Furniture restoration: compare quotes and prices

Distinguish restoration, conservation and a new appearance

Conservation aims to stabilise the existing condition and help prevent further damage. Restoration may also replace missing elements, stabilise joints and carefully recover function or appearance. A deliberately new colour or finish is a different design aim.

Modern furniture and simple everyday objects can also be refurbished. Age alone does not determine treatment; the aim and technically suitable approach matter. One faulty fitting is more appropriately a targeted furniture repair, while new upholstery or covers may require an additional specialist.

Clarify original material and patina before intervention

Older surfaces can carry a history of use, workmanship or painted decoration. These traces are not automatically dirt. Before sanding, stripping or complete refinishing, have valuable areas assessed and the intervention matched to your aims.

Discuss how visible additions may be and whether differences from old parts should remain readable. A uniformly new appearance can require more intervention than restrained restoration. A treatment is not always fully reversible.

Historic or personal significance can guide your decision without requiring you to state a monetary value. Restoration guarantees neither a particular market value nor an increase in value. A separate valuation is a different service aim.

Describe condition and earlier treatments

Simple observations help: a loose joint, damaged edge, missing part, lifted veneer or stained surface. Mention known earlier painting, repairs or cleaning attempts. If material, age or treatment are unknown, the specialist can investigate during assessment.

Mention holes, wood dust, moisture marks or unusual deposits without diagnosing an active infestation or specific cause yourself. Agree how to proceed before transport or further treatment. Load tests or chemical experiments are not needed for the enquiry.

Loose fragments, fittings and available replacement components can be relevant to assessment. Ask whether investigation or stabilisation is needed first and what might only become clear during the work.

Choose methods appropriate to timber, veneer and decoration

A veneered piece consists of more than its visible timber layer. Its substrate, adhesive joints and thin edges affect work. Even with solid timber, construction and surface need checking together: heavy sanding is not a general restoration standard.

Painted decoration, marquetry, gilding, metal or textile parts may need different expertise. Ask about experience with comparable pieces and what the contractor undertakes themselves or assigns to another specialist.

Cleaning, consolidation, repair, retouching and a new surface finish are distinct services. Ask for a suitable approach to be proposed. You do not need to identify timber species, lacquer formulation or historic technique definitively for an initial enquiry.

Agree function and intended appearance together

Furniture can look cared for yet remain unstable. Conversely, a usable structure can retain obvious historic wear. Agree separately which function should be restored and what visual change you want.

Discuss colour, sheen, retouching and remaining marks for the actual piece. For extensive work, an agreed treatment plan or a professional trial area may help. New components and their visibility should suit the agreed aim.

Documentation makes condition and interventions understandable. Ask which records you will receive and how future care and use should suit the treated surface. A care product is not automatically appropriate for every historic or modern finish.

Coordinate workshop, site work and transport

Not every treatment can be carried out where the furniture stands. Scope, material, tools and working conditions determine whether a workshop is needed. Agree whether you bring the piece, the contractor collects it or particular work can happen on site.

For collection, actual number of pieces, known dimensions, floor, lift and carrying route matter. Removable, fragile and detached parts should also be considered in transport planning. Avoid your own dismantling where it could damage the material or finish.

Collection and return are separate services. Clarify packing, condition records, handover points and responsibilities before transport. Storage and coordination may also matter; treatment, drying and workshop availability affect the return date.

Compare costs by piece and treatment scope

Condition, material combinations, depth of intervention and necessary additions determine effort. Furniture with its historic finish preserved differs from a fully refinished piece. Repairing a leg is also a different scope from complete refurbishment of a chair.

A published Swiss workshop example dated 31 July 2025 lists CHF 220–400 excluding VAT for a chair. Its stated scope includes stripping, repairs and lacquering, oiling or waxing; prices may change. This is neither a repair-only price nor a national average. The example does not recommend removing every historic surface.

For your piece, ask for investigation, treatment, replacement materials, transport and any documentation to be itemised. Check VAT and extras rather than assuming inclusion. The current price and suitable method are confirmed individually.

Agree how further damage and additional work will be reported and approved before proceeding. Charges for initial assessment and limits to the expected result should also be understood.

From the first discussion to return

The treatment plan develops from the object, its condition and your priorities.

1. Describe pieces and aims. List all furniture in one description and explain preservation, function or a new appearance.
2. Arrange assessment. Have materials, condition, original finishes and known earlier interventions checked.
3. Agree treatment. Record measures, retained marks, additions, costs and approval of extra work.
4. Organise transport and work. Coordinate handover, protection, workshop or site work and timing.
5. Receive the result. Review agreed function and work together; clarify documentation and appropriate care.

Information for a useful enquiry

Known details are enough. You do not need to certify furniture type, period or the cause of damage.

• Furniture list. For example, one painted cabinet and two chairs, with the intended result for each piece.
• Aim. Preserve material, restore function and appearance, change the surface or seek advice.
• Condition. Observed damage, missing components and known earlier treatments.
• Technical details. Known materials and approximate width × depth × height in cm, if available.
• Organisation. Location, preferred period and whether collection, your own delivery or site work is needed.