Furniture Refinishing
Stripped back to honest wood, then brought back to life with color, stain, and a finish built to outlast you. This is the work I love most.
Custom to the piece
Furniture Refinishing · Northwest Arkansas
“You cannot separate the old furniture from the memories and the memories from the old furniture!”
— Mehmet Murat Ildan
That table in your dining room has heard every prayer your family ever said over supper. It's caught spilled milk, homework tears, and the weight of elbows in hard conversations. It isn't furniture. It's a witness — and it's worth saving.
I'm Jacy. I started with a brush and a stack of 150-year-old farmhouse trim a neighbor was about to burn. Where he saw firewood, I saw something worth keeping. Send me a few photos and I'll tell you the truth about yours.
Hundreds RestoredTrusted across NWA
Honest AnswersEvery single time
Rogers, ARAll of Northwest Arkansas
Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
What I Do
Worn doesn't mean worthless.
Somewhere along the way, somebody talked us into believing that a scratched top or a wobbly joint means it's time for the landfill and a trip to the big-box store. Don't you believe it. Real wood — the solid, honest kind they barely make anymore — is almost always worth saving. Refinishing is where my heart is, and it's where most of my days go. Here's how I bring a piece back.
Heirlooms
Grandma's buffet. The piano with the lullaby keys. The dresser that followed your family through three houses. The pieces money can't replace get the patience they deserve.
Truth first
Tabletop Restoration
Water rings, heat marks, and a finish gone cloudy don't mean the table is done. Most of the time, it just means it's ready to begin again.
Brought back to life
Dining Sets
Table, chairs, and leaves brought back together so the whole set matches the memories made around it — and stands up to Sunday dinner for years to come.
The whole set, matched
Veneer & Structure
A pretty finish over a wobbly frame is just expensive lipstick. I make a piece sound before I ever make it beautiful.
Built first
Furniture Repair
A loose joint, a busted drawer, a chair that rocks when it shouldn't — sometimes a piece doesn't need a makeover. It just needs an honest fix.
Made sound again
A New Chapter
I had to get back to my roots.
For a while there, I said yes to everything. On-site jobs, every project that knocked, more lanes than one man can drive at once. I got real good at being busy — and quietly worse at the one thing I love.
So I stopped. As of June 1st, I'm done with on-site work. Every piece comes to my shop now, where it can have the clamps, the cure time, and the unhurried attention good refinishing demands. Less, done right, beats more, done fast. Every time.
One craft, all in
Refinishing is my calling, not my sideline. Narrowing down means your piece gets all of me.
The shop does it right
Color, sheen, and cure time all come out better in a controlled space than rushed in somebody's garage.
Honest and unhurried
I work in the order deposits arrive, and I'd rather tell you the truth about the wait than rush your heirloom.
Service Details
The honest version.
The right answer depends on the piece. Sometimes a repair is plenty. Sometimes restoration beats replacement by a mile. Sometimes the only honest thing I can tell you is that it isn't worth the money — and I'll tell you that too. Send me photos and we'll figure it out before anything ever leaves your house.
Furniture Refinishing
The work I was made for.
There's a moment in every refinish when the old, tired finish lifts away and the real wood shows itself for the first time in decades. That moment is why I do this. Stripping back to honest wood, careful color and stain, a sprayed finish, and the patience to let it cure right — that's how a written-off piece becomes the nicest thing in your house again.
Some pieces need the full reset. Some just need the surface brought back. Either way, I'll tell you straight which one yours is.
- Stripping to bare wood
- Detail sanding by hand
- Color & stain work
- Pro-grade finishes
- Durable topcoats
- Proper cure time
Heirloom Restoration
Some pieces carry more than wood.
Family furniture deserves a different kind of care. Heirloom work comes with history — a dining table from a grandparent, a dresser from childhood, a piece that has survived moves, kids, holidays, and time.
I don't treat those pieces like disposable furniture. I assess carefully, explain the options plainly, and help you make the decision that respects both the piece and your budget. These are the projects I pray over.
- Inherited furniture
- Antique pieces
- Family tables
- Sentimental dressers
- Preservation options
- Honest assessment
Tabletop Restoration
The table doesn't always need replacing.
Dining tables take the beating. Water rings, heat marks, scratches, cloudy finish, worn edges, failed topcoats, and years of daily use can make a good table look done before it actually is.
I bring tabletops back through proper assessment, surface prep, color work, finish correction, and protective topcoats when the piece qualifies. Some tops need a full strip. Some can come back with a lighter touch.
- Missing veneer
- Water rings
- Heat marks
- Scratches
- Failed topcoat
- Cloudy finish
Dining Sets
Tables, chairs, and leaves, finished together.
Dining sets are one of the most common reasons folks reach out. A table may need the top refinished. Chairs may need glue-ups. Leaves may need color matching. A set may need a coordinated finish so everything belongs together again.
I handle sets as complete projects when the scope calls for it, with attention to color, sheen, durability, and the daily use a family table has to stand up to.
- Dining tables
- Dining chairs
- Leaves
- Benches
- Color coordination
- Daily-use durability
Veneer & Structural Repair
The finish is only as good as what's under it.
A beautiful finish over a weak piece is just expensive camouflage. Before any refinishing begins, the structure has to be made right.
Loose joints, lifted veneer, missing chips, separated seams, damaged edges, and old failed repairs all get corrected first — so the finished piece isn't just pretty, but sound.
- Lifted veneer
- Missing veneer chips
- Loose joints
- Damaged edges
- Separated seams
- Old failed repairs
Furniture Repair
Sometimes it just needs a fix.
Not every piece needs a full makeover. Sometimes the kindest thing I can do is the quiet work — tighten the joint, rebuild the drawer, steady the chair that rocks when it shouldn't — and hand it right back to you, sound again.
Loose joints, broken stretchers, damaged corners, missing trim, small structural trouble — the things that need a real shop and a steady hand instead of a quick patch.
- Loose chair joints
- Broken stretchers
- Drawer problems
- Damaged corners
- Missing trim
- Small structural repairs
What to Expect
No surprises. Just the plan.
You're trusting me with something you can't replace, so here's exactly how it goes — from the first photo to the day your piece comes home. Hundreds of folks across Northwest Arkansas have walked this same road, sent a deposit sight unseen, and come back on pickup day glad they did.
Send Photos
Fill out the form with a few good photos and a sentence or two about what you're hoping for.
Get the Truth
I'll tell you honestly whether it's worth doing, what it needs, and roughly what it'll cost.
Deposit & Hold Your Spot
A 50% deposit puts you in line. Projects are scheduled in the order deposits arrive — no cutting.
I Do the Work
Your piece gets done to the plan we agreed on. Surprises get a phone call, never a guess.
Come Get It
When it's ready you'll hear from me, the balance settles up, and it goes home to start collecting stories again.
Why every quote is custom
No two pieces are alike — different wood, condition, history, and hopes for it. There's no flat menu price because there's no flat piece. I look at yours and quote it on its own honest merits.
What affects the price
Size and condition, how much repair or structural work is hiding underneath, the finish you want (stain, paint, or specialty), hardware, and drawer or cabinet interiors. Simple repairs start at a $250 minimum; refinishing projects start at $750.
Scheduling & your deposit
A 50% deposit reserves your place in line, and projects start in the order deposits arrive — no rush jobs, no cutting ahead. The deposit is what turns "someday" into "scheduled."
How long it takes
Good work takes the time it takes, and I'll give you an honest estimate before you ever commit. I'd rather quote a little long and hand it back early than rush your piece and let you down.
Staying in the loop
You'll hear from me at the moments that matter — and right away if I uncover something that changes the plan. You won't be left wondering where your piece stands.
Drop-off & pickup
The work happens at the shop, by appointment. You're welcome to drop off and pick up yourself, or I can handle pickup and delivery for an added cost based on your location — just ask and I'll give you a number.
Final payment
The remaining balance is due when your piece is finished and ready to come home — just the number we already agreed on, with nothing waiting at the end to catch you off guard.
If we find a surprise
Every quote assumes the piece is sound and suited to the finish you want. Hidden damage, old failed repairs, veneer trouble, or a stubborn finish can change the scope. If that happens, I stop and call you first — never a surprise charge.
The Work
Don't take my word for it.
Words are easy. Wood doesn't lie. Here's the before, and here's the after — same piece, same light, no museum tricks. This is what "worth saving" looks like.
Dining Table
A daily-use family table stripped, refinished, and put back into real service.
Dresser Refinish
A tired, worn finish corrected and rebuilt into a clean, durable surface.
Heirloom / Specialty
A black-painted trunk brought back to natural wood without scrubbing away its character.
Specialty Piece
A worn game table brought back so it looks right and works again.
Table Restoration
A failed top restored with proper prep, color, and a finish built to last.
Oak Dining Set
A full oak set brought back together — top and base refinished to belong with each other again.
Finished Pieces
A few that came home.
About — Jacy Shelton
It all started with a brush.
It started with a humble brush and a few hand-painted signs — simple words layered over scrap wood. I never imagined that chance would soon knock in the form of 150-year-old farmhouse trim. A kind neighbor handed me a stack of splintered, time-worn boards, and where most would see firewood, I saw the foundations of something special. From those planks I built a small end table — a piece that spoke of its past with every groove and knot. That was the spark that lit my passion for giving old wood new life.
Over the years I've restored pianos whose keys once carried lullabies, refinished massive desks etched with decades of ambition, and breathed new life into furniture rich with history. With every stripped layer and every careful finish, my desire to preserve the beauty, craftsmanship, and character of timeless woodwork has only grown.
The name says it plainly. On the cross, Christ said "It is finished." This shop is about what comes after — the redeeming, the restoring, the making-new of things the world was ready to throw away. That's the work I'm called to, and I bring my faith, my honesty, and my full attention to every piece that comes through the door.
“Furniture holds stories. My job is to help them keep telling them.”
Jacy SheltonIt Is ReFinished — Where Vision Becomes Creation
Coming Soon
Pull up a chair and watch.
I'm building a YouTube channel right now — the honest mess and the satisfying reveal, old wood becoming new again. Fair warning: once it's live, you'll start looking at that dusty piece in your garage a little differently. Stay tuned.
YouTube Channel — Coming SoonWhere I'm Focused
What I won't do — and why that's good for you.
A man who does everything does nothing especially well. I'd rather be the best refinisher in Northwest Arkansas than a jack-of-all-trades you've forgotten by Friday. So I've drawn some honest lines.
Not my lane
These aren't bad services. They're just not mine anymore.
- On-site or mobile refinishing (ended June 1st)
- General handyman work
- Emergency same-day service
- Quotes from one blurry photo
- Cheap flips for resale margins
- Rush jobs that cut the line
You already know the piece.
The table. The dresser. The chair you keep meaning to deal with and keep walking past. Send me a few photos and I'll tell you honestly what it'd take to bring it back to life. Every estimate starts with the form — it's the fastest way to a straight answer.
Start the Estimate Request
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Questions first? Call 479-373-8999 or email jacyames@itisrefinished.com