Furniture Refinishing & Restoration
At Artifex, we believe great furniture deserves to last for generations. Our restoration and refinishing services are designed to bring damaged, tired and well-loved pieces back to life; whether they were made by us or not. From well-loved dining tables to damaged pieces that need careful repair, or a family heirloom ready for a more modern chapter, our team approaches every restoration project with the same level of craftsmanship and care we bring to our furniture.
Based in our Sydney workshop, our master craftsmen work by hand to restore, repair, refinish, and reinvent furniture pieces for homes and designers across Australia.
Have a Piece You’d Like Restored?
We’d love to discuss the possibilities.
Contact the team at sales@artifex.com.au
Repairing Damaged Furniture
Life happens and furniture often shows it. Over time, even quality furniture can suffer from everyday wear, accidental damage, moving mishaps or environmental exposure. Our team specialises in carefully repairing damaged furniture while preserving the integrity and character of the original design wherever possible. From minor touch-ups through to full restorations, we assess each piece individually to determine the best approach.
Refinishing Well-Loved Furniture
Some furniture simply deserves another chapter. Refinishing is an ideal way to revive tired furniture, modernise older finishes or refresh a piece that has been loved for years. Over time, timber naturally changes with use, sunlight, moisture, and age. A professional refinish can completely transform a tired or dated piece while keeping the craftsmanship and sentimental value intact. Even if we didn’t originally make the piece, we’re happy to assess it. Many older solid timber pieces are built with exceptional craftsmanship and materials that are difficult to find today, making restoration a worthwhile investment.
Modernising Family Heirlooms
Some furniture carries more than function; it carries history. We often work with clients who have inherited furniture from parents, grandparents, or relatives and want to update it for modern living while respecting its story and craftsmanship. This might involve updating outdated finishes, repairing age-related wear and damage, modifying proportions or details, and reworking bases or tops. Our goal is to preserve the soul of the piece while making it feel at home in today’s interiors.
Every piece has a story. Sometimes it just needs the right hands to continue it.
"Bruno" 1900's
Antique Restoration & conservation
Our master craftsmen Scott specialises in antiquities and traditional furniture restoration, bringing decades of experience working with antique pieces, delicate finishes, and traditional techniques. Antique restoration requires a different approach to modern furniture refinishing. The goal is not to erase age and character, but to carefully preserve the integrity, craftsmanship and history of the piece wherever possible.
What’s involved
Every restoration project is unique. We begin by assessing the condition of the piece, discussing your goals, and determining the most suitable approach. Restoring furniture can be an incredibly detailed and labour-intensive process, often involving considerably more unknowns and handwork than creating new. Existing pieces may contain old finishes, oils, waxes or sealers that react unpredictably with modern coatings, meaning every stage must be approached carefully and methodically. Surfaces are stripped, cleaned, stabilised and refinished by hand to ensure the new finish performs correctly and the integrity of the timber is maintained. This investigative, cautious approach often takes significantly longer than machining new, where we start from clean, raw timber.
Should I restore or replace.
Deciding whether to restore or replace a piece of furniture often comes down to quality, sentiment and long-term value. Many older pieces are constructed using solid timbers, traditional joinery methods and materials that are difficult to find today. While restoration may initially seem like an investment, it can often be far more worthwhile than replacing a quality piece with something of lesser craftsmanship. Furniture with sentimental value, unique design details or structural integrity is frequently an excellent candidate for restoration. In other cases, extensive damage or lower-quality construction may make replacement the more practical and cost-effective option. We are always honest in our recommendations and can help assess whether restoration, refinishing or replacement is the best path forward for your piece.
Why you should Choose Artifex
Unlike many imported furniture brands, our workshop is local and we are here long after your furniture is delivered. Our restoration work is completed in our Sydney workshop by experienced furniture makers and finishers who understand timber, construction methods and traditional craftsmanship. Because we manufacture and restore furniture ourselves, we can provide long-term
support and practical repair solutions that many retailers simply cannot offer.
Beautiful furniture shouldn’t become disposable because life happened
