Nail it: how to repair your own furniture

There’s nothing quite like that feeling you get from getting hands-on in a workshop or studio. While we can't all, say, whittle a chair from a block of wood, the endeavour of repairing and restoring our own furniture is no less satisfying. The benefits are endless: it’s a more cost-effective alternative to buying new furniture and reduces your carbon footprint – you can even give your beloved objects a complete makeover. From in-person workshops to online courses, TV shows and books, here’s where you can learn how to restore your furniture.


Workshops and courses

Thomson Antiques in Devon offers a wide range of courses for all-levels, spanning weekend workshops for beginners to year-long restoration diplomas. On a converted dairy farm in the market town of Wimborne Minster, Dorset, mother-and-daughter duo Anna Eckford and Cecily Benson run upholstery classes that last for six weeks at a time, with three-hourly sessions per week.

Meanwhile, in London, The Good Life Centre – an independent learning space near Tate Modern – delivers practical hands-on workshops in DIY, decorating, upholstery, woodwork carpentry and various traditional handcrafts. Upcoming classes including an introduction to bookbinding and freehand machine embroidery. Over in East London, The School of Stuff occupies a well-equipped studio on Shacklewell Lane, where anything related to furniture is taught and even occasionally some things that aren’t, like shoemaking. The school occasionally stages furniture history courses that make use of the city’s museums and historic houses – perfect for buffing up your knowledge.

In Diss, Norfolk, you can hone your veneering and marquetry skills at Philip Hodge Antiques or jumpstart your furniture restoration journey at Craven Conservation in Ely with a five-day tool chest-making course. Budding restorers can also enrol in project-based restoration courses once they’ve completed an introductory class.

If you’re based around Gloucestershire, architectural interior designer Oliver Piepereit of OP Woodcraft in Blockley hosts up to 10-day long workshops with a focus on mid-century modern restoration and wood care. In the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, the aptly named And Upholster does exactly what it says on the tin: providing step-by-step tutoring on how to restore upholstered furniture to its former glory. Further up north, The Boho Shed runs furniture painting and upholstery workshops in Lancashire, Cheshire and Greater Manchester for all levels of ability. And in Edinburgh, designer Isabelle Moore leads ornamental carving and rattan cane weaving classes.

TV shows

on BBC One, furniture restorer and presenter Jay Blades is on a mission to kindle a passion for DIY and help us become more self-sufficient, sharing hacks, tips and tricks on Jay Blades’ Home Fix. He’s also a regular fixture on The Repair Shop (BBC One), in which a team of Britain’s most skilled craftspeople rescue and resurrect broken heirlooms and other treasured items. And, if you like your furniture restoration with a side of feel-good drama, then Quest show Salvage Hunters: The Restorers is for you. Each week, antiques dealer and host Drew Pritchard tasks a skilled team of restorers to breathe life into his finds, from a 120-year-old writing table to a 19th-century weathervane.

Online

What did DIYers do before the advent of YouTube? Fort Worth-based restoration influencer (yes, there is such a thing) Maggie McGaugh began transforming old furniture shortly after giving birth to her son. The young mum has racked up a large following on Instagram and also posts easy-to-follow how-to videos on her YouTube channel – all in a delightfully bubbly Texan drawl. Elsewhere, Tom Johnson, who’s been in the business since 1979 and helms a restoration workshop in Gorham, Maine, documents his restoration of a wide variety of antique and fine furniture pieces. And you can learn everything from how to strip and French polish wood furniture to restoring mid-century nest tables online with South Devon-based Gilboy’s Antique Specialists.

For more serious-minded restorers, the NCC – a distance-learning educator – offers an Upcycling Diploma course that covers everything from the basics of upcycling to step-by-step projects and running an upcycling business. Harley Oxford’s 100-hour furniture restoration course teaches the basic principles and techniques for restoring multiple types of materials and retaining the integrity of historical pieces of furniture as you update them to suit your aesthetic – importantly, the course can completed at your own pace.

Books

There’s plenty of literature to be found on furniture restoration so we recommend starting with Brooklyn-based restorer Christopher Pourny’s The Furniture Bible, an all-encompassing guide on the subject that even has Martha Stewart’s stamp of approval. Meanwhile, Alex Law’s The Upholsterer’s Step-by-Step Handbook makes the techniques and tricks of the upholstery trade completely accessible.