You’ve selected and invested in quality furniture for your home that makes your interiors even more beautiful and practical. Learn how to take care of your pieces so they keep the finish and style you loved in the first place. The experts weigh in:
Natural Light
We all love sun-filled rooms, but your furniture may suffer from sun exposure without precautions.
“If the piece sits in a window, the color will fade,” says custom furniture designer Trey Jones of Trey Jones Studio in Washington, D.C. “So, if a piece must sit in a window, I would recommend adding a UV protectant film/tint to the window. This film is clear and should protect furniture from the sun and keep it looking nicer for longer.”
Photo by Jared Kuzia
Trey Jones Studio's Nerikomi Cantilever Bedside Table.
Ed Grier, co-owner of The Moses Table Company, a custom furniture maker in Birmingham, Alabama, shares some additional advice: “You need to be aware of how damage from UV rays affects your case goods. For example, if you have a dining table with leaves that are stored away most of the time, those leaves eventually will not match the rest of your table if the table is getting a lot of sun.” Grier also says to store leaves standing on end instead of flat to keep them from warping over time. He suggests placing them upright in a closet instead of under a bed. “Also, avoid leaving the same centerpiece on a table day after day,” he says. “Swap out your accessories and move them around to avoid the rest of the table fading while the place underneath an accessory or centerpiece stays the same.”
Sponsored by Sherrill Furniture
Heat and Humidity
In addition to UV damage, heat and humidity also take their toll on case goods over time. “You should avoid putting any case goods too near a heat source which can cause them to dry out and buckle,” says Grier. “It’s especially critical with antique pieces that have some age already and will be even more susceptible to temperature changes. Some clients put a buffet table or long sideboard over a heat source or air return without thinking about how the changes in heat and humidity that will directly affect the piece.”
Photo courtesy of Sherrill Furniture
The black Nero Marguina Marble top of this Lillian August Barron Server is beautiful and durable.
What You Put on Top
Not every piece is designed for heavy objects; many antiques or other delicate pieces need safeguarding. And be careful with jardinières and planters that may leak and cause damage, as well as with hot dishes that may result in a clouding of the finish without proper protection.
Libby Hill McGowan and Laura Ashford Gessert, the owners of Henhouse Antiques in Birmingham, Alabama, share this important tip: “Heavy lamps need to be placed on furniture that can handle the weight. Single-plank tops of servers and chests of drawers will bow or split if anything too heavy is placed on it. An antique piece of furniture was not originally intended to hold weighty objects like lamps, so think of where the supporting structure is in a piece when placing any heavy item on it.”
Grier adds that hot dishes on surfaces trap moisture underneath, and when that moisture tries to get out, it can cause a white cloud on the surface. “If you let a heated dish remain on a surface too long, it goes beyond clouding and can cause the surface to actually turn black. You can usually get the cloudiness out, but there if nothing you can do when it turns black except bleach out the stain and refinish the whole piece.”
Photo courtesy of Henhouse Antiques
The pros at Henhouse Antiques advise considering the structure of a piece when placing objects. Here, heavy lamps sit close to the sides of an antique chest, getting extra support from the frame.
Caring for Wood Finishes
Not every product out there is appropriate for cleaning and protecting the finishes of wood pieces, so be selective with the following suggestions in mind.
Sherrill Furniture notes that alcohol, disinfectants, perfume, fingernail polish remover, after-shave, and medications can cause severe finish damage. Use silicone-free furniture polish to avoid an oily film which could cause a clouding of the finish and has a tendency to collect dust.
“There are different cleaners and oils to put on different woods. Read the label for recommended woods and always test on a small unseen area,” say McGowan and Gessert. Jones adds, “My first recommendation is to clean it with just water or a gentle soap and never use bleach. A lot of case goods and furniture are made from wood finished with an oil, shellac, or wax. Over time, these finishes can gradually be removed with a strong soap.”
Photo by Egeria | Shutterstock
To protect a wax finish, Grier advises using a soft cloth to wipe the piece clean while avoiding any aerosol dusting products.
“We finish our pieces in a polyurethane—the same finish you put on your floors. Then we may put on a coat of wax depending on the look the client is going for,” says Grier. To protect the wax finish, Grier advises using a soft cloth to wipe it clean while avoiding any aerosol dusting products since the spray will dissolve the wax and leave a mess on top. “If you are going to use any products, we recommend products from Guardsman. You put it on, let it dry, and buff it off. For a lacquered piece, also just wipe it with a slightly damp cloth and then dry it off.”
For long-term protection, Jones offers this solution for his custom pieces. “We use a finish/sealer that allows us or the client to put an additional coat on top every 5-10 years. Some of our clients like to do this themselves and some don’t, so we provide that service to them if they prefer. On a piece that gets heavy use, like a dining table, we recommend adding this coat of oil closer to every 5 years. On a piece that does not get much use at all, you may never need to add a coat.”
Restoration
Laura Roland of both Laura Roland Interiors and Fireside Antiques in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, reminds us that well-constructed furniture can last forever. “Antiques are built of solid materials. You can repair them and strengthen them. Consider a dining chair. With a piece that’s made of solid wood, you can take it apart and rebuild it so that it’s like new again.”
And with proper care, finely built new pieces will be tomorrow’s treasured antiques.
By Alice Welsh Doyle
MORE FROM THESE EXPERTS:
- Laura Ashford Gessert and Libby Hill McGowan, Henhouse Antiques @henhouseantiques
- Ed Grier, The Moses Table Company, @mosestables
- Trey Jones, Trey Jones Studio, @treyjones_studio
- Laura Roland, Laura Roland Interiors and Fireside Antiques, @firesideantiques
