Wood Furniture Refinishing Tips

The wood furniture in your house sustains wear and tear simply from daily use. Condensation from your water glass can leave white rings, and little scratches and dents seem to mysteriously appear. Luckily, some of the damage that befalls your favorite furniture can be sanded, scraped, and stained, and otherwise brought back to life. The following tips will help you get started refinishing your damaged or worn out wood furniture so you can once again enjoy it.

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Breathe New Life Into Your Outdated Furniture

When your sofa, armoire, and overstuffed chairs start to feel worn or outdated, it’s tempting to replace them all with brand new furniture. New fabric designs in trendy patterns and colors can futher tempt us to invest in all new furniture. However, buying new furniture is costly, especially when you can get even better results and get great value by visiting a good upholstery shop.

Refinishing And Recovering Your Beloved Furniture

The best upholsterer is a true artisan, able to restore, recover, and reupholster your furniture to fit the look you want. Your favorite loveseat may be looking worn or ragged, but perhaps you can’t bring yourself to part with it. Likewise, your dining room table and chairs may be looking dated. You may also have an antique overstuffed chair in the attic that you would love to incorporate into your living room, if only the fabric weren’t torn and dusty. A good furniture restoration and upholstery company can revitalize and transform these pieces using time-honored tools and techniques. That same loveseat can be reupholstered to look like new, whether using a fabric similar to the original, or using brand new fabrics from your favorite contemporary designer. Likewise, your dining room table can be sanded, stained, and refinished in the look you desire, with new cushions on each dining room chair. Finally, the antique chair in the attic can be transformed from a dusty relic into the treasured heirloom it is!

Quality Furniture, Then And Now

The quality and craftsmanship of furniture has deteriorated through the decades. In the past, artisans and apprentices would create masterpieces of hard woods and exquisite textiles, fit for fine homes, and intended to be passed down for many generations. Today, furniture is often mass-produced, and manufacturers have to cut corners in order to compete in the industry.

For example:
Jute, cotton, and other natural fibers were used for filler and padding in the past, but now synthetic fibers are used.

Hardwood was used in furniture construction, but once now plywood and even particleboard are used.
Joints were glued or dowelled in the past, but now are often stapled.

By choosing to refinish your furniture, not only are you giving it another life, but you are also holding on to better quality furniture!

The Best Furniture Upholstery Company In Jacksonville, Florida

Jax Furniture Refinishing and Upholstering is the best choice for breathing new life into your favorite piece of furniture. Our master craftsmen are the best in the field, highly trained, with years of experience, and award-winning skill and artistry. Customers in downtown Jacksonville, historic Riverside Avondale, and along the coast from Fernandina Beach to St. Augustine trust us with their cherished heirloom furniture and contemporary furniture alike. If you have furniture that needs a repair or a brand new look, we are the upholstery shop for you!

Choosing to Restore or Replace Furniture.

 
Restore or Replace?

Making the decision to either restore a piece of furniture or replace it is often a tricky decision.

Often time’s people assume restoring furniture is a cheaper alternative to replacing it. And in some cases it is. For instance replacing a well built sturdy piece of wood furniture is not only going to be hard to replace with something comparable it will most likely be expensive to replace. Furniture like that should be restored.

However, if the furniture isn’t well built and doesn’t hold any sentimental significance, replacing the furniture would be, in most cases, the less expensive option.

When you are trying to decide if you want to replace or restore a piece of furniture, it will help to keep these things in mind:

-Sentimental Value of the piece

-Quality of the craftsmanship

-Affordability

-Finding something similar or that you like to take its place

If you have decided to restore a piece of furniture, it is important to have an experienced craftsman tackle the project for you.

Jax Furniture Refinishing and Upholstering guarantees the work and has experienced and skilled craftsmen that you can trust with your furniture.Call today to set up a free in home estimate.

How do you choose a stain for your refinishing project?

Wood furniture is often put into different categories based on the type of wood used to build the piece. The value of wood is mainly based on its color, grain, and durability. However in the world of furniture refinishing, stain has become a great equalizer. Stain provides craftsmen the ability to turn any piece into something of beauty, regardless of the wood used to build it.

Wood is often stained for a multitude of reasons. Most often, stain is used to emphasize the wood grain and give character. The problem most run into though in a furniture refinishing project is deciding which stain is the best choice for their type of wood and the look they want to achieve for their furniture.

Furniture made of cherry, maple, mahogany, rosewood, and aged pine often look best in their natural color. On the other hand, light wood with poor grain detail can greatly benefit from stain. Choosing the right stain may seem difficult, but the type of wood shouldn’t be the only guideline for staining, your personal preference and style should be the ultimate deciding factor.

Jacksonville Furniture Refinishing and Upholstering has experienced craftsmen that are more than happy to answer any questions you may have about your furniture, and will gladly assist you in selecting the best stain for your refinishing project.

Restoring Antique Furniture

Compared to furniture being built today, antique furniture has become a classic example of craftsmanship. Taking a faded, maybe dust covered, piece from the past and restoring it can be a great way to preserve and make use of great furniture.

Antiques are often viewed as pieces that can’t be altered or changed, because of a fear that they will lose value. Often times we find ourselves saying this, however, if it’s sitting under boxes and covered with an old sheet in the garage how much value does it really have? If the furniture is sentimental and you aren’t planning on selling it, the quality of the furniture far outweighs the value of it as an antique piece.

Restoring and revamping an older piece of furniture is a great way to showcase a unique, and often times well built piece of furniture in your home. Jax Furniture Refinishing and Upholstering can take what was once a beautiful piece of furniture that lost its glow over time and make it shine again. Our craftsmen pay attention to the details and treat your furniture with care.

So instead of letting furniture you can’t part with sit and gather dust, let us make it new again.

Why It’s Important To Leave It To The Professionals

We all have constants in our lives, things we rely on everyday, sometimes all day, without much thought to them, moment-to-moment. When those things are less than they should be, we tend to notice and want to fix the problem right away. Our homes and our cars tend to get a lot of our attention and care when something goes wrong, but what about our furniture?

It’s as much a part of our daily routine as anything but, when our furniture suffers damage, or excessive wear over time, our first thought is either to address the problem ourselves or, worse, let the problem go. If we choose that second option, we’re often left with a much worse problem down the road, and then the choice becomes fix something we know started small, or abandon our furniture altogether and be forced to replace it. That’s why, when it comes to refinishing furniture or addressing problems with damaged or worn upholstery, there’s a third option, the best option. Hire a professional.

Furniture refinishing and upholstery professionals have the experience and precision of craft needed to do the job, regardless of size or complexity, the right way. This can save you the time needed to try to fix the problem yourself, as well as allow you the luxury of choosing exactly what you want done with a particularly piece. Also, hiring a professional to maintain and repair your furniture will help it last longer and serve you better. That saves you money over time, and gives you better peace of mind in trying economic times.

So, the next time your hard-working furniture suffers damage, or could use a makeover, do the right thing for it. Hire a professional at Jax Furniture Refinishing & Upholstering in Jacksonville, Florida.

Get Inspired by Pinterest

There’s been lots of buzz about Pinterest lately and for good reason: Pinterest is the fastest growing social network with nearly 12 million users and counting! With this many people sharing visual inspiration, Pinterest is a designer’s playground when it comes to getting inspired. Even when it comes to reupholstering and refinishing your own furniture, there are tons of ideas to be found on Pinterest.

Discover The Hottest Color & Pattern Trends
If you explore the most recent pins on the Home Decor and DIY/Crafts sections of Pinterest, you’ll often notice color trends right away. Take a quick glance to see what colors and patterns people love. Take it one step further by re-pinning those images that inspire you to your own boards. Pinterest also shows you from where images are sourced, so you can see what other designers are doing, too.

Get a Case of “Why Didn’t I Think of That?”
Pinterest is full of images of particularly clever ideas to repurpose old items into new and fresh crafts. Whether it’s creating no-sew pillow covers or using a tablecloth as a base fabric, Pinterest opens your eyes to all the ways you can really get creative. Best of all, you can click individual images to be taken right to the source to see exactly how you can reproduce the inspiration you find on Pinterest at home.

Leave it to the Professionals
Even though there are plenty of great tips to be found when it comes to furniture refinishing and upholstery, sometimes it’s better to leave it to the professionals. Pinterest can definitely inspire you, but it can’t make your design project from scratch for you. Save time and make sure you get the job done right the first time. In fact, that’s where Pinterest is your friend: you can easily e-mail your pinboard of the look you’re going for right to a team member at Jax Furniture Refinishing & Upholstering.

What ways are you using Pinterest to stay design-inspired?

New Trends in Furniture Refinishing – Antique Refinishing

While there are an undoubtedly large amount of furniture finishing option available, some finishing options are much better than others in terms of quality, style and ability to fit into the natural style of the room. For suitable items, one of the best and most popular furnishing refinishing options is antique refinishing.

When to Refinish Your Furniture

Knowing the right time to refinish the furniture in your Jacksonville, Florida, home may be tricky, especially if you have never refinished your furniture before. To help get you started, here are some questions to ask yourself in regards to furniture refinishing.

• Do you have an antique or vintage piece of furniture that requires some work to its aesthetic appeal?
• Did you find a bargain piece of furniture at a garage sale that you’re looking to update?
• Are there rings or smudges on your antique furniture that regular polish won’t remove?
• Do you want to give your dresser or table a fresh coat of paint?

 
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, then it’s time to invest in furniture refinishing services by Jax Furniture Refinishing and Upholstering. Our Jacksonville, Florida, craftsman are proud of the work they provide and they meticulous focus they put in every project. Our furniture refinishing technicians will never strip your furniture of its unique detail and qualities. We work hard to enhance its original look, never hide it. Our focus lies in fixing existing problems, restoring original shine, and removing any stains that destroys the look and value of the piece.

Why Refinish?

In addition to cost, there are environmental benefits of furniture refinishing. Furniture refinishing significantly reduces the impact of carbon on the environment. As opposed to buying new furniture, refinishing saves an estimated 124.08 tons of carbon dioxide per property. In other words, it takes 1000x more carbon dioxide to make a new piece of furniture rather than refinish it.

Contact us today to learn more about furniture refinishing services, or to schedule your free estimate.

Cheap and Chic Headboards

You would be surprised. Something that can bring any bedroom together is an awesome headboard. There are so many different ways and ideas for making an awesome headboard.

One idea is taking two closet doors and staining them in a light or dark wood and literally stacking them horizontally behind your bed or placing them next to each other vertically. This is a very cool idea and can create a modern look or a at home and cozy look depending on what type of bedding you decide to go with. But this is a cheap and easy way to add a little depth to your bedroom.

Another cool idea is a metal headboard. You can get some metal pieces from any home discount store. Look for some interesting motifs. You can hang them beside each other to create a really modern look. You can also paint the metal pieces to get a specific look for your bedroom.

Another idea is covering an artist’s canvas with fun and funky fabric. This is a very cheap way to add some pizzazz to your bedroom! Make sure your pull the fabric tightly across the frame. You should use a staple fun to secure the fabric to the canvas. What is really neat about this idea is that when you get tired of the fabric that is on the canvas you can simply recover the canvas with a new, fun look.

Did you know that you could use a fireplace cover as a headboard? To give it an old, antique look, spray paint the cover in blue and then sponge it in bronze paint and put a light coat on the screen. Do the same thing with copper paint. Then all you have to do is hang it behind your bed and watch your room go from blah to amazing with this simple gesture. You could also take two old shutters and paint them to your liking, measure the inside of the shutter (you usually want to add ½ an inch to the measurements) and put fabric in the open space of the shutter. How cool!

There are so many different ideas for headboards. They do not have to be your traditional pieces that cost a fortune. You can make your own fun and funky headboards for little to no money at all. All you have to do is look around and see what is out there!