Just a Before & After

Sometimes it's fun and maybe even helpful to gloat just a little.  This very practical piece,  a closed dresser,  is of 1920's-1930's vintage.

It's one of several pieces,  one piece of a bedroom suite  I was privileged to refinish.  It had been well taken care of through just a couple owners,  including the years my customer has had it. And just like the rest of us,  stuff gets tired and begins to need some cosmetic--and even structural help. 

This piece's structural issues were my biggest challenge.  Several of the wooden drawer slides inside the case were "done." They were broken, and parts of them were even long lost.  Making those functional repairs required some care and some ingenuity. But it was doable and the final product is a happy outcome for everyone involved. 

The pictures I've posted here give you some idea what the piece looked like fully stripped, and then when it's all finished before all the doors are hardware are replaced, and then finally it's all back together.  Please notice the two little decorative pieces, one on the top's "fence" and the other on the first middle drawer. 

Check out the pulls on the drawers,  right and left,  and on the two doors.

These pulls are solid silver! That was a surprise to me,  but even more so to my customer.  When she acquired the piece many years ago they were already tarnished,  so she had no idea they were anything more than dark grey. When I polished then up and showed them to her, wow,  was she  surprised...and delighted! It was a feels-good moment for us both. 

Ok,  about those two decorative pieces. These two were made of oven-baked moulded resin. I couldn't find exact replicas,  so we left these (for now) just as you see them there,  cleaned and finished.  But,  and just for your information,  facsimiles are available. 

Ok.  That's WoodTalkin for today.  Keep listening, and remember,  your pieces have stories to tell!