1930's Art Deco Kitchen Dresser

An actual restoration this time ....

A 1930's kitchen dresser. Painted in a lovely distressed mustard and olive theme.
Don't know how long ago it was painted, but it should have done a good job protecting the timbers underneath :D
This is how it arrived.
The first thing was to remove the lead light glass from the frames and put them in storage to protect them.

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This is what I'm hoping it will look like when I'm finished.
Reference photos from the Manly Antique centre.

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I need to do all the normal restoration things.
Replace drawer runners, scrape and wash the paint off, replace the modern drawer pulls (photo shows the imprint of the original pulls),
polish everything, replace some of the cane moldings, and patch a bit of veneer on the round sides.

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Luckily the paint was water based and it scrapes and washes off pretty easily.
I have all the doors and cabinet hardware removed for cleaning.
There's some nice walnut veneer under the paint.

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Cleaning one of the doors.

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A before and after on one of the doors.
There's a lot of original polish on the woodwork. This will make the French polishing a fair bit easier.

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I found this lining one of the shelves.

Hand painted lino :o

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It's been well used. You can even tell which slot the knives, forks and spoons were kept in the cutlery drawer by the wear on the back of the drawer.

Art Deco is not really my thing, but I'm sure there'll be some fun moments (or not).

I'll post some more photos if anything interesting happens.

Cheers all,
Stu

:kewlpics: What a great find. Look forward to seeing the restoration.

:2tsup:

That should look great when done,have one similar done up years ago,any idea how much it would sell for after you have finished it?:2tsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nrb

That should look great when done,have one similar done up years ago,any idea how much it would sell for after you have finished it?:2tsup:

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I'm restoring this dresser for a friend. It's been in the family since new, so it has a lot of sentimental value.
Kitchen dressers are actually quite useful, so there is some demand I expect.

The complete one in the pictures had a price of $850. This was from an antique shop.

Greyt stuphph Thumbthumper!!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

I wonder how much of that beautiful old style has been painted, modified,
or just thrown out??

The paint's all gone now. It'll need a good scrub to get the last little flecks out of the veneer grain.

These photos are the progress shots.

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I've started to polish the doors. It's good thing to do when you have a moment during the day.

Before and after the first coat.

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I've ordered some split cane that is used for moldings, and I have my eye on some deco drawer pulls on a couple of different websites.

After I finish scrubbing the whole thing down to get as much of the paint out of the grain as possible, I'll start patching a few spots in the veneer. I'll try to post some WIP on that job.

Cheers all ...

:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

It's just such a pleasure to see this being brought back to life!!

Spent some time in the shed doing some fiddly bits.

Cleaning the hinges and screws. I used a soft brass wire wheel in the drill press.

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I ordered some split cane from a mob in QLD to replace the old broken and missing moldings.
Here I am planing the back of the cane to get it nice and flat, I will need to sand the skin and leaf nodes off and stain them a Walnut colour before replacing.
This is how they were originally done.

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Some of the veneer problem areas.

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My 'library' of Walnut veneer pieces.

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First pic is the cleanout of a veneer ding. I then take a rubbing of the area using masking tape.


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Stick the rubbing to a matching piece of veneer and cut out with a scalpel.
You'll usually need to tweak the size of the patch with some sandpaper.
I then hinge it with masking tape.


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I use hide glue and saturate the whole patch (back and front) and press in.
Because it's a curved surface, I use dressmakers pins to secure the patch. It's a bit hard to clamp as you would with a flat surface.

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When it dries, I'll sand it flush with fine paper and add a touch of stain if required.

Back to the shed now to sand split cane :~

Cheers all ...

Great to see the level of work you're going to on this. I'm particularly interested in your approach with the veneer 'dings' and using a rubbing etc. I have an early 1900's desk I should start on sometime which will need some veneer repairs. Looking forward to seeing your progress! :) Lawry

Some more progress shots.


Here's the cutlery drawer.
It did have remnants of felt stuck to the drawer bottom, but here I've used a cotton drill stuck down with hide glue. I haven't nailed in the bottom yet (slipped in for the pic) as I want to wait until I install the handles (which are now in transit). This just saves cleaning if I have to re-drill the drawer fronts.
The hide glue, when made a bit thicker doesn't seem to soak into the material. In my old piano technician days, we always used hide glue for the doeskins and felts so that they didn't harden.
I love the way you can see the wear of the cutlery at the back of the drawer. Knives on the left, forks in the centre and spoons on the right.
I could have replaced the dividers as they were pretty smashed up, but I ended up repairing the originals. Glueing, clamping, cleaning.

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All the doors are now finished.
I had intended to just rag on a finish, but I ended up french polishing the Walnut panels, and just rubbing the frames with the BLO/shellac mix.
Finished with a hard wax and buffed.
The push catches are not original I believe, but they've been there quite a while and they suit the style. I'm not sure I'd be able to source originals.
Thankfully, all the hinges are definitely original and in good condition.

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The first coat of neat shellac on the veneered side. This side didn't need patching.
The other side still has some veneer repairs to do.

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I can actually see light at the end of the tunnel now :U

Looking great Stu. One of the nicest dressers I have seen. Well worth restoring.

The veneer patching is all done ...

The nasty hole at the bottom of the right side was a challenge.
I used a Dremel to cut the ragged base plywood into a somewhat neat hole.
I trimmed and cleaned the walnut veneer ready for the patch.
I glued in a fairly thick piece of veneer (cedar) to use as a backing.

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I used a contour gauge to replicate the arc, band sawed a scrap piece of pine, and then trimmed it down and glued it in.

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Patched and pinned...
It looks a bit redder than the original walnut, but I'll blend with oxides/stain.
It actually looks very close when wet down.

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Another patch done...

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The new (old) handles arrived from the big auction site in the sky.
Original 1930's.

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This is one of the old handles in situ. Made by Turner Australia.
These would have been added in the 60's. Turner was bought out by Stanley around 1970.

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Better ?

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Next job is to shellac the right side, top, and rails and replace the inner case drawer runners.
Then it's time to polish, polish, polish :doh:



soon

New/old handles much better. :2tsup:

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Originally Posted by NCArcher

New/old handles much better. :2tsup:

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I think so.

I spent a lot of time looking around the world for suitable handles. I was never going to find handles that fitted the imprints perfectly.

Original 1930's, great design, and very complimentary. The auction was for a total of 3 at a reasonable price :2tsup:

I'm hoping the owner will be happy with them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NCArcher

New/old handles much better. :2tsup:

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Agreed!!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

I have my eye on a couple of simple Art Deco Lowboys.

Big trouble is the interiors have been absolutely butchered.
Still, I may be able to tidy them up enough in that regard
to make them saleable. The exteriors simply need stripping
shellacking. Would have to also make my own Art Deco handles
for each unit. I'm going to check them out on Saturday.

Some more updates ....

The veneer patch.
Not perfect, but it's hard to get them perfect :C
It doesn't seem to draw the eye.

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The top has had it's first coat of shellac.
This is a lovely board. Cherry I think. Great figure.
It's a shame that you would have to be 6 1/2 foot tall to really appreciate it :U

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Tweaking the drawer runners.
I ended up just turning the originals upside down.
It's interesting that there is only one case runner for each drawer. On alternate sides.
Manufacturing shortcut I suppose.

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Soaking the cane moldings prior to fitting.
I've pre-drilled the ends to prevent splitting. Also I'll tap (flatten) the points of the pins I'll be using just in case.

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I've given everything a coat of shellac now. I'll give it a rub back with fine steel wool, and re-coat the drier areas.
I've cleaned the shelves and will probably just give these a wax.

Off to fit the moldings now.

Cheers all ....

Just about done ....

The shelves have been cleaned and waxed. All the rails have been polished.
The sides will need more rubbing.

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I do have some help occasionally :U

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I've fitted the doors now and adjusted the catches.

Apart from more polish on the sides and an overall wax, we're just about there.

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I'll post a final glamour shot when completely finished.

Cheers all ...

congratulations on a job well done, did you keep track of how many hours it took?

lovely :clap:

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Originally Posted by shedbound

congratulations on a job well done, did you keep track of how many hours it took?

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Thanks.
Not really. A job like this is almost always a write-off. You couldn't charge an reasonable hourly rate and expect to be paid :no:
This was for a friend in any case.
I don't mind restoring furniture for myself, but I don't think I could make a living out of it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NCArcher

lovely :clap:

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Thank you ....it's had it's fun moments.

:brava:brava:brava:brava

Great restoration!! The sheen is just right!!!

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Originally Posted by artme

:brava:brava:brava:brava

Great restoration!! The sheen is just right!!!

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Thanks artme

The sides will need a bit more nourishment.

A buffed waxed look is best.

cheers

Nicely done! I'm not overly keen on that style of cabinet myself, but you've certainly done a great job of refurbishing it!

Now, all we need are a few side-by-side "before & after" pix in the same msg, so we can properly appreciate the improvement w/out needing to flick back thru pages. :wink::D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Nicely done! I'm not overly keen on that style of cabinet myself, but you've certainly done a great job of refurbishing it!

Now, all we need are a few side-by-side "before & after" pix in the same msg, so we can properly appreciate the improvement w/out needing to flick back thru pages. :wink::D

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Thanks ...

Deco is not my thing really, but it's a useful piece of furniture.

I'll post side by side when I take the final photo. The last photos were a bit rushed, and I didn't have standing room to take a full frontal shot.

Watch this space :U

Thumbthumper... a lovely job and a truly nice piece of furniture... well done.

Mick.

I've just watched the cabinet driving off into the distance.
Back home to stay.

Before ...

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After ...

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Thanks to all that had a look.

Now off to find another project.

Nice job!
I love the shine you got on the timber.

Stewie

What a great thread and an excellent refurb, hats off to you!

Out of curiosity how long did it take to complete?

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Originally Posted by MrTwistie

What a great thread and an excellent refurb, hats off to you!

Out of curiosity how long did it take to complete?

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Hi Mr Twistie .....

I took me about a month and a half. Weekends and some nights (I have a 'real' job).
Many hours, but most aspects were fun. It was for a friend (and a bit of pocket money :U).