Two different jobs get called "restoration," and they are not interchangeable. Conservation stabilizes a piece and reverses damage while leaving as much original material and finish as possible, because that originality is what a collector or an appraiser is actually paying for. Refinishing strips a piece down and rebuilds its surface from scratch, which looks better but erases the history that gave it value.
If a piece has documented history, an old label, or a maker's mark, we say so before we touch it, and we quote conservation first even when it costs more and looks less dramatic. If a piece is sentimental rather than collectible - your grandmother's table, not an auction lot - full refinishing is honest, sensible, and usually what people actually want.
We have turned down full refinishing jobs on pieces we believed were worth more left alone, and said so in writing. The choice is always yours to make, but it is never ours to make quietly on your behalf.
