About Us
Restoration & Finishing
We pride ourselves in our expert workmanship and an old world approach to repairing and restoring the fine furniture and antiques our clients send to us. Using our combined knowledge, we always do the correct and proper processes that leave your items in a beautiful, restored state, never "over-restored" or “too new looking”. That's how your cherished antique furniture should be...an heirloom ready for the next generation to enjoy and appreciate.
You can be confident that we will take the care to "do it right the first time" and do what is best for your furniture and for you. Please contact us to discuss how we can be of service to you today.
Appraisal & Consultation Services
Society of Appraisers</a> since 2000 and was accredited through their education program with The University of Maryland in 2004. He continues his appraisal and antique furniture/decorative arts education through a variety of courses and seminars through the ISA, NYU School of Continuing Education and The Appraisers Association of America.
His specialty is with furniture from America and Europe from the 18th Century to the present and is also pursuing the other decorative arts including Fine Arts and photography.
Please contact Bill today with your questions and concerns for why you may need an appraisal, whether it be for insurance, charitable donation, equitable distribution, estate purposes or maybe you simply want to know somethings value in consideration of a sale.
Read the rave review of our services in the Connecticut Post:
Brookfield's Blll Oakley may not have personally. known Maj. William Jackson, secretary and personal assistant to Gen. George Washington in the 1770s, but he is familiar with the 6 foot-long, drop-leaf, solid mahogany table that Jackson, Washington and' Maj. Gen. Lafayette often dined on together.
"The table is owned by a distant cousin of Maj. Jackson who lives in Litchfield County. About four years ago, we did some minor repair work and touchups to it," said Oakley, 52, owner of Oakley Restoration & Finishing LLC, a 15-year-old furniture restoration business at South End Plaza in New Milford.
The 2,000-square-foot shop performs restoration, refinishing, touchup and maintenance to furniture from all time periods.
This includes cabinets, tables, chairs, clocks and breakfronts, along with decorative accessories, such as boxes, tray stands and mirrors. The business also fabricates custom-made furniture.
Over the years, some pieces Oakley and his staff have worked on include a 16th-century Italian credenza and 18th-century European dining tables and chairs.
Oakley also restored a circa-1820s American tall-case, or grandfather, clock valued at $30,000, after it broke into about 100 pieces when a dog knocked it over. He's also repaired many items that suffered fire or water damage.
Restoration costs are based on the amount of labor involved in working on each piece. Chair repairs range from $60 to $175, table repairs from about $1,500 to $1,800.
"I've been going to Bill for the past 12 years," said customer Christopher Cassels of Ridgefield. "His work is meticulous. He has a fine attention to detail and respect for the material. He always retains the architecture of the wood, which is very important."
For the past five years, there has been a decline in antique buyers, but Oakley advises customers to be careful about choosing furniture made in modern times.
"The decorating trend now being shown in all the home and decorating magazines has been more contemporary furniture," he said.
"The quality of today's furniture is not what it used to be. It's light and flimsy and won't last very long," Oakley said. "In contrast, early to mid 20th century furniture came out of the Midwest and its structural integrity is unmatched in today's furniture, which is mostly outsourced. Manufactured furniture uses a cheaper quality of wood to keep costs down and profits up."
To find quality furniture, Oakley recommends visiting consignment shops, tag sales. auctions and estate sales.
"One of the most rewarding parts of what we do is bringing something back to life after it has been damaged. and seeing customers grateful response in having their cherished possessions back again." Oakley said.