Pa, Nj furniture Refinishing, Repair & Restoration “The Restoration Studio”
The Restoration Studios
A fine furniture and antique work shoppe
Voted “Best of Philly” by Philadelphia Magazine
Philadelphia & Delaware Counties Call: 215-356-8534
Bucks, Montgomery and all other Counties Call: 610-346-7551
Visit our Website at www.werefinish.com
Email us @ werefinish@yahoo.com
Refinishers & Restorers of fine furniture and Antiques Providing the tri state area with the absolute best in Antique repair and furniture refinishing.
Our Winter Sale is going on now….It’s our only sale of the year, so don’t miss out! Click here for all the details
Welcome to the Restorastion Studio. We are a Metro Philadelphia Pa based company providing the entire tri state region with the finest in Resfinisng & Restoration services. If you’re considering having furniture restored, you’ve come to the right place. Please visit our website at www.werefinish.com for many photos of our work and more in-depth information.
An increasing appreciation of older furniture, and an awareness to the radically diminishing quality of new furniture has made furniture refinishing a very sensible alternative to buying new. Just because furniture may be older, doesn’t necessarily mean it has to look old. At The Restoration Studio, we refinish A LOT of furniture, and have been doing so for the past 20 years. Truth is, when it comes to furniture refinishing, there is no substitute for experience. There’s almost nothing we have not come across at least once and since the owner is also the head restorer/refinisher, you can deal directly with the person who will be doing the work. How refreshing !
Best part is…our finishes are better in both quality and appearance than most factory finishes. We can match or duplicate almost any finish, so your color choices are vast in most cases. If you have furniture in need of refinishing, repair or restoration, we will gladly give you a free estimate providing you send us a few pictures and description of what your looking to have done, along with any other Info you may think helpful. Send the pictures to us at werefinish@yahoo.com and you’ll hear back from us usually the same day. If you would like to speak with us in person, we’d love to hear from you. Our phone numbers are also located on the contact us page.
The Restoration Studio proudly services a wide area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Just some of the services we offer include:
Furniture Refinishing. Antique Restoration, Furniture Repair, Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing, Antique Repair, Furniture Repair, Art Frame Restoration, Custom Color Matching, Painted Finishes, Glazed Finishes, Historical Conservation, Museum Quality Conservation, Gold Leafing, Guilding, French Polishing, Smoke and water damage, Paint Stripping, Church Pew Refinishing
We deliver and pick up furniture in our local Philadelphia, Main Line, Suburban Philadelphia, Delaware County, Tri-State Areas of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey including:
Ardmore, PA; Allentown, PA; Aston, PA; Bala Cynwyd, PA; Berwyn, PA; Bethel Township, PA; Bethlehem, PA; Blue Bell, PA; Boothwyn, PA; Brookhaven, PA; Broomall, PA; Bryn Mawr, PA; Chadds Ford, PA; Chester County, PA; Chester Heights, PA; Chester Springs, PA; Chester, PA; Chestnut Hill, PA; Claymont, DE; Coatesville, PA; Collegeville, PA; Collingdale, PA; Concord Township, PA; Concordville, PA; Conshohocken, PA; Delaware County, PA; Devon, PA; Downingtown, PA; Drexel Hill, PA; East Goshen, PA; Easttown, PA; Edgmont, PA; Exton, PA; Folcroft, PA ; Frazier, PA; Gladwyne, PA ; Glen Mills, PA; Gulph Mills, PA; Gwynedd Valley, PA; Haverford, PA; Havertown, PA; Jeffersonville, PA; Kennett Square, PA; King of Prussia, PA; Landsdowne, PA; Lenni, PA; Lima, PA; Lionville, PA; Lower Merion Township, PA; Main Line, PA; Malvern, PA; Marple Township, PA; Media, PA; Merion, PA; Middletown Township, PA; Montgomery County, PA; Morton, PA; Mullica Hill, NJ; Narberth, PA; Nether Providence, PA; New Castle, DE; Newark, DE;Newtown, PA; Newtown Square, PA; Newtown Township, PA; Norristown, PA; Paoli, PA; Parkside, PA; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenixville, PA; Pocopson Township, PA; Quakertown, Pa; Radnor, PA; Ridley Park, PA; Rose Tree, PA; Rose Valley, PA; Rosemont, PA; Rutledge, PA; Sharon Hill, PA; Southeastern PA;Springfield, PA; Springhouse, PA; St. Davids, PA; Suburban Philadelphia; Swarthmore, PA; Swedesboro, NJ; Thornton, PA; Tredyffrin Township, PA; Unionville, PA; Upper Chichester, PA; Upper Darby, PA; Upper Merion Township, PA; Upper Providence, PA; Valley Forge, PA; Villanova, PA; Wallingford, PA; Wayne, PA; West Chester, PA; Westtown, PA; Willistown, PA; Willow Grove, PA; Wilmington, DE; Woodbury, NJ; Wynnewood, PA
Just a few of the places we service in New Jersey:
Chatham Township, NJ; Verona Township, NJ; Oceanport Borough, NJ; Millstone Borough, NJ; Lavallette Borough,NJ; Mahwah Township, NJ; Essex Fells Township, NJ; Secaucus , NJ; Rockleigh Borough, NJ; Roseland Borough, NJ; Alpine Borough, NJ; Mountainside Borough, NJ; Cedar Grove Township, NJ; Manasquan Borough,NJ ; Chatham Borough, NJ; North Caldwell Borough, NJ; Spring Lake Heights Borough, NJ; Summit City, NJ; West Caldwell Township, NJ; Leonia Borough, NJ; Cape May Point Borough, NJ; Ho-Ho-Kus Borough, NJ; Cranford Township, NJ; Montville Township, NJ ; Haworth Borough, NJ; Millburn Township, NJ; Berkeley Heights Township, NJ; Sea Girt Borough, NJ; Ridgewood Village, NJ; Spring Lake Borough, NJ; Interlaken Borough, NJ; Tenafly Borough, NJ; Monmouth Beach Borough, NJ; Closter Borough, NJ; Haddonfield Borough, NJ;
Sussex County, Camden County, Bergen County, Burlington County, Monmouth County, Morris County, Essex County, Mercer County, Cumberland county, Middlesex County, Cape May County, Union County, Atlantic County, Ocean County
Don’t see your town? No worries, just give us a call and let us know where you live. We’ll work something out.
Pa, NJ Antique Furniture Restoration, Repair and Refinishing “The Restoration Studio”
The Restoration Studios
A fine furniture and antique work shoppe
Voted “Best of Philly” by Philadelphia Magazine
Philadelphia & Delaware Counties Call: 215-356-8534
Bucks, Montgomery and all other Counties Call: 610-346-7551
Visit our Website at www.werefinish.com
Email us @ werefinish@yahoo.com
Refinishers & Restorers of fine furniture and Antiques Providing the tri state area with the absolute best in Antique repair and furniture refinishing.
Our Winter Sale is going on now….It’s our only sale of the year, so don’t miss out! Click here for all the details
Welcome to the Restorastion Studio. We are a Metro Philadelphia Pa based company providing the entire tri state region with the finest in Resfinisng & Restoration services. If you’re considering having furniture restored, you’ve come to the right place. Please visit our website at www.werefinish.com for many photos of our work and more in-depth information.
If you have furniture in need of refinishing, repair or restoration, we will gladly give you a free estimate providing you send us a few pictures and description of what your looking to have done, along with any other Info you may think helpful. Send the pictures to us at werefinish@yahoo.com and you’ll hear back from us usually the same day. If you would like to speak with us in person, we’d love to hear from you. Our phone numbers are also located on the contact us page.
The Restoration Studio (www.werefinish.com) is located in Bucks County Pennsylvania, and our primary service area includes Bucks, Philadelphia, Delaware & Montgomery counties. Yesterday however, I traveled two hours each way to deliver a set of furniture we restored for some great customers…the Tracy’s. They live in Northern New Jersey. Within the next couple days I will be delivering another set to their relatives in central New Jersey. Then, the first week of January we will be heading to Wildwood NJ to deliver furniture we restored and refinished for the Way’s. We currently have several other New Jersey customers, as well as customers from all over southeastern PA.
Furniture design has taken on a fairly casual attitude evident over the past few years. Word is, the home furnishings industry is taking a small step towards a more formal approach in the bedroom and dining room furniture shown this coming season. While finishes remain soft and dry, with little or no gloss, there is less wax buildup and glaze in the nooks and crannies. New collections in general will be somewhat darker, with fewer bleached or white-washed finishes present. And while solid oak wood furniture is still around (as oak prices have increased) cherry, pine and maple are on the rise in the solid wood furniture sector.
The Restoration Studio has kept with the trends, and we recently lowered the sheen on our “standard” lacquer finish to near matte. We still offer any sheen you desire (flat, satin, semi-gloss or gloss), but our standard sheen was lowered to match today’s current trend. We find keeping with the trend helps our customers pair the furniture they have refinished with any new or recently purchased furniture in their home, and I really don’t see this no-gloss trend changing anytime soon. Of course, we work with each individual customer to make certain our final product matches their needs, exceeds their expectations and blends perfectly with their individual taste.
When it comes to recognizing a potential bargain at a Flea Market, antique store or auction house, nothing beats having had to dismantle a chair or table for restoration purposes, analyze it’s parts, and then restore the piece using the same materials, tools and techniques used when the piece was made. Knowing how to use a chisel and handsaw and understanding the types of markings they leave behind is invaluable when trying to determine when a piece of furniture was made.
To date a piece and distinguish antiques from reproductions or fakes, you need not just in-depth knowledge of historical styles and construction techniques but powers of deduction worthy of a detective.
On many occasions I have found myself evaluating a customers furniture, only to be shown a “very old and valuable” antique. “It’s very old”, Or “it’s a real antique” usually starts the conversation, followed by the story of how It ended up in their possession. All to often, the “antique” turns out not to be an antique at all!
So how can you tell? The antique dealer said It was a period Hepplewhite sideboard, and the price sticker would support that, so it must be an antique right? Not necessarily. Honestly, I approach every piece with skepticism. The truth is, for every true period antique, there are many thousands of reproductions. I look at every piece assuming it is not a period antique, and then use the power of deduction to make a final determination.
If you see woodworm holes on furniture, make this simple test: stand the piece on newspaper for a week, sharply tapping the affected area every day. Small pieces of sawdust indicates an active presence, and you should act fast, since beetles can spread fast. Never put newly acquired pieces into furnished rooms until treatment has been carried out. Powder post beetles are the common species in North America. Keep in mind that worm holes are often man made and added as distressing. Close inspection will reveal the tool marks. Also, I come across many pieces that were infected with woodworms in the past, but no longer housed an active colony of beetles.
Now that you have confirmed your flea market find is infested with powder post beetles and you have isolated it away from all other furniture, wood flooring, open wooden beams, paneling, etc, It’s time to get rid of them!
We would love to hear about your experience with us! We encourage you to leave your comments and/or read what our customers have to say below.
Thanks!
Jennifer
Welcome to the beginning of our new weblog. The knowledge we share with you is inspired in part by experience gained over the past 28 years while running a hands on furniture restoration business in the antique rich regions of Philadelphia and Bucks County, PA. Coaxing furniture back to life using both traditional and modern methods requires time, thought, and patience. But each time a job leaves our shop and I survey the results, it is clear that the process is not only enjoyable, but well worth the effort.
Our website www.werefinish.com is a great outlet to show our potential clients examples of the rich diversity and caliber of work that we perform. Through the use of our weblog, I hope to go beyond the limitations of a website where not only I can express myself, but my past, current and future customers have a voice and can interact as well!
We will speak of past projects, current projects, tips, tricks & techniques. I’ll keep you up to date with what’s going on with not only our business (The Restoration Studio), but industry news as well.
We hope that this blog will help reflect our passion for centuries of tradition. We hope too that it will reflect our passion for furniture and that the thrill and exhilaration we have in resuscitating pieces seemingly past redemption will prove inspirational.
Written By: Rodney Keyser
