Furniture Restoration & French Polishing

Furniture Restoration Course: Revitalize Your Vintage Pieces

Uncover the beauty hidden beneath old varnish and wear. In this hands-on furniture restoration course, you will learn how to breathe new life into tired furniture while beautifully preserving its history and character.

Whether you are a complete beginner or a DIY enthusiast, this furniture restoration class requires no prerequisites—just a passion for bringing old things back to life.

What You Will Learn

Our expert tutor will guide you step-by-step through the entire restoration process, including:

Assessment: Learn how to evaluate your piece to determine if the existing finish can be refurbished or if it needs to be completely removed and redone.
Surface Preparation & Repair: Master the delicate art of stripping away old finishes without damaging the underlying patina. You will also learn how to apply fillers and make essential surface repairs.
Color & Coatings: Explore the possibilities of color changes and discover how to choose and apply the perfect finish best suited to your piece.
The Finishing Touches: Learn professional techniques to complete your project, including steel wooling, burnishing, and waxing.

What to Bring

Students are asked to bring 1 to 3 small pieces of furniture to work on throughout the course.

Please wear old clothes and closed in shoes.

Please note there is a $20 fee payable directly to the tutor on the day for materials.

About the Tutor

Rick Tailby

Working in the industry for 30 years, is a specialist in antique conservation- specialising in repairs, restoration, and French polishing.

I come from a long line of woodworkers and it’s been a joy working in the cabinet making/restoration world over the past 30 odd years. It has always been my desire to pass on the extensive skills I’ve learnt along the way after witnessing a slow decline in the opportunities available to learn how to conserve and restore such a large part of our history. I know from visiting hundreds of client’s houses over the years that there are thousands of unique, sentimental and historical pieces out-there that will fall into disrepair and become unsalvageable without preserving these skills and knowledge.

What You’ll Take Home

You will leave this furniture restoration class not only with a beautifully revitalized piece of furniture that proudly expresses its history, but also with the confidence and practical knowledge to tackle your own future projects.

This course is delivered once a week over a period of four weeks.

Session 1:

Assess the pieces that have been brought in by each student and determine what their expectations and outcomes are.

Cleaning, rejuvenating and stripping the furniture.

Session 2:

Preparing the surfaces – sanding

Minor repairs and filling if required – including colour matching of the filler

Colour changes to the timber if required, using oil, water or alcohol based stains, bleaching or ebonising.

Session 3:

Applying finishes

Learn how to make an applicator (rubber) – this is used to apply shellac for french polishing

Learn how to use a blender (shellac brush)

Learn how to apply oil and soap finishes

Learn how to touch out repairs and other blemishes

Session 4:

Final treatment of the finishes including steel wooling, burnishing and applying various waxes.

Please note classes held at the Tramshed need to be cancelled with the council if numbers are not met 2 WEEKS PRIOR TO WORKSHOP DATES due to council requirements. Please book well in advance of this to avoid disappointment.