Antique ice box

[Greg Wieskamp]

I acquired this antique ice box a while ago, and just got it home. I have a question about restoring it. As you can see the paint on the inside is chipped and in bad shape. Should I sand it down, and repaint it, or would that deter from the value.
Thanks Greg487660

[John TenEyck]

I've always been told that if you touch the finish on an antique the value will be diminished substantially. So the question becomes what is it you value more, sale value or utility? I've taken a few broken down antiques and rebuilt them to be functional pieces of furniture, sometimes making substantial modifications. Whatever value they had as an antique went to zero, but the owner got a piece of furniture that actually worked and fit the space they had and didn't smell like a wet horse, or worse.

If you plan to keep it for yourself the answer would be easy for me, same if you want to sell it as a refurbished antique with a clear explanation of what you did. If you plan to offer it for sale as a genuine antique, I wouldn't do anything besides clean it and repair/adjust the hardware.

John