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We were also approached by a senior citizens home with quality furniture however it had become outdated over time and was also looking slightly tired.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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    This classic mid century three seater couch was manufactured in 1948 by Hicks Furniture in Kalgoorlie Western Australia. Some classic furniture was made in major WA regional centres from the late-19th century through to the mid-20th century. This was due to the problems associated with long distance transport of bulky fragile items and the fact that many skilled trades people from all walks of life migrated to these areas during the preceding gold rushes. However the other important factor is that the demand existed during this time frame for quality upholstered furniture.

    This midcentury couch was purchased by its current owner who is now 93 years of age when he was married at the age of 24, as a present for his wife. It is interesting to note that it was re-upholstered in the 1970’s. The original sprung edge was replaced with timber rails. The initial upholstery fabric was a tapestry and it was re-upholstered in an olive velvet. Unfortunately the furniture repair of this piece wasn’t detailed. It was limited to only replacing a sprung edge with timber and placing the new fabric over the old sandwiched with a layer of foam.

    We stripped the existing upholstery back to the frame then carefully knocked the joints apart, glued then clamped and screwed the frame where necessary. Our client wanted to retain the history of this mid century sofa so we simply cleaned up the show-wood timber. We also touched up the chips with an oak stain and then used a quality furniture polish to bring back the shine. The frame was then webbed and re-sprung mainly using traditional upholstery methods with an art-deco upholstery fabric. The result is that a classic Australian made couch has been given a new lease of life for future generations to enjoy.

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  • Co-ordinating classic chairs

    ByFrank Parker

    Timberline Furniture commenced operations in Perth WA with the factory being located in Willetton. The furniture manufacturing business was founded by Ron Jones and Hedley Van Der Straaten in the early 70’s and ran through to the mid 90’s with about 10 – 12 staff. Ron was a Wood-Turner by trade and managed operations with Hedley managing sales and general business. Timberline predominantly manufactured dining furniture but also made some lounge and occasional furniture. During the 80’s they entered into a collaborative venture with co-ordinated designs, Trustyle Furniture making the lounge suites, George’s Cabinets making the cabinetry and Timberline the dining suites. These co-ordinated furniture ranges were sold by furniture retailers throughout W.A.     

    Our clients were involved in furniture retailing and furniture transport for many decades and contacted us to re-upholster their Timberline ‘Captain’s Chairs’. These were a very popular occasional chair from the late 70’s and early 80’s not just in residential sales but they were also used in commercial hospitality applications.

    The chairs were originally upholstered in a Nylex ‘Deerhide’ vinyl which was a quality product in its days so we advised using a vinyl from the Austex ‘Studio’ as a quality replacement. The existing upholstery was completely removed, then the show-wood frames cleaned and polished. New high density foam was laminated onto the padded areas and the chairs were upholstered to the original finish with piped and space studded detail.

    Our clients re-upholstered ‘Captain’s Chairs’ looked in place around their bar with complimentary comments passed over a few drinks.

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  • Reupholster to Modernise

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    Clients approached us as they had shifted from an older traditional styled house into a new modern mid-century styled home located in the Perth hills. They had a much loved traditional Torrance & McKenna lounge suite consisting of 2 x wing back chairs and a low back 4 seater settee. They wanted to retain this lounge furniture but re-upholster it to suit their new home.

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    This job was a complete re-build so we removed all the existing upholstery. The frame was re-webbed with heavy weight jute webbing and the coil springs laced into place then the sprung edges constructed. New high density foam padding was laminated to the frame bodies with the upholstery back to original including lined and padded outside arms and backs. The cushion inserts were fabricated using premium foam and then encased with bonded polyester fibre. The cushions were upholstered back to the original finish being boxed piped seats and centre piped back and arm cushions.

    The result spoke for its self and our clients were ecstatic when their re-upholstered furniture was delivered. This is great example of up-cycling fine furniture which was purchased new 45 years ago and is now good for another 45 years.

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  • 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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  • Ethen Allen Furniture – Reupholster

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    This American company was founded in 1932 by two brothers-in-law starting business as a homewares manufacturer. In 1936 they purchased a bankrupt high-end furniture manufacturer in Vermont and adopted the name Ethan Allen in 1939.

    Ethan Allen now a public company and has four manufacturing plants in the USA and one in Mexico with retail outlets across the USA and Canada. Although the company had suffered a severe decline in business over the last few decades the share price is now rebounding with the strong public sentiment towards supporting home grown products and businesses.

    A couple were referred to us to have their two Ethan Allen ‘Restocrat Recliners’ re-upholstered. They purchased these recliner chairs in the mid 70’s while living in the U.S. Their present home still reflected the architecture and furnishings from the 70’s so it was the preferable option.

    These recliner chairs were stripped back to the bare frames and the mechanisms were removed. The quality of the mechanisms were outstanding, we just cleaned them up with the timber frames only requiring minor repairs. The frames were re-sprung and new cushioning was fabricated from premium foam and encased with bonded polyester fibre. The fabric selected by our client was a 70’s pin stripe velvet which was a prefect replacement.

    What could we say, these recliner chairs looked like they had just been purchased from an Ethan Allen store forty five years ago! However the important thing was that our clients just loved their rejuvenated recliner chairs.

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  • Sofas to Size – Reupholster

    ByFrank Parker

    Sofas to Size evolved from Impact Designs, a company founded in 1996. The business manufactured wholesale upholstered furniture and was located at Buckingham Drive Wangara. Then in 2005 the business name was changed to Sofas to Size and marketed direct to the public from a retail premises located on Canning Highway in South Perth.

    The concept of marketing sofas custom-made to size was an excellent concept as the business grew rapidly in a short time. Sofas to Size ceased operating in 2010.

    We were contacted by a client who purchased several settees made by Sofas to Size. These settees were identical in design and custom-made to specific lengths to suit our clients living area. They were originally upholstered in a synthetic suede but they were to be re-upholstered in a quality plain chenille.

    The existing upholstery was completely removed from the timber framed settees then new heavy grade elastic webbing was fitted and then new body-work padding was laminated onto the frames. New polyester encased premium seat cushion inserts were fabricated along with polyester filled channelled and quilted back cushion inserts. The settees were then carefully upholstered to the original finish.

    Our clients was absolutely delighted with the result of their refurbished settees saying they were designed for the room and they still looked perfect for the room.

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