Furniture Finishers
Shape, finish, and refinish damaged, worn, or used furniture or new high-grade furniture to specified color or finish.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Speaking
- Operations Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Time Management
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Mechanical
- Design
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Mathematics
- Building and Construction
What the work involves
- Mix finish ingredients to obtain desired colors or shades.
- Brush, spray, or hand-rub finishing ingredients, such as paint, oil, stain, or wax, onto and into wood grain and apply lacquer or other sealers.
- Smooth, shape, and touch up surfaces to prepare them for finishing, using sandpaper, pumice stones, steel wool, chisels, sanders, or grinders.
- Select appropriate finishing ingredients such as paint, stain, lacquer, shellac, or varnish, depending on factors such as wood hardness and surface type.
- Fill and smooth cracks or depressions, remove marks and imperfections, and repair broken parts, using plastic or wood putty, glue, nails, or screws.
- Distress surfaces with woodworking tools or abrasives before staining to create an antique appearance, or rub surfaces to bring out highlights and shadings.
- Examine furniture to determine the extent of damage or deterioration, and to decide on the best method for repair or restoration.
- Remove old finishes and damaged or deteriorated parts, using hand tools, stripping tools, sandpaper, steel wool, abrasives, solvents, or dip baths.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Artistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (61.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (24%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (32.3%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Furniture Finishers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 98% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 98% of occupations compared | 76% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 83% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 75% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 53% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 50% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 73% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 80% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 23.33%
- Occasional contact with others: 19.19%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 19.38%
- Constant contact with others: 38.1%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 75.57%
- Fairly important: 5.52%
- Important: 17.37%
- Very important: 1.54%
- Extremely important: 0%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2017
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 9%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 8.18%
- Extremely important: 38.1%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2017
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 9.66%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 17.82%
- Some freedom: 44.23%
- A lot of freedom: 28.29%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2017
Time pressure
- Never: 11.49%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 1.72%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.48%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 40.02%
- Every day: 33.29%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Conflict situations
- Never: 19.33%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.2%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 19.25%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 16.47%
- Every day: 16.76%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 34.38%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 29.47%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.8%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 17.8%
- Every day: 9.56%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 22.4%
- Fairly serious: 50.53%
- Serious: 9.66%
- Very serious: 6.72%
- Extremely serious: 10.68%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2017
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Upholsterers
Closeness 95/100
- Analyze
Tile and Stone Setters
Closeness 94/100
- Analyze
Automotive Body and Related Repairers
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall
Closeness 93/100
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 51-7021.00 · SOC 51-7021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8