Upholstery Up-cycling

By Frank Parker

Over the decades we have found considerable change in consumer sentiment towards reducing waste and up-cycling furniture. This tends to mainly occur with furniture that is built to last but the design has become out dated over time. Unfortunately lower quality furniture after several years of use ends up on verge collections, unnecessarily depleting resources and contributing to the landfill problem.  

A client approached us with a Moran sofa-bed she had purchased many years ago as a student as she required both a sofa and some were to sleep. This was well constructed and the bed action was very good condition warranting re-upholstery.

We completely removed the existing upholstery and laminated new high density foam padding to the frame body. Then fabricated new polyester filled channelled and quilted back cushion inserts and new polyester encased premium foam seat cushion inserts. The upholstery finish was modified deleting the skirts and replacing them with piped borders. The result was a smart contemporary sofa-bed which will function for another few decades.

We were also approached by a senior citizens home with quality furniture however it had become outdated over time and was also looking slightly tired. We suggested the settees could be re-styled with some cosmetic changes to the upholstery.

The settees were stripped to the frames then new heavy grade elastic webbing fitted and high density foam laminated to the body work. New channelled and quilted polyester filled back cushion inserts were fabricated and polyester encased premium foam seat cushions were also constructed. The main change in the upholstery was the deletion of skirts which was replaced in the front by a padded piped border with the outside arms and backs also then lined and padded providing a plush finish. The previous fabric was a striped satin weave and was replaced with a fresh looking abstract floral in a flat weave. The clients were elated with the result!

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  • Vince’s Upholstery – Reupholster

    ByFrank Parker

    We had previously reupholstered a Parker-Knoll 60’s wing back chair for a client who then requested us to reupholster two 2 ½ seater settees purchased in the early 80’s made by Vince’s Upholstery.

    Vince’s Upholstery was founded by Vince and Pina Scalisi who originally started the business from their home in East Perth making budget priced furniture. They progressed over time and became renowned for manufacturing top end custom-made lounge furniture from a purpose built factory in Morley.

    Our clients presented us with two identical looking 2 ½ seater settees however when we removed the fabric it became obvious they were purchased at different times as one settee featured a traditional sprung edge and the other a fabricated foam edge with different springs. The challenge was to reupholster the two settees so they both felt identical for comfort.

    We re-webbed the seats and fitted new coil springs of the same height and gauge then fabricated a foam edge on one settee to replicate the sprung edge of the other. We also replaced all existing hessian and body padding however the down and feather cushion inners were still in good condition so we encased these in 200g boned polyester fibre. The settees were reupholstered to the original finish in a cotton velvet then delivered to very happy clients!

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  • Re-upholster Torrance & McKenna furniture

    ByFrank Parker
    Torrance & McKenna upholstery perth

    The History of Torrance & McKenna

    Torrance & McKenna was founded by Andy Torrance and Allen McKenna commencing manufacturing high quality lounge furniture in 1939. Their business however was interrupted during the war years with both joining the armed forces. They recommenced operations from their factory in East Perth in 1945. Torrance & McKenna flourished for three decades during the boom years for local furniture manufacturers supplying the up-market Perth retailers with high quality custom-made lounge furniture.

    The business was sold in 1975 to Gerry and Kath Edwards with their son John later taking over operations. Gerry had an intimate knowledge of the industry being the state manager for Wilson Fabrics, the distributer of Sanderson Linen. In 1979 Torrance & McKenna started selling direct into the market which was a good strategic move to maintain a reputation for quality as discount furniture was starting to dominate the local retail scene.

    In 2002 Torrance & McKenna was purchased by Yogesh and Dina Shah. Yogesh having a degree in furniture design maintained the quality for which the business was renowned also introduced a re-upholstery service then shifted to a larger premises in Osborne Park. The business was subsequently purchased by an interior designer Deborah DeFiddes in 2018.

    Our Clients Situation

    Our clients approached us by saying they loved their Torrance & McKenna lounge furniture which they had purchased in 1989 but it has just worn out due to heavy use over a thirty year period. They wanted to flash back thirty years with an identical suite.

    Our clients were in luck as their suite was upholstered in a Sanderson Linen and this particular design was still available. We stripped back the existing upholstery to the frames, re-webbed the furniture then laminated high density padding to the body work and fabricated new polyester encased premium cushioning. The lounge suite was then re-upholstered to the original finish and our clients were absolutely delighted.

    Call us Today to Have Your Lounge Suite Reupholstered

  • 1960’s American Sofa-Bed

    ByFrank Parker
    Sofa Bed Reupholstery Perth

    1960’s American Sofa Bed Restoration

    It started with a home consultation for our client

    A couple contacted us saying that they had just retired and had shifted into an inner city town house in Perth and they were wondering whether to rejuvenate or dispose of their sofa-bed. We immediately organised a home consultation to see the condition of their sofa-bed.

    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.

    Call us Today for Sofa-Bed Reupholstery

  • Mechanical rocker/glider chair – reupholster

    ByFrank Parker

    Mechanical rocker/glider chairs or platform rocker chairs are a type of rocking chair which moves as a swing seat, where the entire frame of the seat is attached to the base by means of a double rocker four bar linkage. The non-parallel suspension arms of the linkage cause the chair to simulate the motion of a rocking chair. The mechanical rocker/glider chairs were first manufactured in the United States and Canada during the 1930’s.

    Our client in her late 80’s approached us to rejuvenate her rocker glider chair and we just loved her story. As a young child in the pre-war years she travelled from her home in Rugby England with her father by train to Edinburgh Scotland to visit her grandmother. Apparently her grandmother had very strict house rules however when she had the chance she would love to rock in her grandmother’s chair. A few years later after the passing of her grandmother her aunty asked if she would like any of her grandmother’s possessions with the obvious response, “the rocking chair”. Then some eighty years later we were given the task of reupholstering her special chair.

    Our client had selected an olive cut pile cotton velvet for the upholstery which suited the chair and reflected the era. All the upholstery was removed from the chair then the timber frame was cleaned and polished. Jute webbing was fitted over the seat and then a hessian overlay and premium padding with a polyester overlay. After the outside back was fitted the same process as the seat occurred then the arms pads were built up with premium padding and polyester overlays. The inside back, seat and arm pads were then upholstered and unlike the original chair which was trimmed with gimp we used self-covered banding which was then space studded.

    When the chair was delivered our client had tears of joy saying this was something she had wanted to do all her life.

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  • Ercol Furniture – upholster

    ByFrank Parker

    Ercol Furniture was established in 1920 by Lucian Ercolani in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire manufacturing timber framed lounge furniture and occasional furniture. In 1944 Ercol was awarded a contract by the Government Board of Trade to produce 100 000 low cost spindled/bentwood framed chairs. This involved a process the company developed of steam pressing English Elm so the chairs could be assembled from pre-formed components.

    In 2002 Ercol moved into a purpose built factory at Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire. The company has gone on to produce many award winning ranges of furniture. Like many western countries, the UK has in more recent years also had a reversion back to purchasing from local manufacturers.

    A client from the Peel region approached us requiring a quote to have her Ercol lounge suite re-furbished. The furniture was originally purchased by her parents in the UK prior to her birth in Australia. There had been some rather amateur attempts to both polish and re-upholster this suite which has the effect of adding to the work involved.

    We removed all the upholstery and stripped back the lacquer to bare timber. The frame was then stained a mid-tone walnut and coated with three coats of 30% gloss lacquer. Quality seat webbing was then fitted and then we fabricated premium foam cushioning laminating it with bonded polyester fibre. We disregarded the old cushion covers and made new patterns bringing everything back to original with a blue tone fabric featuring a wide abstract diamond pattern being selected by our client.

    When delivering the furniture the look on our client’s face said it all, she simply said “Amazing!” This just reinforces our factory philosophy ‘work hard and enjoy the journey’.

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  • Re-upholstery of a Jason Recliner Chair

    ByFrank Parker
    reupholster Jason recliner Perth

    Transforming the Classic Jason Recliner

    Jason recliner chairs are an iconic piece of Australian furniture valued for their quality craftsmanship and durability, making them sought after to this day. This restoration aimed to preserve the chair’s structure for future generations to come.

    The Origin of Jason Recliners

    Jason chairs were manufactured under license from Lazy Boy in Munro Michigan. The factory operated in Welshpool WA from the mid 1960s through to about 1990. These chairs were known for featuring a very robust and unique mechanism. The business was owned and managed by the Bridge family with the chairs distributed around Australia and at its peak they were also exported.

    This is Our Restoration Process

    • The chair was completely stripped and the mechanism cleaned and lubricated
    • The show-wood rocker base and the turned wing sections were sanded and re-lacquered dark walnut
    • The back zig zag springs were linked
    • New hessian was layered over the seat springs
    • New high density padding was laminated onto the body
    • New polyester encased premium cushioning was fabricated and
    • The chair was then re-upholstered to the same finish in an English Heritage Linen
    This chair was also of sentimental value as it previously belonged to our client’s father. We wish her many years of memorable moments in this special chair.
    Call us Today to Find Out About Restoring Your Chair