Empire Antique Furniture Restorers

Empire Antique Furniture Restorers We are a Matamata based Furniture restoration company. Specialising in Antique ,retro and Modern Furniture Pick up and delivery service available.

ANTIQUE FURNITURE RESTORERS, we restore all types of furniture ; stripping ,veneer work and repolishing using traditional and modern finishes. any enquires please phone or email us and we will be glad to help you in any way we can.

Well... we are all over Christmas and everyone's back at school and to work and we are all getting back to normal.And at...
16/02/2024

Well... we are all over Christmas and everyone's back at school and to work and we are all getting back to normal.
And at Empire we are all getting everybody's pieces restored and back to them .

I have been restoring quite a few family pieces and now they look marvellous and have been returned back home , these pieces their Mum and Dad bought when they got married in the early 50s and now they have been rescued and ready for their children and grandkids to use.

Other pieces are for a noted antique dealer in Wellington who bought these pieces all the way up to Matamata because Antique Restorers as well as Clock Makers and other old school trades are dying off or retiring .
When I started restoring antiques back in the mid 70s all the restorers were one man bands who worked away diligently and one day they were gone and the numbers are dropping every year .

I read a book on Antique Restoration from the 70's and back then you couldn't get young people interested in this trade , there was no passion or staying power [ Grandee I've got better things to do ].......my Grandson .

Like clock makers , try finding one now ....they're all rare like most of these trades .
And I'm looking forward to slowing down and just working on my stuff.
So people you better get you pieces restored now before another apron is hung up !
So give me a ring in 07.888.6843 or 021.0849.0790

Spring is finally on its way and hopefully we get a decent summer after the last one was cancelled.Since the last post w...
24/08/2023

Spring is finally on its way and hopefully we get a decent summer after the last one was cancelled.
Since the last post we've been working on a large variety of Antiques ,retro and the strange.

I have an automata for years gathering dust in the workshop of Doom , his face has pop up before in a post so I thought I need to get him sorted.
Sues hates him and wants to put him up the garden and put a bullet hole right between his eyes but I love him like a son .
So now she's making his new navy uniform as the old one fell apart.
Sorting out his mechanicals was tricky as parts were missing .
See the photo and you will love him too .

We have restored a heap of tables and chests , chairs etc from all over the country .
Also screen printing some clock faces which is always fun.

And Happy Birthday to our Alex who is our number one worker who is now into her 9th year of training.

You can see there is a mixture of some of things we have been working on .

So go smash up something so we can make your day and fix it all up lovely like !

MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL , yep its that time again when we work like mad to finish up everything in time for Christm...
19/12/2022

MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL , yep its that time again when we work like mad to finish up everything in time for Christmas
One piece I restored was for the Matamata Dramatic Society which originally came out of the old Post Office. It was the love of antique clocks that first got me into restoring in 1974.
A real pleasure to fully restore .

Here are a few snippets of the past year's efforts and the work for next year is piling up, eg. Georgian secretaire bookcase, American secretaire bookcase , china cabinet, burr walnut davenport and an old rocking horse named Spot , plus heaps more .

So eat heaps, get silly and don't worry about this year as it's nearly over.
And we all get a nice brand new year next year .

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ONE AND ALL.Well ..we have survived another year of the dreaded diseases and mayhem.Well now that Chris...
21/12/2021

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ONE AND ALL.

Well ..we have survived another year of the dreaded diseases and mayhem.

Well now that Christmas is here and you know what that means....YES.... its furniture smashing time [ not on purpose really.....only if you want to ].

We will be back in the New Year all bushy tailed and bright eyed with scrubbed faces ready to fix up your broken treasures, until then eat heaps , drink more and fall about the place and make a complete fool of yourself .
Its expected its Christmas and thats what happens.

here are a few pieces I have restored since I last posted :

Summer's coming and we can get really hot and sweaty again with masks on our faces, Yay ! Sounds like a normal summer to...
05/10/2021

Summer's coming and we can get really hot and sweaty again with masks on our faces, Yay ! Sounds like a normal summer to me . Anyway, I have been busy as usual working on catch-up jobs and everything else.

Into the workshop last week came a large Chinese table, being worked on as we speak, a retro coffee table, a kauri coffee table, an Italian dining table, a Dutch 1840s sofa, chest of drawers, sideboard, etc.

And it's school holidays again 🤣 and Alex complained about my office being just toooo messy; some might say I am a hoarder but I say no, I am a collector with not enough room. Big difference.
They say you must at first admit you have a problem; I say no problem here, next subject please.

In times like these it helps to smash up a piece of furniture you really like and get EMPIRE FURNITURE RESTORERS to restore it for you ...that way everyone's happy. 😂

Winter's coming which is never fun in the workshop; time to drag out my winter uniform.I used to have my Dad working in...
26/04/2021

Winter's coming which is never fun in the workshop; time to drag out my winter uniform.

I used to have my Dad working in the workshop when he was in his late 80s; when told me he was cold I said, "You are not working hard enough, you have to work for warmth. You start out layered up and then as you warm up the layers of clothes come off".

Anyhow, lots of wondrous things have come and gone from the workshop; Scotch chests and burr walnut drawers, clocks, grand father clocks and boxes, etc.....have a nose at the before and afters .

Plus school holidays, so Alex's been busy dusting and cleaning up around the workshop.

Plus she found the baby in the pram and offered to glue its mouth up; don't know why, it's such a lovely baby.

Check out the view from my workshop , sometimes it's just too peaceful here so I have to crank the sounds; Led Zepplin, Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railway, and some Beethoven thrown in for an even balance. The cows love it.

Right..... back to work, so if you need anything fixed or smashed then fixed, you know where we are .....Cheers Steve, Sue, Alex and, of course, the Baby .

HAVE A SMASHING CHRISTMAS !From us all at EMPIRE ANTIQUE AND FURNITURE RESTORERS.Eat heaps , get fat and blob about eati...
16/12/2020

HAVE A SMASHING CHRISTMAS !

From us all at EMPIRE ANTIQUE AND FURNITURE RESTORERS.
Eat heaps , get fat and blob about eating endless chips and nibbles , endless left over ham, old salads and dead pavlova.

WARNING ! don't get too faceless like Christmas Pixie 'Ceril ' as you can see in picture no. 2

So when you have sobered up and picked up all that broken furniture that you danced on [ heaps of fun at the time ] and crashed landed into , give us a ring and we will fix it all up for you and you never need to feel guilty about smashing great Aunt Ethels chairs and that dainty side table and anything else that you felt like smashing at the time.

SO HAVE A SMASHING CHRISTMAS and don't worry about fixing it all up , thats our job !

So in the New Year give us a ring 07 888 6843

Address

Okauia Springs Road
Matamata
3471

Opening Hours

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

Telephone

+6478886843

Website

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