Furniture restoration and French polishing in London
The piece you have been meaning to sort out for years, put right by somebody who does this for a living. 32 furniture restorers and French polishers across London.
All 32 in London
Mixed across London so no one part fills the top. Nobody can pay to move up it. Each card shows the work it covers, and a business with more than one address is listed once.
Questions people ask about London
How many furniture restorers are there in London?
32, of which 23 have their own website. Every one names the work it does rather than just calling itself a restorer, which is the bar for appearing here at all.
Who does French polishing in London?
31 of the 32 restorers we list in London name French polishing as part of what they do. It is the traditional shellac finish used on Georgian and Victorian furniture, and it is repair work as much as finishing: reviving a tired surface rather than stripping it back. The same firms often name french polishing and period specialism too. We take no fee and no commission from any of them.
Can I learn restoration in London?
There are 110 woodworking courses in London on this site. Finishing and repair come up on a good number of them.
Restoration in London, in numbers
32 restorers across 11 towns. 31 of them name French polishing, which makes it the common thread here as it is almost everywhere. After that it is antiques (13), spray finishing (8) and gilding (4). Floor sanding, marquetry or inlay, veneer repair, wax finishing and woodworm treatment are scarce here, each offered by three businesses or fewer, so for those jobs expect to send a piece further than you would for a repolish.
23 have their own website, and for 9 we hold no site of their own so the link goes to their Google listing. 24 describe their own work in their own words; for the other 8 we are going on the trading name alone, and the listing says so. 2 work from more than one address, listed once rather than once per town.
The towns with the most are London (21) and Croydon (2). A further 9 towns have a single restorer each, which is worth knowing if you would rather not put a piece in a van for an hour.
The broadest range of skills we hold in London is at Joseph Aaron Furniture Restoration & French Polishers, which names French polishing, gilding, period specialism, spray finishing, veneer repair, wax finishing and woodworm treatment: a sensible first call if your piece needs more than one thing doing to it.
The French Polishing Company, Martells French Polishing Ltd and TJ Cuthill French Polishing in Ruislip each describe their work in their own words. 3 businesses here name four or more separate techniques, which usually means a workshop rather than one person with a polishing kit.
London holds 10% of the restorers we list nationally.
What it costs, whether it is worth restoring, and the mistakes that cannot be undone.