A local company brings new life to old furniture

Giving antiques and discarded items a second and, sometimes, third lease on life is one of Lovely Nova Design’s mandates. Located in Dartmouth, the interior design company specializes in restoration, custom wood builds and conversion work.

“I think any piece, if it’s made with quality material is absolutely a contender for a restoration, depending on how much you want to invest in the piece, whether it be a monetary value or an investment of blood, sweat and tears,” says co-owner and lead designer Jessica Skinner. “I think anything that’s made with quality materials is certainly worth a type of investment, to reimplement it into a space and breathe new life into it.”

While the amount of time and restoration process can depend on the piece, it’s one that requires care and dedication.

“When it comes to restoration, it’s kind of like organizing a space,” says Skinner. “You’re going to make it pretty ugly, before it gets better.”

Using an antique dresser as an example, Skinner says they do “all the rough work first,” which involves taking the dresser apart. This includes taking out drawers making everything is  secure, tight and in working order and sanding the entire piece down to the wood.

Another way Lovely Nova reuses items is through their custom builds and conversion work, some of which is showcased in Skinner’s own home.

Courtesy of Lovely Nova

“The coffee table that we use in our living space is a custom built from salvaged wood...and this piece has never looked better. After growing with three kids and a very active board game life and friend life, the character allows for you to add your own little dents and nooks and crannies without it becoming unappealing,” she says.

“It adds more and more life to the space.”

Often the Lovely Nova team will find material for projects in places where they would have been forgotten, left to rot or would have gone to the dump.

“The character wood custom builds are typically from salvaged barns that we’ve purchased or historic buildings; we try to break down to raw materials to beautiful pieces of lumber,” she says. “We’ll do some sanding, pickling, bleaching, sealing and build a piece from scratch, whether it be a coffee table or a built-in unit.

They also have a foundry line, their “most treasured commodity,” where they make cast iron items from material taken from an old, soon-to-be demolished foundry in Sackville, New Brunswick. Several of the pieces they saved incorporate existing details like rust and are used to make pieces like rolling islands, coffee tables and cast-iron carts.

“They’re really cool; they absolutely add that authentic feeling of character, even if we’re implementing them into a new home or condo,” she says. “It’s the type of piece that when you enter a space, and if it’s there, you absolutely ask about because they are one of a kind.”

As for how they can be incorporated into homes, Lovely Nova always has a stocked inventory to ensure a space is matched with its perfect accent or functional piece.

“We’ll choose a piece for their space, then we’ll choose the desired finish and colour palette, then we’ll talk about function and flow and what’s going to work for the space and how it’s going to function within their space,” she says. “We’ll work the refinish or just taking a beautiful piece and inserting it into custom cabinetry…I try to keep a great little stock of treasures for clients to pull from for their projects.”

For more on Lovely Nova’s work visit lovelynova.com or on social media at Lovely Nova Design.