Introduction
Refinishing old furniture is a complicated process where the old furniture is cleaned, sanded, repaired, polished, and goes through other necessary steps to get a brand-new look. If you have old furniture that is still functional and feel like getting rid of it just due to its dull look, you should think again. You can hire professionals by searching for “furniture repair near me” to refinish your old chair or table and breathe new life into it. Let’s check out the many benefits of refinishing old furniture:
The Benefits
- Preserve sentimental value – Old furniture pieces usually have plenty of tales to tell. They are in a home or family for years and carry significant sentimental value for you or your family members. For instance, an old chair that has been in your family for three or four generations may be a testament to your family’s unyielding spirit during harsh times.
For some, an old table may be the last physical thing that attaches them to their late grandmother. Similarly, every piece of old furniture has a lot of memories and stories attached to it and maybe a beloved memory of their ancestors or loved ones.
If the old furniture gets dull or develops signs of wear and tear, you can get it refinished by a furniture repairman instead of throwing it away and parting with your cherished memories. If there is the old furniture that has been passed down in your family from one generation to another, then it’s even more important to get it refinished.
- Preserve quality items that aren’t made anymore – There was a time when things were made by individual skilled craftsmen instead of efficient factory lines. If you have an old piece of furniture that came out of the workshop of a skilled craftsman instead of the factory, then getting it refinished helps you preserve a quality piece of furniture that can’t be procured anymore.
When furniture started being made in the factory, they were re-designed to be more streamlined with more straight lines, fewer curves, and less intricate designs. That’s why you see most furniture pieces that were made after the 60s to have that kind of minimal and purely functional design.
Moreover, the old times weren’t the era of planned obsolescence. Nowadays most things you buy are made from cheaper quality materials and are designed to have a limited lifetime. This helps to keep manufacturing costs low and when the furniture breaks after a few years, you put more money into the pockets of those companies by buying a new piece of cheap furniture.
However, old furniture was made differently. While they were much more expensive than cheap $30 chairs you can buy from IKEA, they made up for it with high quality and excellent craftsmanship. Getting the same level of quality on a chair today is very difficult and will put a big dent in your bank account. Refinishing such old furniture pieces lets you economically preserve high-quality furniture.
- You save money – As mentioned before, old furniture pieces usually have much higher quality than inexpensive modern counterparts. You’ll have to extend your budget generously just to get good quality solid wood on your furniture instead of wood composites, metal, and plastic.
That’s why inexpensive furniture is easily distinguishable and if you want to jazz up your home with new decor and furniture, you have to buy new. You can’t make a remarkable impression on your peers without spending a good amount on exquisitely crafted furniture. This can make large thousand-dollar dents in your wallet.
However, if you have old furniture, you don’t need to put yourself through such financial turmoil. Instead, you can get your awesome old furniture pieces refinished at a fraction of the price. The money you save can go into investment portfolios, in a new car, or even in other useful home improvements.
- Saves the environment – You’ll be amazed to learn about the immense resources and energy that go into making new furniture. Components may be sourced from one part of the world, processed and transferred to different parts of the world, and assembled when it reaches your country. While this keeps the supply chain flexible and companies profitable, it has adverse environmental impacts.
Moreover, after it’s assembled or made “ready-to-assemble”, the furniture pieces need to be packaged and shipped to your home or a store near you. The shipping industry alone is responsible for a large chunk of global carbon emissions. Refinishing your old furniture can help cut down these emissions.
Moreover, when you throw your old furniture in the garbage, it ends up as solid waste and fills up the landfills after some of the wooden and metal parts are salvaged. When the waste is burned in the landfill, it causes heavy emissions and produces toxic gases and chemicals that are extremely dangerous for wildlife.
- Get a new unique look for your furniture – When you buy new furniture from a local store, you buy one from several similar pieces. The chair you bought may be new in the neighborhood, but it already sits in thousands of homes or at least will become a part of them very soon. Tech companies even have apps that allow you to get an image scan of furniture and take you to the retail website of the manufacturing company to get yourself one.
On the other hand, when you refinish old furniture, you have a unique piece that isn’t available anywhere else. You can choose the texture, the wood stain, the upholstery fabric, and other small elements that can be controlled during a refinishing process and give the old piece some character and unique style.
Conclusion
By now you must be aware of the numerous benefits of refinishing your old furniture. It can retain sentimental value attached to it, look brand new, and save a few trees on the way. To repair and refinish your old furniture, hire a pro by searching “furniture repair near me”.
