Painted Antique Mantle Restoration Transformation

This 100+ year old solid walnut wood antique mantle was brought to us by a customer hoping we could restore this stately piece to its original glory for display in their recently renovated Denver home.

When it came to us, it was covered in layers of peeling white paint and was broken in many places.

We stripped the paint (this was no walk in the park), sanded it, repaired or replaced the broken parts, oiled it and finished it with a slight gloss finish per our customers request to match the other wood trims in their home.

This restoration transformation is truly stunning.

Contact us if you have a project like this we can restore for you!

Stripping Paint From Antiques - 1880's Walnut Closet Faces

Ever wonder what’s underneath those layers of white paint covering our beloved antiques and wooden architectural home moldings? What you find may surprise you.

The result of the paint stripping process can often reveal beautiful grain and highly unique character of the wood beneath, previously sacrificed to decades of shabby chic paint trends. Now don’t get us wrong, there are times when painting furniture is acceptable. Certain lower value vintage items are ripe for a good updated trendy paint job! But keep in mind, if you must paint a furniture item, please avoid most antiques, high end designer pieces, or furniture hand made from solid wood.

And if you’re still intent on painting, consider having a professional do so. We have a shop capable of doing this the proper way to ensure the least damage is done to the wood as possible. We do tend to be picky with the painting projects we accept and can help advise you on the matter.

Now, on to the project below.

A customer from Wyoming brought us these exceptional closet faces circa 1880 he sourced from Philadelphia and aren’t we glad they ended up in our hands! He asked us to strip the paint and prep sand these bad boys.

Check out the before and after transformation below.

As you can see, these closet faces were covered in a variety of different paint colors before we got our hands on them.

This project was highly labor intensive. It involved chemical stripping in the tank as well as by hand. We also carefully sanded all the nooks and crannies of each crevice and carving by hand.

We no longer have feeling in our fingertips but would you look at what was hiding under all that paint!

We are happy with the end result. The feeling of satisfaction and joy we receive in seeing projects such as these restored full circle, is what this line of work is all about.