What is furniture restoration?

Replacing old furniture with new can be very expensive. The cost of a new dining table and set of dining chairs will almost certainly run to four figures, even in the cheapest furniture store.
And trying to replace, for example, a mid-century modern dining set with something approaching the same build and material quality will be significantly more expensive. Restoring your existing furniture will give you the same results, if not better, as buying new – and at a fraction of the cost.

It takes 1000 times more carbon dioxide to make a new mass-produced furniture compared with restoring an existing piece. Furniture factories use an enormous amount of energy and materials to produce products for global markets. Use of fossil fuels, problems surrounding deforestation and land degradation, and the climate cost of international shipping are just some of the ways in which the phenomenon of 'fast furniture' harms our planet
But buying new mass manufactured furniture is only one half of the problem: junking your old wardrobe or coffee table creates its own environmental problems. In 2018, a study found that in the UK alone, nearly 22 million items of furniture are thrown away each year when they become damaged, with a significant proportion ending up in landfill. By choosing to restore your furniture rather than replace it, you are reducing your carbon footprint while also doing your bit to limit unnecessary waste and the environmental problems this generates. Think of it as the best recycling program you've ever used! You're not only extending the lifetime of your furniture, you are also increasing the lifespan of the planet.

If you've had a certain piece of furniture in your home for years, or even decades, the chances are you will have grown attached to it. An old dining table will have hosted many dinners and borne witness to the many ups and downs of family life. It will have acquired sentimental value. Watching a beloved piece of furniture slowly deteriorate can be difficult. But discarding it because of wear and tear is wasteful, expensive and unnecessary.
A skilled furniture restorer can bring it back to something approaching its former glory. In doing so, you keep hold of furniture you love, are able to enjoy it for years to come, and can pass it down to future generations.

Through the process of restoration and repair, you extend the useful life of your furniture. Often built from quality hardwoods and veneers, in the hands of an experienced furniture restorer, old furniture can be revived in a way that modern furniture simply can't.
Most modern furniture is mass-produced using cheap materials such as MDF, chipboard and plastic laminates. Once damaged these materials can be very difficult, if not impossible, to repair. In fact, the low purchase price compared with the cost of repair often encourages people to dispose of the item and replace with new. In comparison, the materials and construction techniques common to older furniture makes a successful repair or refinish much easier to achieve. This means that a well-restored 40-year-old dining table can easily last another four decades.