1960’s American Sofa-Bed

By Frank Parker

Sofa Bed Reupholstery Perth
Sofa Bed Reupholstery Perth

1960’s American Sofa Bed Restoration

It started with a home consultation for our client

This is the sofa-bed’s history

Upon inspection of this sofa-bed it became apparent that it was made in the U.S in 1968. The frame was constructed from solid American Oak. The sofa-bed action was manufactured by Windsor of Canada who are renowned for their high quality mechanical componentry which tended to be over engineered and will subsequently last the decades. The result was with such a robust frame and action the sofa-bed was to be re-upholstered.

The restoration process

 We removed the sofa-bed action and stripped the existing upholstery to the frame. The upholstery fabric selected by our client was similar to the original cover so it was guaranteed suitable. The cushion inserts were down and feather so we encased these in a bonded polyester fibre and replaced all the body padding with high density foam. We basically used the same upholstery techniques but tidied up the finish including doing the skirt in three sections to match the back cushions.

Happy clients of Parker Interiors

The final result is fine and yet functional sofa-bed superbly rejuvenated for our clients to enjoy for many years into the future.

Similar Posts

  • Le Cornu Furniture – reupholster

    Le Cornu was an iconic South Australian furniture manufacturing and retailing business. Operations commenced in 1861 when Phillip Le Cornu started a wholesale cabinet making business in Adelaide. In 1885 the factory was largely destroyed by fire and recommenced operations at a former church in North Adelaide. In 1921 the founder died and his son Phillip took over the business expanding operations and by 1924 employed 25 people.

    In 1954 the business went factory direct with a diversified range of furniture and over the next two decades expanded retail stores in S.A and Darwin. In 1989 the North Adelaide store was closed and then the business was sold to Fantastic Holdings in 2008.

    Our client approached us wanting to re-upholster a settee purchased by his parents from Le Cornu in 1959. This settee was the surviving piece of the lounge suite which he grew up with and lounged upon as a teenager. It was still upholstered in the original fabric being a ribbed velvet which would have been the latest trend at the time of purchase.

    We removed all the existing upholstery from the settee frame and it was well constructed with little structural work required. The frame was re-sprung with heavier gauge no-sag springs on the seat and the back springs were replaced with the same gauge. The springs were linked, outside arms and back were lined with hessian and high density body work padding applied. The original cushion inserts were latex and these were replaced with polyester encased premium cushions. The two seater settee was then upholstered to its original finish in a ribbed Zepel gold velvet.

    Our client was gobsmacked upon delivery of the settee saying it was just as he remembered it as a child growing up in Adelaide.

    Call us Today
  • Refurbish Parker Knoll chairs

    Parker Knoll Chairs Perth Restored

    The Origination of Parker Knoll

    New seat and back heavy grade elastic webbing was fitted then high-density foam was laminated to the arms and frame bodies including the outside arm and back panels which were lined and padded. Polyester filled channelled and quilted back cushion inserts were fabricated. The premium foam polyester encased seat cushion inserts were fabricated by laminating two grades of foam creating a cushion that progressively firms and ensuring greater longevity.

    The new venture was quickly successful producing high quality sprung furniture for the mass market. During the war years the company produced wooden componentry for de Havilland and repaired gliders then reversed into furniture production after 1945. With increasing the company listed in 1950 and then in the 1960’s saw vast production of recliner chairs which became a signature item.

    The company went back to private ownership in 2004 after suffering financial difficulties then went through several ownerships and now has gone back to its roots producing high quality furniture from a state of the art factory in Nottinghamshire.

    How We Restored the Parker Knoll Chairs

    A set of two Parker Knoll chairs were completely stripped of the upholstery and sanded back to the bare timber.  Three coats of lacquer were applied being sanded between coats. The frames were then lightly rubbed back with super-fine steel wool to produce the required finish.

    The client selected a 1970’s period velvet for the upholstery. The padding was fabricated by laminating premium cushioning then encased in polyester fibre. The upholstery fabric suited these chairs embracing the era.

    Our Client’s Feedback

    Our client was overwhelmed with the chairs adding these pieces to her home filled with beautiful mid-century furniture.

    Call us Today to Have Your Furniture Reupholstered
  • Problems with re-upholstering your old lounge suite

    Fixing up a previous reupholstery job

    This modular unit was manufactured by a local Perth, business ‘Farmer Furniture’ in the early 1980’s. It was re-upholstered 12 years ago however the clients had never been happy with the quality of the reupholstery job as it simply “did not feel like the old suite when new”.

    How we approached renewing this lounge suite

    We stripped the old upholstery from the modular frame. It revealed that the second layer of fabric had simply been placed over the initial fabric in which the suite was made. This style of reupholstery is very problematic. The issue is caused by the webbing, body padding and cushioning not being replaced resulting in this lounge furniture quickly returning to a dysfunctional state. Which is a waste of time and money for the owners.

    The next stage involved us:

    This process allowed us to modernise the upholstery finish without losing the authentic character of the lounge suite.

    The final result was a well finished and functional modular lounge this family will enjoy for many years into the future.

    Call us so we can help you reupholster your lounge suite
  • Club Lounge Restoration

    Restoring an Australian Club Lounge is to a furniture manufacturer as what restoring a Holden or Falcon car is to a mechanic. Various versions of this Club Lounge style were produced in Australia from the late 1920’s through to the late 1950’s. There is a special place in our hearts for this type of lounge and we always welcome the challenge when being tasked with another Club Lounge restoration.

    A young lady from Geraldton approached us regarding restoring a club lounge originally belonging to her grandparents from a farm in Mullewa which had been stored in a sheering shed for several decades being home to the resident rodents. Her parents who had since run the family farm for many years transported the lounge suite to the factory then upon arrival we could see it was basically in good structural condition and still partially covered in the tattered original upholstery fabric.

    We removed all the upholstery stripping the lounge suite down to the bare frame. The frame joints we then partially knocked apart and re-glued with a crosslinking PVA and then screwed. The timber trays and base blocks sanded back with the cracks and dents being filled with two-pack resin. They were then finely sanded and given three coats of clear lacquer.

    The upholstery started with fitting heavy weight jute webbing, lacing in the coil springs then tying down the springs and fitting hessian overlays. We then fitted synthetic edge trim and laminated high density foam to the bodywork. The back flutes were fabricated from premium foam then encased with bonded polyester fibre back to the original shapes. The seat cushions were fabricated using the same method and the outside arms and backs were all lined and padded. The fabric covering was a ‘W’ pile velvet suitable for heavy use with the upholstery finish detailed back to original finish.

    Our client was elated upon receiving her re-upholstered furniture with a comment from her parents on our Instagram “who is a lucky girl” which said it all!

    Call us Today
  • Laminated Polyurethane Fabrics

    fix faux leather peeling

    If this was your chair, you may be be thinking where can I get my chair reupholstered? Would you believe that this chair is only two years old and looks like it has been in a war zone. It is well constructed however unfortunately it was covered in a polyurethane fabric which has been affected by hydrolysis. This is when body oils and perspiration leach between the top polyurethane film and the backing fabric resulting in delamination.

    This has been a continual problem for many decades with laminated polyurethane fabrics. The manufacturer, import wholesaler and retailer could only be labelled as blissfully ignorant if they were unaware of this issue.

    We recommended to our client to reupholster this chair in the most durable upholstery fabric. For this we chose a commercial grade synthetic suede which will last for many years. It cost the client approximately 60% of the initial purchase price. This highlights the necessity for retail staff to be adequately trained and the necessary enforcement of consumer law. In this case as with so many, the client was left holding the baby while the supply chain were left holding the profits.

    We can help you with your well worn chair to ensure that you get the best wearing upholstery fabric. So that you are enjoying your furniture for many years to come.

    We Can Help You Restore Your Furniture – Just Call us Today!
  • Mid-Century Danish Chairs featuring the EK Easy Chair

    The ‘EK Easy Chair’ typifies the Danish chairs during the boom period of the 1950’s and 1960’s. This chair was designed by Illum Wikkelso who belongs to the group of famous “mid-century” Danish furniture designers.  

    The chair was manufactured by Niels Eilersen who commenced business in 1895 originally as a wheelwright and coach builder, then motor body-builder and entering into the furniture industry in the mid 1930’s. Niels Eilersen developed the technique of steam bending wood and ply which proved invaluable after the war with the production of bent-wood and spindle styled chairs. During the 50’s and 60’s the company progressed into manufacturing world class furniture and employing famous designers such as Illum Wikkelso to produce the EK Easy Chair.

    We were contacted by a client saying she has two Danish chairs requiring re-upholstering in leather. When arriving at their residence and viewing the chairs we knew they were special having an unimproved value of over $5000 per chair. Our clients specified that they wanted new elastic seat webbing, the sprung cushion inserts replaced with foam/polyester inserts and the cushion covers to be leather.

    We replaced the elastic seat webbing with firm high quality webbing which had previously be replaced by average quality webbing. We then fabricated laminated foam seat cushion inserts with a very firm high density centre core featuring high density softer overlays then encased with bonded polyester fibre. The back cushion inserts were fabricated from the slightly softer grade used in the seat overlays then also encased with bonded polyester fibre. The leather cushion covers were fabricated from a high quality semi-aniline leather being Tasman Tanning “Matisse Black”. The original leather cushions were vandyked however we sewed shaped patches allowing for the fullness created by the buttoning.

    The result was spectacular as the chairs still retained their authentic look but we had fulfilled our client’s wishes by also having the chairs more comfortable for sitting. We also gave the clients back the original sprung cushions for re-sale value if ever required. Two classic chairs now sixty years old and good for another sixty years!

    •   We Were So Happy

      We were so happy with the two black leather chairs you re-upholstered for us.
      Monique
      Shenton Park, WA
    Call us Today