Antique Value

By Dave Macfee

When people question us about repairing and restoring furniture, by far the most frequent concern they express is that whatever work is done will not subtract from the “antique value” of the item. The level of concern ranges from casual interest to bordering on clinical anxiety. I get it.  No one wants to be the person on the Antiques Road Show who devalued an antique by $50,000 dollars because they refinished it. I’m here to tell you the chance of that happening to you or me is fairly remote. The Road Show selects from hundreds if not thousands of pieces that come to each destination, and the ones that make it on the show are the best of the best- mostly 18^th century or older handmade extremely rare pieces.

We have been doing furniture repairs at my shop for over 30 years. Many of these repairs are what I would consider “simple” as in- a little glue and a few clamps and less than an hour to complete.

An experience this week has given me a new appreciation for  these “simple” furniture repairs we do and also a renewed appreciation for the great shop space we have to work in.

I’ve been away on vacation this week with my wife, Sue, on our annual trip to stay with my in-laws near Salt Lake City, Utah. After we  settled in and were gathering around the kitchen bar, my Sis says “hey Dave- will you take a look at this bar stool and tell me if it can be fixed?”.  I jumped at this rare opportunity to do a little something in return for all they’ve done for us.