Caring for Your Refurbished Furniture (And Why Quality Finishes Last Decades)

A properly refurbished piece is built to live with you. The finishes used in the studio — furniture-grade enamel, hard-wax oil, and conversion top-coats — are the same materials used on heritage millwork and high-end cabinetry. Treated reasonably, a refurbished dresser, armoire, or buffet will look almost identical in twenty years to the day it left the workshop.

Day-to-day care is straightforward. A soft microfibre cloth, a little warm water, and the occasional pass with a dedicated wood soap is all most refurbished pieces ever need. Avoid silicone-based polishes, abrasive cleaners, and anything labelled 'restorer' — they tend to do far more harm than good and can interfere with future touch-ups.

Calgary's dry winters are the one environmental factor worth planning for. Solid-wood refurbished furniture appreciates a humidifier in the room during the coldest months — not for the finish, but for the wood underneath. A consistent 35–45% relative humidity keeps drawers running smoothly and joinery tight.

Refresh hardware once a year with a soft cloth and, if needed, a tiny amount of dedicated brass cleaner on aged brass pulls. Leather pulls benefit from an annual conditioner. Wood tops finished in hard-wax oil can be revived with a fresh coat of the same oil every two to three years — a fifteen-minute job that adds another decade to the finish.

With minimal effort, your refurbished furniture will continue to look exactly the way it did the day it was delivered. That is the quiet promise of a properly refurbished piece — and the reason a single commission from the studio can become a piece your family lives with for generations.