco Furniture
working around the summer heat.
8/2/2006 5:08:00 AM
Over the last few days it has been really hot for the metro Detroit area. The heat requires us to make some adjustments in our schedule.
Mostly we have shifted our people on to Case cleaning and repairs.
the heat and humidity really plays havoc with the way that different finishes perform, in a bad way, so to keep the quality hign and move the work ahead we have made the scheduling adjustments.