Considering a Career in Furniture Restoration?
The best way to learn more about furniture restoration is by doing a furniture restoration course. If you’re ideal place to work is in an establishment that smells of nothing but wood and allows you to get creative, this is the ideal course for you. A furniture restoration course will provide you with all the necessary skills and knowledge required to restore furniture. The good news is there are lots of furniture restoration courses currently available. They offer good flexibility too for those of us leading busy lives. Furniture restoration courses are available in part-time and evening class options, in person and online.
What Is Furniture Restoration?
Furniture restoration is essentially the process of repairing the cosmetic and structural damage of a piece of furniture. The overall goal is to improve the appearance of the furniture item without detracting from its original appearance or value. Furniture restoration is often carried out on antique items. If carried out correctly, furniture restoration can increase the value of an item. This is because if the item is made more attractive, more collectors will often be interested in buying it. Furniture restoration is also great for the environment as many may throw out that old piece of furniture without considering the opportunity of giving it a new life.
What Will You Learn?
Essentially, you will learn how exactly to make furniture new again! In furniture restoration courses, you will learn skills such as polishing, conservation, restoration and other techniques such as chalk painting. You may also learn about upholstery which is a technique often incorporated in furniture restoration projects. Upholstery is essentially where you take padding and fabric and apply it to a furniture item such as a chair to make it feel new. The process of furniture restoration involves lots of tools and equipment so you can expect to learn how to use the tools and equipment correctly to get the desired results. You can also expect to learn how to deal with the wide range of woods that you will be working on when doing practical work in your furniture restoration course.
It Does Not Mean Repairing
A common misconception with furniture restoration is that it means repairing furniture. However, although the two may overlap, there is a huge different between repairing and furniture restoration. As we have mentioned previously furniture restoration is about restoring an item of furniture to make it look like a new piece. It can also mean preserving the furniture so that it does not deteriorate any further. If the furniture item is antique or just quite old, the procedure may include replacing parts and recreating the piece. However, more times than not, because of the limited knowledge out there, people will hire a furniture repair person when the item of furniture really just needed a restoration.
There is a clear difference between these two practices, however, many still do not know this. Repairing simply means bringing back the functionality of a piece of furniture. Restoration is an entirely different practice that involves bringing the item back to its previous state. It is a helpful practice when items have lost their charm and owners want to change up the original functionality and beauty of the item. It is vital for you to know this before applying for a furniture restoration course. Otherwise, you may apply thinking it is all about repairs when it is actually something more meaningful than that: giving furniture a second, third, fourth life.
Furniture Restoration Courses
There is a wide array of courses out there focused on furniture restoration. From QQI part-time courses to evening classes. It is worthwhile doing a furniture restoration course if you are interested and serious about following through with this career path. Furniture restoration can make big money because your job is essentially making items worth more. There are many careers out there too for you once you have completed your course. It is a great career for those who enjoy rolling up their sleeves and getting creative.
If you’re serious about completing a course on furniture restoration, have a look at the courses available in the Nightcourses.co.uk national course finder.