Got a family furniture heirloom that needs some TLC? A dresser whose drawers stick or have bowed bottoms, a wooden chair that’s pulling apart at the joints or whose cane seat is stretched and sagging? There’s a business operating out of a garage on Henry W. Dubois Drive in New Paltz designed with just your needs in mind. It’s called Furniture Fixitor, and owner Naomi Aubain has been providing such services to New Paltz and beyond for years.

But Aubain’s expertise in furniture rescue was much longer in the making. She grew up in Brooklyn, the daughter of an independent-minded painter, calligrapher and art teacher who also collected antiques, helped pioneer a gallery for women artists and “did not believe in the norm,” in Aubain’s words. “Everything was very unorthodox in my life.”

In other words, a single mom and two teenage girls turned a Brooklyn brownstone into a loft before lofts were even a thing in New York City. Aubain’s mother did have to partner with a male contractor friend, pretending that they were siblings because “in those days, women were not allowed to get a building permit.” The friend installed the electricity and plumbing, but when it came to the carpentry end, says Aubain, “We did it all ourselves.”

Back in Brooklyn, Aubain learned about furniture recycling early, “In those days, you could furnish a whole apartment by walking the neighborhood on a Sunday night”. That’s when people would put many useful items out on the curb for trash pickup.

In her early 20s, Aubain started a business partnership with a friend who worked part-time at the Garrett Wade Company in lower Manhattan, which carried “upscale woodworking tools and machinery.” The two did custom woodwork for New York City homeowners, largely consisting of “building loft beds in brownstones,” and using tight spaces to their best advantage. Over time, she says, “We got to design all kinds of bedrooms and kitchens.”

In the late 1970s, a landmark gig came along at the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan. They had acquired a four-masted sailing ship, the barque The Peking, with the intent of restoring it. Aubain was brought in to do the interior woodworking: “miles and miles of mahogany,” she laughs. She estimates that she personally did three-quarters of the work on the first and second mates’ cabins. These were relatively luxurious by shipboard standards: Each had a bunk, table and chair, built-in shelf, a place to hang clothing and a little couch. Moreover, the geometries of such a space are “really challenging. There’s no such thing as square or plumb.” Working out how to join vertical and horizontal panel molding all meeting in a corner, she says, “I learned a lot about compound angles on that job.”

Afterwards, she went to work for an architectural woodworking shop in Manhattan that catered to high-end clientele. “We worked for people on the Upper West Side who wanted custom built-in mahogany bookcases and solid wood doors,” she remembers. “My role was as a cabinetmaker, because I was the one who cared about that 64th of an inch.”

Now Aubain works full-time at giving a new lease on life to all kinds of beautiful, beat-up furniture. Her skillset includes such uncommon specialties as being able to replace or reweave cane and rush seats, and reupholster dining room chairs. “Chairs are my main thing,” she says, but her current project is a massive turn-of-the–century armoire whose veneer had separated, whose finish was badly faded due to sun exposure, and whose drawers and doors were falling apart. Gluing, shellacking and staining are all in a day’s work.

She recalls one heartbroken client whose beloved antique Hoosier cabinet got blown out of the open trailer in which she had been moving it. “It was not tied down. The wind took it and smashed it onto the road. It was her favorite piece of furniture. I did major surgery on it – literally rebuilt the whole bottom cabinet. I had to fabricate new legs, rebuild the drawer section, repair the doors, and much more. It turned out to be a labor of love. She said it came out better than before.”

Long experience in customizing furniture to fit small apartment nooks and ships’ cabins sometimes pays off as well. Aubain creatively reconstructed a child’s desk, covered with graffiti and stickers, into a more compact, convertible drawer unit with a fold-down work surface for a Christmas present from the girl’s father. He wanted her to be able to use it at college – with stickers intact. “I use mostly hand tools, because I’m not making new furniture anymore,” she notes. “And I have a deep understanding of how furniture is put together, which makes it easier to fix or repurpose them.”

If you’ve got a project that might benefit from Naomi Aubain’s remarkable experience, you can discuss it with her at (845) 522-2785. Her prices vary widely with the type of work needed. “What I tell everyone is to first send me a picture, then I’ll try to give them a ballpark estimate.” You can also chat with her at the Repair Café, where she’s a regular volunteer coach, anytime it comes to New Paltz.

Your cherished piece of furniture couldn’t fall in to better hands. Aubain knows how much these objects can mean to people, “Everything has a story,” she says.