Page 16 · Restoration
A wardrobe from 1843
Painted, warped, worm-eaten – and a family heirloom from Birkenfeld. Restoring it means replacing as little as possible and showing honestly whatever was replaced.
Starting point
The brief
The two-door wardrobe spent over a hundred years in an attic in Birkenfeld. Tulips are painted on the door panels, and the year 1843 at the top. A piece of the cornice was missing, the right door hung crooked and the woodworm was still active.
The family wanted to use it again, but not ‘as new’. The marks of 180 years should stay – only the decay had to stop.
We decided against repainting: the original paint was cleaned and consolidated, and losses were retouched only lightly.
In restoration the key question isn’t ‘what can I do?’ It’s ‘what do I leave alone?’
Wood and finish
Materials
Spruce & fir Picea abies / Abies alba
Original: painted spruce. Cornice patch from 150-year-old reclaimed fir
Spruce & fir to the wood guide →
Also used
- Hot hide glue – reversible for the next restorer
- Shellac as a protective coat over the paint
- Woodworm treated with heat, not poison (52 °C, 48 hours)
Sizes & facts
- Size
- 160 × 58 × 205 cm
- Made
- 1843 (dated in paint)
- Original material kept
- about 94 %
- Parts dismantled
- 37
How we went about it
Process
Documenting
Every bit of damage was photographed and mapped on a sketch before we touched anything.
Heat treatment
The whole wardrobe spent 48 hours in a heat chamber. At 52 °C in the core, no woodworm survives.
Dismantling and gluing
The glue joints had failed. We took it apart and re-glued it with hot hide glue – just like in 1843.
Patching
The missing cornice piece was made from reclaimed wood and deliberately left unpainted.
Cleaning and consolidating
The paintwork was dry-cleaned, loose flakes consolidated, then a thin coat of shellac.
12 weeks
Timeline
- Assessment1 wk
- Heat chamber1 wk
- Dismantle & glue4 wk
- Patching2 wk
- Paint & finish4 wk
4 drawings
Picture story
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