According to Antiques Roadshow, refinishing reduces the value of my furniture, is this true?

Most times No!

Many people have been led to believe this is always the case with furniture restoration.  However, the Antiques Road Show displays only a small percentage of the pieces that are brought to the show.  Out of hundreds of pieces they look at, only a select few pieces are rare and of high value.  Most of these pieces are very old, over 125 years and have an undisturbed original finish on them.  Is your piece over 125 years old?  Does it have an undisturbed original finish?  If you answer no to either of these questions then it is probably fine to refinish it.  If you intend to use and enjoy your furniture, (gathering for dinner around Grandmother’s table, etc.), and would like for your grandchildren to enjoy the same privilege, you must take care of the table and perform all of the maintenance needed. Which includes new finishes every 30 years or so in order to protect and preserve the precious family heirloom.

Peter Cook, Executive Producer of Antiques Road show wrote an article that appeared in the June 2002 edition of Professional Refinishing, a popular trade publication stating, “Antiques Roadshow generally agrees with this notion: Well-conceived and well-executed refinishing and restoration usually enhances the value of just about any piece of old furniture.  Exceptions are those rare (often museum-quality) pieces that have somehow survived in great ‘original’ condition. If we say or imply the contrary, we should be called on it”.  He also says: “Most furniture has been well used (even abused), scratched, broken, and often repaired many times.  How could such furniture not be improved by a good job of refinishing or restoring?  I’d hate to think that we’ve created a subset of American furniture owners living in dread of a fatal financial misstep.”  The fact is, very few pieces go down in value.  Refinishing almost always increases furniture value and saves hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars compared to purchasing new.  If you’d like to read the entire article, click here to see a scan of it.

At Naiser Furniture Restorations we are always careful to point out a piece that could be a valuable antique.  We would rather lose a job than hurt the value of an antique.  We also have some ethical antique restoration services that preserve all the antique value.