# Doll Furniture Company

> Family-owned furniture stripping, refinishing, and repair shop in Normal, Illinois. Three generations of the Shutt family have run the business since 1944, serving Central Illinois — including Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, Champaign-Urbana, Decatur, Springfield, and the surrounding farm country. Also the manufacturer of the **Strip-o-lator**, a chemical furniture-stripping machine sold to refinishing shops nationwide for over four decades.

## Key facts

- **Founded:** 1944 by Andrew "A.E." Shutt and his wife Berzie Shutt
- **Address:** 400 N. Beech Street, Normal, Illinois 61761
- **Phone:** (309) 452-2606
- **Website:** https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com
- **Hours:** Monday–Friday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM; Saturday 8:00 AM – Noon; closed Sunday
- **Current owner:** James Shutt (third generation)
- **Generations:** Three — A.E. Shutt (founder) → David Shutt (second gen, retired 2025) → James Shutt (third gen, runs the shop daily)

## Services

- [Furniture stripping](https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com/#services) — chemical stripping using the in-house Strip-o-lator machine. Removes paint, varnish, lacquer, and old finishes from wood furniture, doors, and architectural elements. Also strips metal items including hardware, tractor parts, and small machine parts.
- [Furniture refinishing](https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com/#services) — full refinishing with stain and clear coats; matching original finishes; antique restoration; custom color work.
- [Furniture repair](https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com/#services) — structural repair, broken joints, missing pieces, drawer and door repair, veneer repair, finish touch-ups (including in-home touchups when appropriate).
- [Chair caning](https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com/#services) — hand caning, pressed cane, woven rush and splint seats.
- [Custom furniture builds](https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com/#custom-builds) — David Shutt built one-of-a-kind custom tables, desks, chairs, and other pieces for customers over five decades. His largest custom build was a massive dining table featured in the 1996 "None too large, none too small" Pantagraph ad.
- [Strip-o-lator machines](https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com/#stripolator) — chemical furniture stripping machines built by David Shutt and sold nationwide from the 1970s through the early 2000s. Inquiries about existing machines welcome.

## Family history

- **Andrew "A.E." Shutt** (1st generation) founded Doll Furniture Company in 1944 with his wife **Berzie Shutt**. A.E. ran the business for over three decades and worked at the bench into the 1970s. He passed away in May 1975.
- **David Shutt** (2nd generation), the youngest of A.E. and Berzie's nine children, took over in 1975. David was a master custom furniture builder who designed and built every Strip-o-lator machine the company ever sold. Married Nancy Defenbaugh on August 31, 1963; the two were together for over sixty years. David retired in 2025 after more than five decades at the bench.
- **Nancy Shutt** (1944–2023), David's wife, was a painter and avid reader. Her hand-painted "Furniture Stripping Refinishing" sign still hangs at the shop today. As a young girl, Nancy personally met Elvis Presley at Graceland.
- **James Shutt** (3rd generation) joined full-time in May 1988, right after graduation. Runs the shop daily and handles all bookkeeping.
- **Jeff Shutt** (3rd generation, James's brother) joined full-time in May 1991, right after graduating. Worked in stripping and refinishing, ran the Doll Furniture authorized U-Haul dealership for 23 years, and now serves as a regional manager for U-Haul corporate.

## What makes Doll Furniture different

- 80+ continuous years in business, same family, same location since 1983 (at 400 N. Beech in Normal)
- Owners manufactured their own chemical stripping equipment — the Strip-o-lator — and sold it to other shops nationwide
- Strip on-site rather than outsourcing; full-service from stripping through final finish
- Three generations of accumulated experience on antique restoration

## U-Haul authorized dealer

Doll Furniture has been an authorized U-Haul dealer since 1996. Trucks, trailers, and moving supplies available at the 400 N. Beech location.

## Featured restorations

The website includes a Before & After carousel showing dramatic transformations including a Victorian Eastlake stained-glass entry door, a marquetry inlay parlor table, a cherry sleigh bed finish touchup, and a Victorian Eastlake ash dresser. The gallery also features a Victorian dome-top steamer trunk, an antique dentist cabinet with original etched "STERILIZER" glass, an Art Deco waterfall cedar chest, a burl walnut highboy chest-on-chest, and many other restored pieces.

## Press

Doll Furniture has been featured in The Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal's daily newspaper) repeatedly since the 1940s. A press archive on the website preserves clippings from 1944 through the 1990s, including the 1991 Bark River solid oak set ad, the 1993 stripping-chemical regulation coverage, and the 1996 "None too large, none too small" ad featuring David's biggest custom table stacked with a 46-inch full-size table, a child's table, and doll furniture on top.

## Contact

- **Visit:** 400 N. Beech St, Normal, IL 61761 (free customer parking)
- **Call:** (309) 452-2606
- **Email & quote requests:** via the contact form at https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com/#contact
- **Service area:** Bloomington-Normal and all of Central Illinois; customers regularly drive in from Peoria, Champaign-Urbana, Decatur, Springfield, and farm communities throughout the region

## Optional

- [Sitemap](https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com/sitemap.xml)
- [Legal & privacy](https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com/legal.html)
- [Accessibility statement](https://www.dollfurniturecompany.com/accessibility.html)