Herb Rader
Specializing in decorative interior surface and furniture painting and restoration
Working with my hands as a teenager I knew I had found my calling, starting with building model cars with my own designs, to furniture, the act of creating something and finishing what I started left me with a great sense of accomplishment. I grew up in a home where my father built furniture, painted and lettered billboards. I worked with my father doing all of these. It was hard manual labor, but I knew that is where I belonged. I began buying damaged furniture, learning what was needed to repair different styles of furniture, since that was all I could afford in the beginning. Also, adding the art of decorative painting to furniture and wall finishes in homes. Attending many flea markets, antique sales, and some auctions over the years, educating myself on the quality of construction, and the many species of wood and their characteristic, scale and proportion, use of color, and value of each piece.
“When I look at a piece of furniture, I envision what it might be.” - Herb Rader
Along the way I was brought in to the construction of many homes in Belle Meade, TN. Also went on old projects in North Carolina, several in Buckhead area in Atlanta, GA, and several in Florida, handling the decorative painting duties as well as staining and finishing libraries, cabinetry, floors and one of kind pieces of furniture. Most requested on the job was to age and apply worn finishes on walls, furniture, kitchen islands, and floors, adding 100 years of beautiful patina, turning new into old. Also, created hand painted wallpaper finishes that looked as if it was bark from a birch tree. I have gilded, (gold leaf), silver leaf, and bronze leaf on decorative elements on furniture and mirrors and sconces in homes.
I have been fortunate enough to sell some of my pieces at Atlanta’s Scott Antique Show, purchased by dealers, decorators, and homeowners from all over the nation. Over the years I worked with many local decorators as well as nationally known decorators such as Bunny Williams, N.Y. N.Y.
I still get excited when picturing in my mind how a piece will look when finished, this never gets old. It is what I feel most comfortable doing. Bringing a beautiful classic piece back to life.
So let me build you a piece of one-of-a-kind furniture or repair an intricate gilded mirror or restore a piece and bring it back to the way it was. I match any color or stain blending the color after repair, and you never know it was restored. Also, I mix any color or stain to your decor, even add a decorative paint detail changing the look of the piece for the better.
Restored hundreds of pieces of furniture, built one of a kind unique pieces and everything in between, so contact me and let me share my portfolio with you, so many more photos than I can feature on the web-site.
I have been featured in Nashville Lifestyles and Southern Living magazines, also on Tennessee Crossroads on PBS. Over 40 years of experience in doing what I love, I look forward to hearing from you and would be delighted to work with you on your project.
Thank you,
Herb Rader
Testimonials
“I have known Herb for seven years and he has restored several pieces of furniture for me. On each one he did an excellent job with the restoration. One was a Walnut burl side board, the veneer was loose and chipped off due to the age and moving it when I relocated, it was damaged. Even the scroll carving around the base of one leg was missing a large piece of the scroll work and Herb reproduced one side and it looks exactly like the other, even the coloration matches perfectly. He did a wonderful job!”Pat Swiddell, Nashville, TN
“Herb is a joy to have on your project. He has mastered the art and craft of paint and finishes and brought invaluable talent to our projects.” Mrs. Pitts, Nashville, TN
“I brought Herb my great, great grandfather’s Oak Ice Box, a refrigerator that used the big block of ice to cool the contents. My grandfather used it, but it has been in a barn for long time when we discovered it and the bottom and one side had bad water damage, it no longer stood it was delivered upside down on its top. Herb restored the damaged pieces and cleaned up the racks and inside and all the old hardware on the outside, he completed restored the entire Ice Box, it looked like it did when it was new! I was delighted it could be saved. Couldn’t believe it would look this good.” Bryan Hughes, Nashville, TN
