What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 5pm Tuesday 8am - 5pm Wednesday 8am - 5pm Thursday 8am - 5pm Friday 8am - 5pm

G. Michael's Restoration

Home
United States
Fort Collins, CO
G. Michael's Restoration

Call Directions Website

Located in the historic city of Fort Collins, Colorado. G. Michael’s Restoration is an esteemed furniture repair and antique furniture restoration wood shop.

We serve Fort Collins and all Denver metro areas.

10/29/2026

Who is Judy Kensley McKie, and what is her Monkey Settee doing in a post from a furniture restoration shop in Fort Collins? 🤎🐒

Judy Kensley McKie is one of the most celebrated American studio furniture artists of the past fifty years, known for carving and casting animals into functional pieces. Her Monkey Settee is a bench in carved walnut with four cast bronze monkeys forming the arms and back, their tails curled into spirals. She made it in a small numbered edition in the mid 1990s. The Smithsonian American Art Museum holds one. Examples have sold at auction for six figures.

This week one of our restorers was invited to assess a Monkey Settee in person. John Sollo, the 20th century furniture appraiser from PBS’s Antiques Roadshow, was there as well.

What does a fine furniture consultation on a piece like this involve?

🔍 Identifying the piece, the maker, the edition, and the materials
🪵 Assessing the walnut finish and the bronze patina separately, because they age differently and the patina is part of the artwork
✋ Deciding what should be done, and what should be left exactly as it is
📋 Advising the owner on care, handling, and what to avoid

The most valuable thing a restorer can say about a museum-grade piece is sometimes “do not touch that.” ✨

If you own a studio craft piece, a designer original, or an antique you suspect is more than it looks, we can help you understand it before anyone works on it. Send us a message with a photo at [email protected] for a free quote! 📩

G. Michael’s Restoration, family owned in Fort Collins, Colorado, since 1985. Fine furniture restoration, conservation, and repair for all of Fort Collins, including Old Town, Campus West, Midtown, and the Harmony corridor, plus Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, Timnath, and the Denver metro, including Boulder, Longmont, Arvada, Lakewood, Littleton, and Highlands Ranch.

More about us: https://gmrestores.com/

10/26/2026

What does a furniture shop actually do all month? Here are four tables that answer that. 🤎🪑

🪵 Round pedestal table, striped top. Boards in deep red, pale cream, and grey-green laid side by side, with a hand-carved leaf apron. The top had gone dull, scratched, and flat. We sanded it back to bare wood and refinished it, and the stripes came back like they had been waiting.

🍂 Round claw-foot table. Water rings, scratches, and a finish that had drifted to orange. The oak base with its lion paw feet was in good shape, so we refinished just the top, in a deep cherry tone that finally suits the base.

✨ Dining table, matched grain top. Four sections of grain meeting in the center, buried under scuffs and haze. Base masked off, top stripped and sanded, a sealer coat, then finish coats sprayed in the booth until the pattern had depth again.

📐 Dining table and bench, built from scratch. No before photo of a table, because there was no table. A sketch, a cut list, rough lumber planed flat, a top glued up, legs and a bench frame cut and fitted, everything finished and assembled. Now there is a table.

Three refinishes and a build. If you have a table that needs any of those, or you cannot find the table you want and would rather have it made, send us a message with a photo or a sketch at [email protected] for a free quote! 📩

Family owned in Fort Collins since 1985. We serve all of Fort Collins, including Old Town, Campus West, Midtown, Rigden Farm, and the Harmony corridor, plus Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, Timnath, and the Denver metro, including Boulder, Longmont, Westminster, Arvada, Lakewood, Littleton, and Parker.

More on our table work: https://gmrestores.com/table-refinishing-and-restoration/

10/22/2026

How do you get a water ring out of a table? Here is the honest answer. 🤎🪵

This round pedestal table came in with a top that had been through it. Fine scratches across the whole surface, a white water ring dead center, and the finish worn through in the spots where people sit and lean. And it is a top worth saving. The boards run in stripes of deep red, pale cream, and grey-green, with a hand-carved leaf border all the way around the edge.

A white ring means moisture got into the finish, not the wood. So the finish has to go.

What we did:

🪵 Sanded the top back to clean, bare wood. Scratches gone, ring gone, old finish gone
🎨 Applied a fresh finish that brings the red boards back to red and the light boards back to a warm glow
✨ Left the carved apron and the pedestal alone, since they were in good shape and only the top needed work

The stripes were always there. Now they look like somebody chose them, which somebody did.

If your table top is scratched, ringed, or has gone flat and dull, and the base is still solid, it is a top refinish and not a new table. Send us a message with a photo at [email protected] for a free quote! 📩

Family owned in Fort Collins since 1985. We serve all of Fort Collins, including Old Town, Campus West, Midtown, Rigden Farm, and the Harmony corridor, plus Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, Timnath, and the Denver metro, including Boulder, Longmont, Broomfield, Arvada, Lakewood, Littleton, and Highlands Ranch.

More on our table work: https://gmrestores.com/table-refinishing-and-restoration/

10/19/2026

A wobbly rocker is not a broken rocker. It is a rocker that needs glue. 🤎🪑

This platform rocker came in the way most of them do. Joints loose, a chip out of one arm end, the light finish dull and patchy, and cushions that had been sat on for a few decades. Nothing dramatic, just years of use adding up until it stopped being the chair anyone chose.

What we did:

🔧 Took the chair completely apart, cleaned the old glue out of every joint, and glued it all back tight and square
🪵 Repaired the damage, including the chipped arm end, and prepped every piece for finish
🎨 Refinished the whole chair in a deep, warm brown that shows off the turned spindles, the curve of the arms, and the slatted high back
🧵 Replaced all the fabric with new cushions in a green leaf print

The result is, honestly, a new chair. Same bones, same rock, different everything else.

If you have a rocker, glider, or armchair that wobbles, looks tired, or just is not the color you want anymore, this is the fix. Send us a message with a photo at [email protected] for a free quote! 📩

Family owned in Fort Collins since 1985. We serve all of Fort Collins, including Old Town, Midtown, Campus West, and the Harmony corridor, plus Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, Timnath, and the wider Denver metro, including Boulder, Longmont, Broomfield, Westminster, Arvada, Lakewood, and Littleton.

More on our refinishing work: https://gmrestores.com/refinishing-furniture-fort-collins/

10/15/2026

Can burned furniture be saved? Here is your answer. 🤎🔥

This French Provincial three-drawer chest came to the shop with its top scorched black. Charred paint along the back edge, the curved front molding burned down through the finish, soot and heat marks across the rest of the surface. The body of the piece was in good shape, cream paint, gold trim, curved legs, all fine. The top had taken the hit.

Most people see damage like this and assume the piece is finished. It is usually not. Burn damage is a surface problem until it is a structural one, and this one was not there yet.

What we did:

🔧 Removed the charred paint and damaged material from the top and the front edge
🪵 Repaired the burned molding and brought the top back to flat and smooth
🎨 Refinished the top in a cream matched to the original, so new and old read as one
✨ Restored the gold trim line along the edge to match the drawers and legs

The result is a nightstand that looks like nothing ever happened to it.

If you have a piece with burn marks, scorching, or heat damage from a candle, a lamp, a pan, or something worse, send us a photo before you write it off. Send us a message with a photo at [email protected] for a free quote! 📩

Family owned in Fort Collins since 1985. Serving Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, Timnath, and the Denver metro.

More on what we do: https://gmrestores.com

10/12/2026

Most of what you see here started out broken. This one started out as an idea. 🤎📐

A client wanted a dining table and a matching bench. Not a restoration, not a refinish, a brand new pair of pieces that did not exist yet. So here is how a table gets made at our shop, start to finish.

📐 It starts on paper. A sketch, the proportions, and a cut list in a notebook, worked out before anyone touches a board.
🪵 Then the lumber. Rough boards planed flat and true. The top glued up from several boards and clamped until it is one solid slab.
🔨 Then the parts. Legs, aprons, and the bench frame cut, fitted, and joined.
🎨 Then the finish, before assembly. Our restorers Jesse and Brian sprayed the top and the base in M.L. Campbell conversion varnish, dull matte. Conversion varnish is one of the hardest-wearing finishes you can put on a kitchen table, and the matte sheen keeps it looking like wood instead of plastic.
🔩 Then assembly. Base to top, legs on the bench, everything checked square.

The result is simple on purpose. Clean lines, angled legs, a top you will not be afraid to use.

If you have been looking for a table that is the right size, the right wood, and the right shape for your space, and you cannot find it, that is what custom is for. Send us a message with a photo or a sketch at [email protected] for a free quote! 📩

Family owned in Fort Collins since 1985. Serving Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, Timnath, and the Denver metro including Denver, Boulder, Arvada, Lakewood, Evergreen and more.

More on our table work: https://gmrestores.com/table-refinishing-and-restoration/

10/08/2026

Want to see what actually happens to a table top between "before" and "after"? 🤎🍽️

This dining table came in with a top that had been loved hard. Scratches everywhere, white scuff marks, chipped edges, and a finish that had gone so hazy the grain pattern was hard to make out. And it is a pattern worth making out, four matched sections meeting in the center, with a darker band around the outside. The leaf had faded to a slightly different shade than the rest.

The base, with its reeded apron and tapered legs, was in good shape, so it was masked off and left alone. Everything below is here is the top and the leaf only.

What we did:

🧻 Masked the base so nothing below the top got touched
🪵 Stripped the old finish and sanded the top and leaf back to clean, bare wood
🖌️ Applied a first sealer coat to lock in the color and even out the surface
🎨 Sprayed the finish coats in our booth, with the air and dust controlled, until the top had real depth

Spraying matters. A brushed finish on a top this size would show every stroke. A sprayed one goes on in thin, even layers and dries smooth as glass.

If your dining table top is scratched, cloudy, or worn through, and the base is still solid, you do not need a new table. You need a new top surface.

Send us a message with a photo at [email protected] for a free quote! 📩

Family owned in Fort Collins since 1985. Serving Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, Timnath, and the Denver metro.

More on our table work: https://gmrestores.com/table-refinishing-and-restoration/

10/05/2026

Which is worse, water rings or a cracked top? This table had both. 🤎☕

A round coffee table on a heavy oak pedestal with four carved lion paw feet. The kind of base that gets passed down because nobody could bring themselves to get rid of it. The top had not aged as well. The three boards had pulled apart at the joints, leaving open cracks across the surface, and the finish was covered in water rings and scratches.

Here is the honest part. Wood moves. Boards shrink over the years, especially in our dry Colorado air, and the joints between them open up. It looks alarming. It is one of the most routine repairs we do.

What we did:

🔧 Took the top off the base so it could be worked flat
🪵 Stripped the old finish, water rings, and scratches down to bare wood
🔩 Glued the joints and clamped the boards tight until the cracks closed and the top was one solid piece again
✨ Refinished the top in a warm honey tone that matches the oak base it sits on

The base did not need a thing. It just needed a top worth standing under.

If you have a table with a split top, water damage, or a finish that has given up, send us a message with a photo at [email protected] for a free quote! 📩

Family owned in Fort Collins since 1985. Serving Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, Timnath, and the Denver metro.

More on furniture refinishing: https://gmrestores.com/refinishing-furniture-fort-collins/

09/28/2026

Here is a bench that was hiding its own color. 🤎🪑

When this mahogany bench came into the shop, the top and the carved supports looked like two different pieces of furniture. The top was a dull brown. The scroll pedestals were nearly black. And both cane seat panels were torn clean through, so nobody had sat on it in a while.

It was all the same mahogany. The finish had just gone dark and tired over the years, and it was covering everything up.

What we did:

🔧 Removed the old finish from the top, the carved leaf border, and both pedestal supports
🪵 Glued and clamped where the bench needed it, so it is solid before it is pretty
🧺 Took out the torn cane and installed new cane in both seat panels
✨ Refinished the whole bench so the mahogany shows warm and red, and the carving has its depth back

The acanthus leaf brackets and the carved border around the top were there the whole time. You just could not see them.

Torn cane and a dark, dead finish are two of the most common problems we see on old seating, and both are very fixable. If you have a bench, chair, or settee like this, it is worth a look before it goes to the curb.

Send us a message with a photo at [email protected] for a free quote! 📩

Family owned in Fort Collins since 1985. Serving Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, Timnath, and the Denver metro.

More on our antique work: https://gmrestores.com/antique-furniture-restoration/

09/24/2026

Quick bit of math. Colorado became a state in 1876. This walnut table is more than 180 years old. So it was already sitting in somebody's parlor before Colorado was Colorado. 🤎🪵

It is a tilt-top side table on a turned column with three curved legs, and it came into the shop looking every bit its age in the wrong ways. The top was covered in scratches and dull spots. The pedestal had chips in the finish. The old coating had dried out and quit protecting anything.

The job was a full refinish:

🔧 Took the top off the tripod base so each part could be handled properly
🪵 Removed the old, failed finish from the top and the turned column
✨ Cleaned up the scratches and refinished both the top and the base so the walnut glows again
🕰️ Left the honest wear that belongs on a piece this old, then put it all back together

The walnut was always beautiful. It had just been buried for a long time.

If you have an old table with a scratched, hazy, or dried-out top, the wood is almost always fine underneath. That is a finish problem, and finishes can be redone. The table cannot be re-bought.

Send us a message with a photo at [email protected] for a free quote! 📩

Family owned in Fort Collins since 1985. Serving Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, Timnath, and the Denver metro.

More on our antique work: https://gmrestores.com/antique-furniture-restoration/

Address

113 Hickory Street
Fort Collins, CO
80524

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

(970)4938737

Website

https://gmrestores.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when G. Michael's Restoration posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.