Erick Johnson,
the whole operation.

Fifteen years of finish work.

I've been restoring furniture and repairing homes in the Dallas area for fifteen years. The work started as a way to save a few mid-century pieces from the curb and slowly turned into a shop. These days it's split roughly in half: restoration in the shop at 2714 El Tivoli, and high-end home repair on site across DFW.

Why mid-century.

Mid-century furniture was built at a peak — domestic hardwoods, solid joinery, a design language that still looks correct sixty years later. But the finishes of that era weren't built to last forever, and the pieces that have survived have all been through something. Water rings, failed varnish, sun damage, a bad refinish in 1987. The job is to get back to what the designer intended, without erasing the evidence that the piece has actually lived.

It's slow work. Two-stage sanding, hand-rubbed coats, custom toner blends when a stock color won't match. I don't outsource it, because the moment you outsource finishing you lose the reason the piece is worth restoring.

Why home repair, too.

The same hands that know how to make a sixty-year-old veneer disappear under a finish know how to make a drywall seam disappear under paint. Craft transfers. The principles that produce an invisible repair on a Heywood Wakefield table produce an invisible ceiling patch in a Lakewood living room — slow buildup, careful sanding, respect for what's already there.

On the home side I focus on what I call "high-end" repair — drywall finished to Level 4 smooth, trim that actually lines up, paint lines that hold, and the punch-list items most general contractors don't want to touch. Pre-listing repairs for real estate agents are a recurring piece of the work, because the bar for photography and showings is high and there's no room for "it'll look fine from a distance."

How I work.

• Owner-operator. No subs, ever. If you text 214.762.8330, you're talking to me.
• Dustless zones. Plastic, zippered doors, HEPA vacs. You can live in the house while the drywall is coming down.
• Photos at every step. Intake, progress, and completion. You get the before-and-afters whether you want them or not.
• Flat-rate proposals. Not itemized hours. You know what the job costs before I start.
• 50 / 50 terms. Fifty percent at booking, balance on completion. No surprises.

The shop.

2714 El Tivoli Dr., in Dallas. A working furniture shop — compressor, spray booth, clamps, dust collection, and more half-finished pieces than I'd like to admit. Drop-offs are by appointment. If you want to bring a piece by and talk through what it needs, text first and I'll clear a bench.