I specialize in applying traditional restoration techniques comparable to those handed down from generation to generation by master restorers in Florence, Italy. Any given restoration project may involve reconstruction, inlay repair, staining, color matching and French polishing. I work with skilled craftsmen and other suppliers, including carvers, antique furniture upholsters, book binders, jewelers, blacksmiths, cane repairers, and specialists in gas and vapor treatments for items infested with worms or other wood pests. Most materials are imported from Florence, Italy and Paris, France. These include restorers’ hide glue, fine gilding gesso, sienna terra tints, gold and silver leaf, and special polishing agents. Most restoration and repair work involves use of hand tools such as scrapers, chisels and planers, all of which have been imported from Italy, France and the U.S.

I was born, raised and educated in Israel. I studied antique furniture restoration and reconstruction in Florence, Italy at L'Istituto per l'Arte e il Restauro Palazzo Spinelli (1998), during which period I was an apprentice with the Chiaruggi Family, fourth-generation furniture and wood restorers who count among their clients the Palazzo Pitti, Uffizi, Bargello and other well-known museums (view Simone Chiarugi's testimonial). I hold a BA in Social Work (1977) from Tel Aviv University.