Refinishing, on the other hand, is mostly not fun. The chemistry ranges from slow and ineffective to fast and not great to spend a lot of time around (and incre

Refinishing, on the other hand, is mostly not fun. The chemistry ranges from slow and ineffective to fast and not great to spend a lot of time around (and increasingly hard to buy as a muggle). Veneers on anything even semi-modern are paper-thin and you risk sanding through them. Nooks and crannies are a pain to get old finish out of, even with the help of chemistry. And there's always the risk that someone used Pledge (or something else with silicone oil in it) on the piece in the past. Which you won't discover until you get the first coat of new finish on and get fisheye. Upholstery, at least, can be fun. A lot of upholsterers do reupholstery work, and many are quite good at it. If at first you don't find someone who can do tied springs, keep looking; they're out there.