Restoring a Tessa Lounge Suite

By Frank Parker

Quality Reupholstered Tessa Lounge Chair Perth WA

The History of Tessa Furniture

Tessa Furniture was originally known as Twen commencing manufacturing in 1968 then adopted the name Tessa in 1970. Tessa was formed by Fred Lowen, his brother Howard Lindsey and design technician Sigi Danielzik. Prior to this Fred Lowen had undertaken furniture with Earnest Rodeck in the mid 1950’s having formed FLER which was sold in 1967. Tessa expanded operations during the 1970’s to become a national business with international links.

Our Client Had a Tessa Lounge That Needed Lots of Love

A Complete Restoration Was Needed

We were contacted by a client saying they had rescued a Tessa lounge suite requiring restoration. Upon initial inspection it was obvious the lounge suite had been re-upholstered involving poor workmanship and damage. Our clients decided to progress with the job which was going to be a complete restoration.

How We Returned the Tessa Lounge Back to It’s Former Glory

We dismantled the lounge suite discarding all the upholstery cushioning and padding. Due to previous poor workmanship, we first replaced the ply outside back panels.

The frame rails were then re-glued and screwed with new end cap panels fabricated from 18mm ply to replace the fractured existing panels.
All the show-wood components were dismantled with the arm frames being re-glued.
These components were then sanded back and the indentations filled with two-pack resin.
These were then fine sanded with the Tasmanian Blackwood being stained Cedar as instructed and then three coats of 30% gloss lacquer applied.

Repair of Tessa Furniture Chair Before Perth WA

How We Finished Reupholstering the Tessa Lounge Suite

The chair seats were fitted with a superior grade elastic webbing and the frames laminated with high-density foam padding. Polyester filled channelled and quilted back cushion inserts were fabricated along with polyester wrapped laminated premium foam seat cushion inserts.

The furniture was upholstered in Tasman Tanning ‘Matisse Black’ leather. The upholstery finish was back to the original Tessa T1 finish including large panel cuts and the top-stitching detail.

Our clients were overwhelmed with the finished lounge suite our team restored, the frame had been stained to match the Cedar architraves and stairs and with the black leather upholstery it looked stunning in the lounge room. We would like to thank our clients for having the foresight in rescuing this classic Australian lounge suite.

Frank and his team were extremely thorough, and the restoration is a masterpiece

So pleased to have made the decision to trust Parker Interiors with the restoration of our ugly duckling Tessa suite I rescued from it’s inevitable fate. Frank and his team were extremely thorough, and the restoration is a masterpiece. The photos speak for themselves, I am so pleased with the outcome. Thank you, Frank.

Monica
Gnangara WA

Refurbish G-Plan chairs
ByFrank Parker
The Interesting History Behind G-Plan

The company, which evolved into G-Plan was founded in 1898 by Ebenezer Gomme. They sold their furniture direct to the public establishing galleries around the United Kingdom. During the war years their business suffered until the lifting of trading conditions in 1952.

In 1953, their designer Donald Gomme embarked on a plan to produce modern furniture for the entire home based upon Danish styles. He also changed the name of the business to G-Plan. The various furniture designs were both coordinated and long running. This meant that people could purchase their furniture over many years to furnish their home.

In 1987 the Gnomme sold the company to the Christie Tyler Group. Then in 1996 the upholstery arm of the business was on sold to the Morris Furniture Group which continues to manufacture in the UK.

Restoring G-Plan Chairs

The Furniture Restoration Process We Undertook

Our clients trusted in us their precious set of four dining chairs for refurbishing. This is the process we followed: were completely stripped of the upholstery then the frames dismantled. The timber components were then sanded back and the frames reconstructed using a high quality resin. 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.
Each of the four chairs were completely stripped of the their upholstery fabric

Then the frames of the chairs were dismantled

Our master upholsterers then sanded back the timber components

The frames were reconstructed using a high quality resin

We applied three coats of lacquer, with sanding between coats and

The frames were then lightly rubbed back with a super-fine steel wool to produce a high quality 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 enhancing the appearance of the era.

Our client was absolutely ecstatic with the result and is slowly filling her home with beautiful mid-century furniture.

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Restoring Fler Furniture
ByFrank Parker

Background of Fler Furniture

Fler Furniture was founded by Fred Lowen and Earnest Rodeck in 1946 and ran through until 1968 producing iconic designs now referred to as ‘mid-century’ furniture. Featured in this article are the Fler D71 ‘Norsk Divan’ and the E71 chair purchased from a Perth furniture retail store in 1960.

Our Clients Furniture Request

Our client contacted us saying she had furniture purchased by her parents in 1960 from a Perth furniture retailer. This furniture was then given to her daughter by the grandparents when she set up home then her daughter had the furniture re-upholstered in the late 1980’s. When this furniture was re-upholstered the upholstery design was altered and finished to a very poor standard. Her mother recently took back this furniture and wanted it restored to original condition and finish.

How We Reupholstered The Fler Furniture

The divan and chairs were completely disassembled including the timber frame components.

The timber components were sanded back with the oversized fixing holes and dents filled with two pack resin then reassembled using a crosslinking PVA.

The frames were then stained to the original timber tone and three coats of 30% gloss lacquer was applied then finished with a rub of superfine steel wool.

New cushion inserts fabricated from premium foam with polyester overlays now conformed to the original dimensions. The fabric selected by our client was a sage velvet having a semi-crushed effect with the upholstery also detailed to the original finish.

The Restored Mid-Century Furniture

The result spoke for itself and our client was absolutely delighted with her restored mid-century furniture taking her back to childhood days.

See more of our high quality furniture restorations.

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T H Brown Chairs– Restoration
ByFrank Parker
Thomas Howard Brown in 1911 formed Brown Brothers Wholesale Chair Manufacturers based in Adelaide. They grew rapidly supplying furniture and department stores, then in 1942 became T.H. Brown & Sons. The business continued to grow and became one of Australia’s largest furniture manufacturers. With the death of Thomas in 1964 his sons Napier and Peter continued to expand the business with interstate manufacturing. In 1987 with the retirement of Peter the business was sold to Work Space Commercial Furniture. Thomas’s grandson Simon joined the business in 2015 forming a joint operation to re-launch some of T H Brown’s signature mid-century furniture.

These classic T H Brown occasional chairs were supplied to us for restoration through a well known mid-century furniture retailer. The chairs had previously been poorly repaired so they were stripped to the bare frames. The frame joints were repaired then all surfaces sanded back, stained and three coats of low sheen lacquer applied. The chairs were fitted with quality elastic webbing and premium foam cushioning profiled then polyester fibre laminated. The small pattern textured upholstery fabric selected was carefully matched during cutting and sewing.

The overall effect with the timber stain tone and upholstery fabric selected gave a slightly modern touch to the restored mid-century chair. However the most important point is that this furniture restoration bought joy to our client.
Parker’s restored these pieces so perfectly
I am very blessed . . . Brendan suggested buying these two chairs for my office from Benskys Vintage. Naomi Baron chose some fabulous fabric and Parker’s restored these pieces so perfectly. Customer (me) extremely happy thank you.
Vivienne
Dianella W.A.
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Danish Lounge Suite Reupholstery
ByFrank Parker
The Fascinating History of Hans Wegner
Hans Wegner was born in Tonder, Denmark in 1914 and often worked from early years at his father’s shoe making business. He obtained an apprenticeship as a wood carver when he was 16. After completing this he then studied cabinet making and attended the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen.

Hans was self employed with a small factory employing about six staff. They manufactured fine modern furniture of the day however delivery could be several years. Which is hard to imagine in these current times.

From here he convened Salesco AS – a group of five large Danish furniture manufacturers to make his furniture designs under licence. They included:
With the number of designs and the volume of furniture produced under licence Hans Wegner became known as the “Father of Modern Danish Furniture”. Hans died in Copenhagen in 2007.

Carl Hansen – timber chairs

Getama – timber framed chairs with lose cushions

A.P Stolen – fully upholstered chairs

RY Mobler – wooden storage units and

Tuck Barde – wooden tables.

With the number of designs and the volume of furniture produced under licence Hans Wegner became known as the “Father of Modern Danish Furniture”. Hans died in Copenhagen in 2007.
Restoring a Danish Hans Wegner Model 233

We had over the years restored a considerable amount of upholstered mid-century furniture for these particular clients. The latest job we did for them was the restoration of a Hans Wegner ‘model 233’. A classic Danish lounge suite which was in very good condition.

The Lounge Frame

Given that the lounge was in such good condition the timber frame only required scuffing, a coating with a 30% gloss lacquer then a light rub down with polish and super fine steel wool. The frame had a seat springing system which remained in superb condition, so this just required new replacement quilted padding fitted with elastic tabs.

The Lounge Cushions

The seat and back cushions were interesting being internally sprung but were slightly firm and uncomfortable. So we replaced the cushion inserts with laminated premium foam encased with bonded polyester fibre. This provided firmer cushioning and was considerably more comfortable. The upholstery fabric selected was Zepel ‘Mingle-Mangle Spice’ which gave the lounge a more updated finish while keeping within the design. Finally, the cushions were slip-stitch closed eliminating the requirement for zips (maintaining the original clean lines) and then buttoned.

Exceeding Our Clients Expectations

Our clients had high expectations and the team at Parker Interiors ensured we exceeded them. This mid century piece of Danish furniture was modernised whilst maintaining its classic mid-century simplicity. We trust this furniture will stay in the family for future generations to enjoy.

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Danish Deluxe – Restoration
ByFrank Parker
Danish Deluxe commenced operations in 1958 and was located at a series of factories in Huntingdale Victoria. The business was founded by Neville Ashkanasy, John Westacott and Borg Gjorstvang with most of the designing done in house however they also manufactured under licence. Danish Deluxe utilised moulded polystyrene frames to which they had an exclusive licence in Australia. The business grew rapidly reaching national distribution by 1968 and ceased operations in the early 1980’s.

Our client who has had a long term involvement and is well known in the local furniture manufacturing industry approached us regarding restoring a Danish Deluxe ‘Trina’ lounge suite. He had been going to restore the furniture for years however it only reached the dismantled stage. He had noticed another ‘Trina’ lounge suite displayed on our social media which we had also recently restored for another well-known Perth furniture family.

This job was to be given the works so the timber base frames were first sanded then glued using two-pack resin and clamped overnight. The frames were then given another light sand and stained a blended Oak/Walnut returning the timber to its original colour. Then three coats of lacquer were applied with a light sand between coats then a final rub down with super fine steel wool returning bringing the frame back to the original mid-century finish.

The arms were upholstered using a beautiful full-aniline leather which was top-stitched and moulded well to the polystyrene arms. The internal frames were knocked apart, glued and screwed then linked zig-zag springs fitted to the bases and quality elastic webbing fitted to the back frames. The back and seat carcases were also then upholstered in leather. Replacement seat and back cushion inserts were fabricated using premium foam and then encasing with bonded polyester fibre. The head-rest cushions featured quilted polyester filled inserts providing a more rounded and soft finish. The cushions were upholstered in a similar colour wool but the variation in covering textures displayed a classic mid-century finish.

This suite restored about five and a half decades after manufacturing now resides in a mid-century Fremantle home. We trust it will now endure another five decades.

We are thrilled with the contrast and finish
Hi Frank – Alicia and I would like to thank you and your staff for the fantastic craftsmanship that you have done to revive our 1966 Danish Deluxe 3-seater and chairs.
I was given the furniture 15 years ago and never had the heart to throw it away. This has been restored to new with the Aniline leather on the base and wool cushions from Kvadrat Maharam on the seat cushion. Both the leather and fabric I have also had for several years, and we are thrilled with the contrast and finish.

Once again, we greatly appreciate the great service and quality of work and comfortable lounge suite now to enjoy.
Shaun & Alicia
Fremantle W.A.
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Reupholstering Mid-Century Leather Furniture
ByFrank Parker
The History of Kill International Furniture

Kill International Furniture was a globally recognised German bespoke ‘mid-century’ furniture manufacturer named after the founder Alfred Kill. Kill developed a product range by collaborating with renowned Danish furniture designers such as Preben Fabricius and Jorgen Kastholm. However, the furniture refurbished was designed by Rudolf Glatzel (1911-1999) and produced at the Kill International factory in Stuttgart – Fellbach Germany as documented in the photograph above.

Reupholstery of a Kill International Lounge Suite

A gentleman contacted us after Parker Interiors was recommended to him. The person who recommended us was the mid-century furniture dealer who he had purchased this nostalgic and rare suite consisting of a Kill International 3-seater settee and 2 Kill International lounge chairs. We were invited to his mid-century styled home and inspected the furniture. Given that it had never been re upholstered and was almost 60 years old it was in good structural condition. Just one back leg had a large chip. We explained that the leg could be repaired and the upholstery completely replaced. Given that this was a prestigious mid-century piece, we suggested a similar high quality black semi-aniline leather be used to maintain the design integrity. The Futura ‘Lena Black’ upholstery leather was selected by our client.

The Transformation Process

We disassembled the lounge suite and the first task was to rebuild the chipped rear leg with a two-pack resin. This was to make sure the fault was difficult to notice when completed. The body padding was replaced with appropriate high-density foams and the seat and back cushions were fabricated by laminating premium foams of various firmness then encased with bonded polyester fibre.

The Finished Product

The reupholstery replicated the original finish with large panel cuts and twin-stitched detail. Using hides of exceptional quality allowed us to use single panels for the Kill International 3-seater body. This was in accordance with the original design and ensured design integrity. The detailed stitching is a credit to our sewing machinist as was the buttoning and upholstery finish a credit to our master upholsterer.

Seeing Our Clients Amazed

The most rewarding aspect of our job is delivering the completed upholstered furniture. Our client was amazed with the finish which excelled his expectations. We just hope that the skilled artisans will exist in sixty years to refurbish this suite for our client’s grandchildren.
“I can only say how delighted I am with the result”
Last year I purchased a mid 1960s lounge suite in black leather by a famous German designer. After almost 60 years of wear and tear the suite was in poor condition: cushions were sagging and some were split, there was little spring left in the couch and one chair leg had a large chip.

Frank Parker was recommended to me as someone who could complete the job of full restoration to a high standard. Frank visited my house to see the suite, provided options in Italian leather and arranged for pick-up and delivery of the finished project for a mutual agreed date, later in the year.

I admit to feeling some ambivalence having gone ahead: this was a lot of money and what would I be getting in return? I can only say how delighted I am with the result. The professionalism of Frank’s team shows through in the quality of the finished project which exceeded my expectations. I look forward to contacting Frank in relation to some future work and unreservedly recommend Parker Interiors.
Mark – Hamersley
W.A.
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