Antique furniture get their market appeal from looking old and worn-out.  There’s rarely any need to restore them to looking new as this is one sure way to bring down their market value.  If you want the look of freshly finished wood, then go for newly constructed furniture.  If you like the styles of 18th and 19th century furniture, there are modern furniture makers who can do a decent copy.  But to refinish an antique that makes them look fresh out of the factory is a big no-no.  More often than not, cleaning antique wood furniture is all that is needed. Cleaning an Antique FurnitureOften, even in the most well-cared for furniture, what appears to be wood discoloration or rot is really just a grimy dirt deposit that have accumulated over time. The sheen is often replaced with a sticky coating of dust mixed with human oil especially in areas on the furniture often in contact with the hands, like armrests and drawer handles. Cleaning antique wood furniture  is the simplest and most preferred way to restore vintage furniture.Some Tips in Cleaning Vintage Furniture Start with a  simple but thorough rub-down using a soft cloth soaked in a commercial wood cleaner you can find in furniture and paint stores as well as the hardware section of supermarkets.  They are known to wear down layers of hardened waxy grime deposits that darken the wood.  A few rubbing can expose a lighter wood surface and might even reveal the grain consistent with the rest of the untouched furniture body. If this doesn’t work, use the same cloth soaked in a solution of liquid detergent diluted with warm water.  Work quickly, then rinse off the detergent residue with another cloth. Do not leave the furniture wet as water can leave a whitish haze on the surface especially if the finish is shellac or lacquer.  If this doesn’t work, you may need to do some sanding with 0000 steel wool or sandpaper and even consider getting professional help in Cleaning Antique Wood Furniture.

Any furniture older than 35 years is considered an antique.  But not all antique wood furniture carry high value as there are specimens that suffer a mediocre built or styling that though they’ve survived the years, don’t appeal and can’t be considered a good investment.  Then there’s the issue of handmade versus mass-produced one. More often that not, seventeenth century antique wood furniture are you best bet when looking for antique furnishings to give accent to room house décor.Is It Genuinely Antique?That exquisite Louise XIV or French Regency furniture, be it a dinning table, a chair or drawer, never fails to accent a room with its elaborate styling.  You can also go antique with Chinese Ming Dynasty seventeenth century antique wood furniture with their exquisitely gem-inlaid drawers and chest cabinets for the bedroom.  But the question is, are they genuinely antique?  For many budget challenged but style conscious households, it won’t matter as long as the price is right and they deliver the visual accents they want.  With today’s technology, modern furniture can be distressed to look old and antique.  And they know their visitors are not veteran antique dealers who can easily spot a fake.  All that is important is that their guests get impressed with what looks like an antique piece of furniture in the house. Only from Reputable SourcesBut for the moneyed meticulous homeowner for whom only genuine seventeenth century antique wood furniture is not only an investment but one that fits their social circumstance, the challenge of getting a genuine antique furniture can only be overcome by patronizing only noted antique dealers.  Afterall, real antiques command a hefty market price and only the most reputable antique dealers can be your safest bet in getting a genuine article. Another option is to go for auction houses like Sotheby’s.  a 17th century artifact or ever earlier is often best reserved in museums but there are still many from homes that have been sold off from deceased millionaires or celebrities and you can be sure their antiques are almost always genuine, especially if handled by the likes of Sotheby’s.

Shopping for antique furniture is often a matter of trusting a noted antique furniture dealer.  But be sure to be ready with oodles of cash as their wares can command lofty price tags.  Apart from paying for the furniture, you also pay for the dealer’s expertise and reputation that effectively guarantees you’re getting a genuine antique.  But if you just want the aged look without spending a fortune, there are imitation furniture pieces that carry antique wood furniture styles which can easily fool your home visitors if they don’t know what to look for in antiques.  Not All Antiques are for Home UseAnd if you are in the market for one, bear in mind that antique furniture come from the last 200 years or so, mostly from middle 20th century styles.  Wood is not as durable as metal and age is not always very kind to them.  Furniture older than those dating to the French Regency period of King Louise XIV is often seen in museums than in homes.  Some of the furniture in this period are often auctioned off at Sotheby’s and carry price tags equivalent to getting an entire house in the city. So if you see them used in a home, unless the home you are visiting is an old manor or from a super rich family, you can almost be certain they are imitations.The More Common StylesFurniture older than 35 years starts to fall into the category of antique.  That means, furniture made in 1975 can already be considered as one.  Antique wood furniture styles from this period already encroach on the modern era and are characterized by simpler lines with a more solid look compared to those in the 60s and 50s.  Furniture during the middle 20th century are quite common in antique flea markets and at eBay.  Earlier antique wood furniture styles exude more elaborate designs bordering on the extravagant art deco of the 20s and 30s. Going farther back in time, you get post-civil war, colonial and  Victorian furniture that take heavy European influences of the times.  The earlier 17th century styles are typified by your favourite French designs from King Louis XIV, Napoleonic and post Napoleonic commonly found in Biedermeier designs.

Antique furniture gets its charm from its worn and aged look.  Having its original finish untouched can bring antique wood furniture to its highest market value compared with one that has been refinished.  The art of restoring antiques is not about giving them a brand-new look as that could make them no different from modern antique imitations.  But involved bringing their wood back to their original condition.  And that means getting back the color that has been buried under grime or discolored over time.  Restoring Light Colored Antique FurnitureDark hardwood furniture ages gracefully as wood naturally darkens over time.  But with constant use, the parts of a furniture that always get in touch with any part of the human body can lose their sheen relative to the rest of the furniture or accumulate dirt trapped in the human oils left uncleaned in those parts of the furniture.  Light colored hardwoods such as cherry can suffer the most as the darkened areas can make them look shabby and decrepit. Do a Google search online on how to restore antique cherry wood furniture and there are insights if you plan to do it on your own.  For starters, here are a few things to consider on how to restore antique cherry wood furniture.• You can start with a simple application of commercial cleaners or even detergents over the darkened areas.• If this doesn’t work, you will need to determine the kind of finishing originally done on the surface in order to use the right solvent for shellac, lacquer or varnish to remove the darkened finish.• Once the old finishing is removed, you can sand over the darkened areas with a 100-grit sandpaper in preparation to staining the surface. • Surface imperfection or blemishes can be sanded down with 280-grit sandpaper, then use the finer grit.  Clean the area by dusting off the wood grit resulting from the sanding.• Using a fine wide brush dipped in the wood stain, apply the stain over the furniture surface then wipe it off with a soft rag before drying. • You could end here and leave the antique furniture in its natural unfinished state but you could get in touch with a professional who knows how to restore antique cherry wood furniture  as the have experience in applying the original shellac,  varnish or lacquer coat on the furniture.

Many homeowners love the look of vintage, worn-out furniture instead of the pristine fresh-from-the-factory look.  You often see tables, drawers and beds in future shops that have been painted white and then finished with the antique look. The trend is no different in apparels when you often see battered and torn denim jeans commanding a higher retail price as they are preferred by the markets than fresh looking ones.Making Antiques Look Even OlderSome antique wood furniture don’t look their age.  That’s mostly because their previous owners took good care of them or they have been refinished foolishly to look factory fresh.  They just won’t do as antiques and there are ways on how to stress antique wood furniture.  Here are some tips:a. Get hold of a sanding block or a sandpaper and rub the paint or varnish off the corners and edges of the furniture.  Any sharp edges on the carvings and corners should look worn with frequent use but do so unevenly to simulate the unbiased ravages of time.  What is worst that having a fresh-looking antique is to see the ravages appear contrived.  b. Vintage furniture often have cracked finishing and this is one of the things you can simulate in an overly refinished antique to restore its worn-out look.  The process is called a crackle finish and you can have some tips online.  A good site that explains the technique on how to stress antique wood furniture with a crackle finish is here http://reviews.ebay.com/Easy-Cheap-Crackle-Finishes-Shabby-Chic-Furniture_W0QQugidZ10000000000025363.c. Beat-up the furniture, but be careful not to demolish it. You can hit the furniture legs with some metal chain or in parts that are often used.  Or you can hit it with a set of keys on a string.d. Depending on the finishing used, whether lacquer, shellac or plain varnish, a watered-down solvent rubbed along the wood grain is another way on how to stress antique wood furniture by reducing the luster to simulate wear from constant use.

Restoring vintage wood furniture from its shabby condition is often a matter of cleaning the furniture to get rid of dirt and grime that have built-up over the years.  It doesn’t make sense to restore a vintage furniture to its factory-fresh condition as that would effectively lose the aged and worn look that antique furniture is priced for.  Aging Wood Darkens Wood naturally darkens over time.  Dark wood like mahogany are known to age gracefully as the darkening suits them perfectly.  On the other hand, light colored word like birch and cherry can look quite shabby over time as parts of the furniture in constant contact with the oils in the human body can attract dirt to make them stick and hardened over time. The result can be a darker tinge that contrast markedly with the rest of the light colored body. The best that you can do is to restore antique cherry wood furniture to reveal its natural wood grain and even out any discoloration in parts often in contact with the human body such as armrests and seat bottoms in chairs and drawer handles.Things to Consider when RestoringAlways clean the vintage furniture thoroughly.  That’s the simplest and easiest an owner can do to restore antique cherry wood furniture.  There are commercial cleaning solutions available form the hardware area of your supermarket as well as furniture shops.  Using liquid detergent can also do the job but you have to be careful to rinse the detergent off with warm water and to wipe it dry soon afterwards.  Don’t let water to be air-dried on the wood as this can leave a hazy residue on the surface.Know what finish your antique furniture has. It could be shellac, lacquer or plain varnish. It may not be apparent as wood finishes often wear off over the years but knowing what was used will help you apply the right solvents if you have to strip the furniture for further cleaning at the wood grain level.  This is often done in preparation for wood staining and subsequent reapplication of the finish to restore antique cherry wood furniture.

The Woodwright’s Shop television series enters its 29th season on PBS, its main founder and TV host Roy Underhill rediscovers the joys of woodworking using traditional methods but with an eye with today’s earth-friendly trends.  After nearly 30 years hosting the UNC-TV produced show, Woodwright’s Shop antique knotty wood furniture series revives the traditional American way of crafting furniture using only classic hand tools and available words.  Its every inch green-earth way of conserving America’s depleting woodlands as the furniture crafted are heirloom grade pieces that can last more than a lifetime or two.  Classic Hand Tools OnlyA lot can be done using power tools for your carpentry hobby.  But Roy Underhill’s Woodwright’s Shop antique knotty wood furniture has been showing the world over the last 30 years  that classic tools not only create some of the best woodworks for any home furniture approaching antique quality, but they also provide a good workout to bring those muscles to the fore. Making Antiques TodayRoy Underhill takes his Woodwright’s Shop in the next series season with guests to show the American public how furniture is made by early American notably the Shakers. They have survived to this day as your vintage furniture that command high market value, not so much for their historic value, but for their robust construction that accounts for their longevity.   Using only classic tools, the modern wood crafting hobbyist can duplicate the same furniture build with today’s hand tools and timbre with the same longevity that can make them heirloom furniture that will stake their claim as antique furniture in the next generation.  Woodwright’s Shop antique knotty wood furniture building series has proven its popularity with one of the longest TV series in the country.  It is one outstanding proof of Americans’ love affair with building their own furniture at home.

When the 16th century Christian missionaries from Spain evangelized the native Incas and Indians of Mexico, the settled and built churches and monasteries in the area now called Mexico.  It was unlikely that, apart from personal light belongings, these missionaries would have brought their Spanish furniture with them to the new World.  Hence, other than preaching Christianity, most of them would be teaching the natives how to build furniture.  The Mexican LookMexican furniture evolved to follow the simple utilitarian lines introduced by the Spanish missions that were more a rebellion against the intricate secular Baroque designs in European furniture of the times.  The missionaries constructed furniture from any of the local woods they can find.  And the lush virgin forests of Mexico at the time yielded vast timber from redwood, birch, hemlock, cottonwood, and maple to name a few.  They are characterized with simpler more gothic lines than their European and North American counterparts of the same period. Even main church doors, massive as they may be, have none of the elaborate European carvings that typically adorn all the doors of European cathedrals.Today, you can stress antique wood furniture with the Mexican look to appear dated back to the 17th and 18th century. Using the traditional methods of crackling and sanding the finish of old 20th century furniture, you can achieve a vintage mexican look. Blending with Modern Minimalist FurnitureBecause of their simple lines often just bare enough to fulfill their utilitarian purposes, you can easily stress antique wood furniture with the Mexican look to blend well with modern home interiors that exude minimalist designs. Their simplicity can make any room look larger and less cluttered while opening up opportunities for more elaborate décor without clashing or competing with your furniture motif.Just be careful when you stress antique wood furniture with the Mexican look.  Because they have less elaborate designs, they can easily look more like shabby modern furniture with a contrived antique look.

Antique furniture dealers seldom carry antique cherry wood furniture as the better pieces tend to be quite expensive and a bit more laborious to maintain than ordinary hardwood furniture made of oak or mahogany.  Their lighter wood grain makes them more susceptible to darkening with age and certain parts that are used more often, like armrest and seat bottoms in chairs get conspicuously darker than the rest of the furniture body.  Regular Maintenance NeededAntique furniture gets their appeal mainly from the solid wood construction as its vintage look and feel.  You certainly won’t see them done with modern furniture builds the way they used to.  Some of the finest antique furniture sets have come from aristocratic households that have hired hands that routinely clean furniture and restore their finish regularly over the years.  Antique cherry wood furniture mostly imported from Europe is among them. Bear in mind that antique wood furniture is best, not only in looks but in the market prices they command, if the original finish remains untouched.  Refinishing often can do a good job but when overdone, they can make antique furniture looks freshly made, and that lessens their appeal and market value.Light Cherry Wood Needs RefinishingWood is known to darken and lose their sheen over time, especially in parts often in contact with the acidic hands and body.  Furniture made of dark wood or stained to look dark has a tendency to age with grace, so to speak, with only the lighter grains getting darker so that the grains simply lose their character over time.  But furniture with a lighter wood grain can look less appealing with dark spots or areas that stand out in contrast.  Some retouching or refinishing is necessary and adds to their price.  This is why antique cherry wood furniture which is finished with a lighter grain color often commands a steeper price over similar antiques made of darker wood.

If you are out hunting for bargains on genuine antiques, you need to learn how to spot one or bring along somebody who can. Some of the best bargains can be had on antique furniture on an “as is” with no restoration or cleaning done.  It’s up to the buyer to learn how to refinish antique wood furniture.  Refinishing the Wood in Antique FurnitureBy this time, you can be sure that the wood finishes of old furniture would have lost any of its former sheen or character.  The appeal of antique furnishings often rests on their old look and feel and a worn-out finishing can be one of its major appeals.  Afterall, if you restore an antique to its off-the-store condition, you lose the vintage look. But one that has suffered severely over time or has sustained some damage in its surface is good candidates for dealers and owners to learn how to refinish antique wood furniture.  Just be cautious and bear in mind that antique furniture with its original finish in tact is more valuable than one that has been refinished. Retouching May be Better Than Total RefinishingFull restoration often requires stripping the original finish and re-sanding the wood.  What happens essentially makes the wood wear a new finish so that the antique look can be totally lost.  But if the wear is minimal and only in areas that are commonly used such seat bottoms and armrests which could be darkened or have lost their shine, you can just retouch the old finish to even out the sheen without resorting to total refinishing.Cleaning can be resorted first, if this doesn’t work, you need to resort to reamalgamation or spot patching.  But you need to first identify what was originally used as its finishing.  It could be any of the four basic finishes commonly used in the past, namely, shellac, varnish, lacquer or plain natural clear finishes. Once identified, use the same finishing solvent to retouch the part.  You can reamalgamate small areas by simply apply the right solvent to liquefy the existing fishing and spreading it out into dull areas.  There are tips online on how to refinish antique wood furniture. But if the work is extensive on large furniture pieces, investing on a professional can be worth it.