Reincarnated Country Corner Unit - Another Artisans of the Valley Restoration

Typical of the restoration candidates that make their way into our shop this corner unit was shy of mint condition on arrival. It was incredibly dry, the back was loose, the doors loose, panels falling out. The paint was flaking and deteriorated, finish was almost gone and just dirt and grime covering the piece.

This was originally a built-in now destined to be a free standing corner unit. Thus – feet were required. The crown and side moldings were shot and missing. Everything in general was just in bad shape.

So the process is the same as with most restorations – break it down as you can so you can cleanly remove the old finish and paint. Then rebuild and reassemble it with fresh adhesive and appropriate fasteners. The net result was a fully restructured and stabilized unit.

New feet, crown molding, and side moldings were fabricated. The unit was then painted inside with milk paint and sealed with oil based paint over the milk paint. Finish is natural Waterlox tung oil varnish.

We also had all the glass reset with new glazing (by a glass company I hate doing glazing!) … Cleaning up and oiling the hinges, putting in new screws to mount them and adding proper knobs finished off the project.

All said and done this was a good green project – reclaiming an otherwise landfill destined corner unit that became fully functional free standing country furniture. The piece is entirely antique pine – including the replacement moldings and components.

-- Eric M. Saperstein, Master Craftsman www.artisansofthevalley.com