It’s that old piece of furniture that sits quietly in the corner. It’s the old heirloom that you inherited from your great grandmother when you got married and moved into your first home. It’s a tired collection of wood and glue but it means a lot to you and you just can’t bear to part ways with it. After all, it’s the bassinet your grandmother slept in for her first few years. So what can you do to breathe live back into that beloved piece of family history?

The reasons behind restoring an old piece furniture can be as vast as the amount of old time vintage antique shops that litter the eastern seaboard. To each person who has that well worn item stored away deep into the recesses of their seldom visited attic there is a potential for restoring the memories of love ones long gone and the luster of a once prized family heirloom. Often, as time rolls by the memories of childhood slip into a forgotten realm and the hustle and bustle of today becomes the focal point of the mind. It’s only when that person ventures into the attic to search for some other less important misplaced item that those memories come back in a flood as they stand in amazement of that old piece of furniture that they had long forgotten about.

If you’ve ever been that person, you surely know the feeling that rushes back as you remember the day it was handed down to you. The proud feeling that you were remembered or the touching embrace as you hugged the frail person who cared for you as a child and has now realized that you are the rightful caretaker of the items that mean the most to them in life. Whether it’s that old bassinet, or a well worn hutch, the desire to see it preserved will begin to haunt you until you give in and start the process of restoring that beautiful piece of art.

Where do you begin to start the process? This item is one of great importance to you and you want to ensure it’s properly restored to its rightful luster. The process of restoring furniture can be a rewarding one but success is dependent on the degree of restoration, the particular piece you are restoring and the education level you have with restoring.

The right place to begin in the process is to determine what the value of the piece is. This is not crass but a 200 year old antique worth $10,000 is not all that uncommon to show up in a forgotten attic and when it happens it’s best to seek out a qualified artisan that is skilled in the art of restoring valuable antiques. If anything, a qualified artisan can assist you with the best process to take to ensure the piece stays as valuable as it can. If the item is not as valuable as that colonial antique you can likely seek the assistance of your local wood worker supply store. This writer has relied on friends at Woodcraft for countless assistance over the years.

If you want to go at the process alone you’ll find that the hours you spend on that beloved piece will melt away and they usually end up being the most rewarding hours you’ll spend as an adult. You’ll often become one with the furniture as you relive all of the memories that make that piece of furniture so important to you. With countless online resources aimed at first time restorers you’ll find numerous places more then willing to help you make all of the critical decisions on what to do.

Also, keep in mind that the patina that a price of furniture obtains over the years can be a large part of the character and removing that character can all but ruin the real appeal of an heirloom. Before you pick up that paint stripper think to your self. Does the actual wood and glue mean the most to you or does the wear and tear caused by years of love mean more to you. Answering that question should tell you what steps you should take before you proudly display that heirloom where the world can see it!

Kimberly Green has inherited many beautiful family heirlooms and has recently refinished 2 bassinets that have been in the family for years.

It’s likely the first piece of furniture you will buy for your child, it’s your baby’s bassinet. Quality and safety is key!

Your baby has had nine months to get comfortable and used to warm safe places to sleep and when they make their arrival into the world it’s your duty to make sure they maintain that warm and safe place to sleep.
There is a wide range of reasons for picking a bassinet over a crib for those first few months of life. A lot of mothers like to keep their newborns in their rooms instead of the baby’s room so they can be close by for those multiple nightly meal times. Some choose a bassinet because it gives a cozier feeling and it’s easier to swaddle. Regardless of your reasoning quality and safety should be your number one concern when it comes to the brand you choose.
There are many cost effective low end bassinets that meet the requirements to be called such but they present little value when it comes down to how safe your child is.
Quality hardwood furniture is always safer than furniture that is designed to come apart in mere seconds. It’s just common sense that furniture that is glued together with solid joints will be safer than mass produced pop metal and plastic parts. Plastic bassinets tout the ability to play music or have low-end mobiles but they can present hazards like choking. These are non-existent issues with quality hardwood bassinets.
Not only do low quality plastic bassinets present hazards they present very low quality for their cost. You will absolutely pay more for hardwood furniture but it will have a higher quality than anything you can get at large economy super stores. Hardwood furniture can be polished and stained for generations to help preserve value and to distribute the cost over several children, even several generations.
It’s very possible that a baby’s bassinet could serve as a family heirloom that could be passed down to that child when they are ready to bring their own bundles of joy into the world. Quality furniture has always been one of the most popular heirlooms. It’s easy for a person to have a connection with a piece of furniture that coddled them as an infant.
If your decision is to use a bassinet for the first several months of your child’s like make sure you pay attention to the quality of the product you are considering purchasing and make sure you research to find any issues that may be known about to ensure you are picking the highest quality and safest piece of furniture for your baby. They will thank you for it some day!