u/G_Michaels_Restores

Client cabinet, not mine. Came in solid, no repairs needed, they just didn't like the color anymore.

Stripped the whole exterior and re-toned it to a dark slate. Looks basically black indoors, goes blue-gray when the sun hits it. Left the interior in the original cherry on purpose so it still glows through the glass. That contrast was the whole point of the job.

Took all the panes and hardware out before starting. On glazed doors thats not optional in my opinion, you can always see where somebody masked around fixed glass, theres a ridge at the muntin and it never looks right.

Only tricky part was keeping the molding profile even. End grain on those profiles drinks color faster than the flat faces so you have to build it up slow or you get blotching in the coves.

Anyway, happy with how the two tone landed. Curious if anyone else does the dark outside light inside thing on glazed pieces or if you tend to take the interior dark too.

This is probably the most involved piece weve had in the shop in a good while. French, Louis XVI style marquetry commode. Marble top, gilded brass figures on the corners, cherubs, garlands, and this incredible inlaid marquetry scene on the front that's made of dozens of little pieces of different colored woods fitted together.

First thing, the whole thing came apart. Both drawers out, every solid brass statue and mount taken off and laid out on blankets. You cant do a piece at this level any other way, each material needs a totally different process so you have to separate them all out.

The brass all got stripped, cleaned, polished and then refinished with a lacquer made specifically for brass so it holds. All the veneer and marquetry got repaired and refinished, both drawers too. The base we did by hand with French polish, which is that built up shellac method. Then polished the marble top and did repairs all around.

The fun and the challenge of one like this is your basically four different trades on one piece, brass work, veneer work, French polishing, and stone. Then it all has to go back together and look like it was never touched.

Outdoor furniture is honestly some of the most satisfying stuff to refinish so heres a good one. Brazilian teak patio set, round table, four chairs and a little side table. Came in faded to that flat silvery gray you get after a wood sits out in the sun for years.

Here's the thing people don't realize about teak and the dense tropical hardwoods. That gray is basically just the surface weathering, the wood underneath is usually still totally sound. Teak is one of the best outdoor woods there is for exactly that reason.

So we did a full refinish on the whole set. Once you get the weathered layer off and start putting finish on, the color just comes roaring back. Theres a shot in here of one of the guys wiping finish onto a chair arm and you can literally see the deep red coming up wet under the rag, thats my favorite part of the whole job.

The finished color is this deep orange red, and the grain in Brazilian teak is no joke. Set looks better then most new patio furniture and it cost a fraction of replacing it.

If youve got a weathered wood set out back, don't toss it. Gray is almost never as bad as it looks.

Posting this one because water stains come up constantly and people may assume they're permanent.

Solid oak drop leaf table, came in with a big dark water stain sitting right in the center of the top. Looked like something had been left on it for a long time. We got the top back down to bare wood and that's when you can really see how far it went, its not a surface thing, that discoloration goes down into the fibers.

Which is why sanding is the wrong move. You can sand and sand and either it doesn't come out or you take off way more material then a top can spare. So we hit it with an oxalic acid wash instead, which pulls the stain out chemically rather then removing wood to get to it. Neutralize, prep, then finish.

Stain gone. And the top underneath is really nice, there's great fleck in that oak once the finish is on it.

The base is worth a look too, turned posts, exposed square pegs in the apron, and theres a horseshoe carved into the center post. Somebody put actual thought into this table.

Anyway if anyone got a stained top sitting under a tablecloth somewhere, its usually fixable.

Most of what gets posted around here is the big dramatic stuff so here's a small one. Just a three legged occasional table, the kind that sits next to a chair. Multi sided top with a shaped edge, splayed turned legs, little triangle shelf down at the bottom.

We stripped it right down to bare wood first. In the before pic that's the pale stage where it honestly looks kind of plain, almost like an unfinished furniture store piece. But you can see all the construction at that point, the board layout across the top, how crisp the turnings still were.

Then refinished it in a deep reddish brown with a decent amount of sheen to it. What gets me about small pieces like this is how much the finish does. All those details, the ring cuts on the legs, the shape of the top edge, they were all there the whole time you just couldn't see them under a dull worn finish. Put a good finish on and the thing has way more presence then a table that size has any right to.

Working trhough turnings is the fiddly part because finish wants to pool up in the grooves, so you have to keep after it.

Anyway small ones are underrated. This took a fraction of the time a dining set does and the payoff is just as good. 🤎

Wanted to share a solid before and after on this one. Just a three drawer chest of drawers, nothing fancy, but it came out really nice.

First thing we did was strip it all the way down to bare wood. That's the stage in the before pic where it looks kind of pale and raw, almost like unfinished furniture. I actually like that stage a lot becuase once the old finish is off you can finally see what your working with, the grain, the seams, how its all put together. This one was solid wood and well built which is most of the battle.

From there we restored it and finished it in a deep warm reddish brown. Kept the round wood knobs, kept the shaped apron along the bottom crisp, just brought the whole thing back into focus.

The reason these are worth doing is the build quality. A chest like this is put together way better than the flat pack stuff, so stripping and refinishing gets you something nicer than a new one and you keep a piece that's actually solid. The before and after on bare wood never gets old for me, you go from flat and dead to something with real depth.

Wanted to share a solid before and after on this one. Just a three drawer chest of drawers, nothing fancy, but it came out really nice.

First thing we did was strip it all the way down to bare wood. Thats the stage in the before pic where it looks kind of pale and raw, almost like unfinished furniture. I actually like that stage a lot becuase once the old finish is off you can finally see what your working with, the grain, the seams, how its all put together. This one was solid wood and well built which is most of the battle.

From there we restored it and finished it in a deep warm reddish brown. Kept the round wood knobs, kept the shaped apron along the bottom crisp, just brought the whole thing back into focus.

The reason these are worth doing is the build quality. A chest like this is put together way better than the flat pack stuff, so stripping and refinishing gets you something nicer than a new one and you keep a piece thats actually solid. The before and after on bare wood never gets old for me, you go from flat and dead to something with real depth.

Been meaning to post this one. Set of four bow back Windsor chairs, the classic style with the arched spindle back and the turned legs.

We stripped them all the way down to bare wood to start clean. Once the old finish was off they almost looked unfinished rather than old, if that makes sense, just pale raw wood. But the bones were great, all those spindles and the turned legs still crisp, seats solid. Good candidates.

We finished the whole set out in a warm reddish brown stain. The tricky part with a set like this isnt any single chair, its getting all four to match. Stain takes differently around the spindles and the leg turnings than it does on the flat of the seat, so you have to work it evenly or you'll end up with chairs that don't quite look like they belong together. Once it was all on and leveled out though they really came together as a set.

The before and after on stripped wood is always satisfying becuase you go from that flat dead raw color to something with actual depth and warmth to it. A solid wood chair set like this is so worth refinishing, its built way better than most of what you can buy new.

Happy to talk through the process if anyone has questions. More of what we work on is here https://gmrestores.com/refinishing-furniture-fort-collins/

This one came into the shop after spending over a hundred years up in Larimer County Colorado. Its an oak flat file cabinet, the kind made for storing maps and big drawings flat in those wide shallow drawers. A few of the original paper labels were still stuck to the drawer fronts, which I always think is the best part, you get a little window into the working life the piece had before it ever reached you.

It showed its age though. The finish was dark and worn through in spots and there was water staining running down both sides of the case. When something is this old you always go in a little careful, because you don't really know what the wood under there is going to look like until you start taking the old finish off.

We did a full repair on the case and all six drawers and then refinished the whole thing. The part I never get tired of is that moment the old finish comes away and the actual grain shows up again. This was solid oak, and once it was cleaned up the top especially came alive, there's figure in it you couldn't see at all before.

Kept the original cup pulls because they suit it and there was no reason to swap out good hardware. Still rolls on its casters too.

Anyway, just wanted to share. Pieces with this much history are my favorite kind of work, your not really just fixing furniture at that point, your keeping something going for another generation.

If anyone is curious you can find out more about antique furniture restoration here: https://gmrestores.com/antique-furniture-restoration-projects-fort-collins

This one came into the shop after spending over a hundred years up in Larimer County Colorado. Its an oak flat file cabinet, the kind made for storing maps and big drawings flat in those wide shallow drawers. A few of the original paper labels were still stuck to the drawer fronts, which I always think is the best part, you get a little window into the working life the piece had before it ever reached you.

It showed its age though. The finish was dark and worn through in spots and there was water staining running down both sides of the case. When something is this old you always go in a little careful, because you dont really know what the wood under there is going to look like until you start taking the old finish off.

We did a full repair on the case and all six drawers and then refinished the whole thing. The part I never get tired of is that moment the old finish comes away and the actual grain shows up again. This was solid oak, and once it was cleaned up the top especially came alive, theres figure in it you couldn't see at all before.

Kept the original cup pulls because they suit it and there was no reason to swap out good hardware. Still rolls on its casters too.

Anyway, just wanted to share. Pieces with this much history are my favorite kind of work, your not really just fixing furniture at that point, your keeping something going for another generation.

If anyone is curious you can find out more about antique furniture restoration here: https://gmrestores.com/antique-furniture-restoration-projects-fort-collins

This one came into our shop needing a full refinish. No catastrophic damage, no missing parts, just a finish that had genuinely run its course on what turned out to be a pretty special piece of early American furniture.

Federal/Hepplewhite period, best we can tell. Classic 2-over-3 drawer layout, bracket feet, shaped apron. The drawer faces all have stringing inlay in a light contrasting wood around the perimeter, with a small diamond inlay accent centered on each drawer. Hardware is original brass oval bail pulls, the kind you just don't see on new furniture.

The finish had gotten to the point where it was actually hiding the wood rather than showing it. You know how old finishes can get that cloudy, flat quality where the grain just disappears? That is what we were dealing with.

So we stripped it back to bare wood, built the finish up from scratch, color matched it to bring out the warmth that was already in the wood, and polished up the brass. The inlay detail needed some careful attention during the strip process so nothing got lost.

Honestly the grain on this thing is why I wanted to post it. Once the old finish came off and we started building the new one up, the figure in the wood just came alive. Hard to explain until you see it in person but the photos give you some idea.

Happy to answer questions if anyone is curious about the process or the piece itself.

These came into the shop needing wood work on the frames and legs. The scissor base design is the whole reason these chairs are interesting and also the reason refinishing them takes longer than a regular chair, theres just no flat surfaces to work with anywhere on the leg structure. Everything is curved and the finish has to follow that geometry or it looks wrong.

We stripped the frames back, worked up a warm walnut tone that brings the grain out properly, and got the finish consistent across both chairs before they went over to Sparrow House of Design for the fabric.

The upholstery choice is bold and I'll be honest we weren't sure how the tropical print was going to read against the walnut until we saw it in person. Dark background, leaf pattern, warm amber and green tones in the print. Against that walnut it just works. The dark fabric makes the frame pop rather than compete with it. Sometimes a combination like that either completely lands or completely doesn't and this one landed.

This is the kind of project where two different shops have to actually communicate about sequencing or the result suffers. Wood refinishing has to be fully cured before fabric goes anywhere near it. Got that right and it shows.

Full write up with more photos here if anyone's interested: https://gmrestores.com/mid-century-lounge-chair-restoration

We're based in Fort Collins, CO. G. Michaels Restoration handles the wood side of things and we coordinate with upholstery partners when a project needs both. Happy to answer questions about the refinishing process if anyone has them.

These came into the shop needing wood work on the frames and legs. The scissor base design is the whole reason these chairs are interesting and also the reason refinishing them takes longer than a regular chair, theres just no flat surfaces to work with anywhere on the leg structure. Everything is curved and the finish has to follow that geometry or it looks wrong.

We stripped the frames back, worked up a warm walnut tone that brings the grain out properly, and got the finish consistent across both chairs before they went over to Sparrow House of Design for the fabric.

The upholstery choice is bold and I'll be honest we weren't sure how the tropical print was going to read against the walnut until we saw it in person. Dark background, leaf pattern, warm amber and green tones in the print. Against that walnut it just works. The dark fabric makes the frame pop rather than compete with it. Sometimes a combination like that either completely lands or completely doesn't and this one landed.

This is the kind of project where two different shops have to actually communicate about sequencing or the result suffers. Wood refinishing has to be fully cured before fabric goes anywhere near it. Got that right and it shows.

Full write up with more photos here if anyone's interested: https://gmrestores.com/mid-century-lounge-chair-restoration/

We're based in Fort Collins, CO. G. Michaels Restoration handles the wood side of things and we coordinate with upholstery partners when a project needs both. Happy to answer questions about the refinishing process if anyone has them.

These came in with zero finish on them. Like genuinely bare wood, no stain, no topcoat, hardware sitting in a bag. Someone had already done the hard part of stripping them and then just... stopped. Happens more than you'd think actually. People get halfway through a refinishing project, realize it's more involved than they expected, and the furniture sits in a garage for two years.

So we had a clean slate basically, which is kind of a nice problem to have. No old finish to fight, no color to work around. Just bare Ethan Allen hardwood waiting to become something.

We went with a rich warm brown, the kind that really pulls the grain movement out rather than flattening it. Getting that kind of depth on a stain isn't just slapping color on, you have to build it up in stages and keep checking it in different light or you end up with something that looks fine under shop lighting and weird everywhere else. The topcoat on the surfaces has that thing where it almost looks like the grain is under glass, like there's real depth to it. Hard to photograph honestly but it reads well in person.

The original bail drop pulls cleaned up really nicely. Ethan Allen hardware from that era is actually pretty solid, no reason to swap it out. Against this color they look better than they probably did originally.

Anyway two nightstands, matched set, ready to go. Nothing fancy about the project really, just good prep work and not rushing the finish. We do this kind of thing out of our shop in Fort Collins pretty regularly. G. Michaels Restoration has been doing furniture refinishing since 1985 so bare wood starting points don't really intimidate us at this point.

Anyone else have a half-finished refinishing project sitting around? Curious how common this actually is.

Don't see tops like this come through the shop very often.

Multi-species butcher block dining table, and honestly the wood alone is what stopped everyone. The alternating strips of different species sitting right next to each other, dark grain butting up against the warmer lighter tones, it almost looks like somebody planned it out to be art as much as a table. You get pieces in for table refinishing all the time that are nice, but something like this is a different category.

Refinished the top at G. Michael's Restoration in Fort Collins, and under a proper finish it just became alive. Every grain pattern, every transition between species, the knots, the figure, all of it visible and actually protected now instead of just sitting there raw. Thats really the whole point of a good refinish, your not covering the wood up, your letting it show while sealing it so the next 20 years of dinners and spills don't wreck it.

Tables like this don't show up often and when they do you really cant cut corners on the finish or the whole piece falls flat. A bad finish on good wood is honestly worse than a decent finish on plain wood, you can see the missed potential. Glad we did right by this one.

Most of what comes through the shop is more standard furniture repair stuff, wobbly chairs, scratched tabletops, broken drawers, the usual. But every once in a while something like this lands on the bench and its a good reminder why we do this.