I think this collection of furniture repair and refinishing posts from the venerable "This Old House" are a great start to your refurbishing task, especially if you are looking at DIY jobs. If you are looking at trying to get someone else to perform the work for you, I would suggest looking up "furniture refinishing" or "Antique Refinishing" on google with your zip code and call around. I would expect there to be a premium on this type of labor.

As a DIY project, I think the pride of the final product would last years, especially as the piece is handed down to the next generation.