MATERIALS

Working with old materials means working with whatever history they carry, and occasionally that history includes something that needs real care rather than being assumed away. Lead-based paint was standard in the United States until the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned it from residential use in 1978, so any painted wood furniture made before that date has a real chance of carrying it, often hidden under later coats that look nothing like the original finish. Left undisturbed, it isn't an active hazard, it's simply there. Sanded or heated during refinishing, though, it can release dust or fumes that are genuinely dangerous, which is why a pre-1978 painted piece gets tested before anyone touches it, not after.

WHATS UNDERNEATH

This is the kind of step that's easy to skip in the name of speed, and exactly why it shouldn't be skipped. An honest transformation starts with understanding what a piece is actually made of before deciding what happens to it next, rather than assuming that old automatically means safe, or that a fresh coat of paint quietly solves whatever's underneath it. The same care applies once a piece clears that check and moves into the studio: the materials chosen to finish it carry their own consequences, just further off, which is why that decision gets the same attention as the testing that came before it.​