Reupholster to Modernise

By Frank Parker

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.

The most important aspect of this process is to select an appropriate fabric for the re-upholstery process. Our clients had two issues to consider, the upholstery fabric selected had to suit their existing lounge furniture while looking in place in a new mid-century styled home. The upholstery fabric selected fulfilled the criteria being an abstract floral design with the blue and autumn tones looking effective on the polished concrete floor and picking up the tones of the timber cabinetry.

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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    Restoring Sentimental Furniture in Perth

    Passing Down Furniture or Inheriting Furniture

    It is always difficult to place a monetary value on something that is of high sentimental value however when the furniture has been restored the value is evident. Furniture that is of high sentimental value is usually inherited but may also have been from an era of perceived sentimental interest or have been previously possessed by an individual of interest. However regardless of the reason a high proportion of furniture we restore is due to sentimental value.

    Reupholstering Library Chairs From the 1920’s

    Our client approached us wanting to rejuvenate two library chairs with a matching chaise initially purchased new by his wife’s grandparents in the 1920’s being made in Australia. When we inspected this furniture it was in a completely dilapidated condition due to years of storage in a damp basement.

    How We Renewed the Library Chairs

    • We completely striped the upholstery to the frame noting that it had also been re-upholstered shabbily
    • It was not until we had completely stripped the existing upholstery that we became aware that some of the carved timber rails were rotten due to prolonged storage in damp conditions
    • We approached the client with this information as restoration was going to be a major task.

    A Collaborative Restoration

    Our client still insisted the furniture be restored and this was now going to be a collaborative operation. Our friend from Eachells Fine Furniture was engaged to replace the rotten carved timber rails. He ascertained the species of Eastern States Eucalypt used in construction so replacements would look identical. The resurrected timber frames were then polished looking like original.

    Our client still insisted the furniture be restored and this was now going to be a collaborative operation. Our friend from Eachells Fine Furniture was engaged to replace the rotten carved timber rails. He ascertained the species of Eastern States Eucalypt used in construction so replacements would look identical. The resurrected timber frames were then polished looking like original.

    We then set about the task of re-upholstering this furniture using original methods and materials. They were webbed with heavy weight jute webbing then coiled springs were laced in, tied down then hessian overlays. We then however use laminated layers of premium padding encased in polyester. The result is fundamentally original methods but finishing with some new materials to enhance the comfort.

    This furniture was upholstered to original finish and trimmed with a matching gimp. Our clients were ecstatic with tears of sentiment!

    Call us Today to Have Your Sentimental Furniture Restored For Future Generations
  • 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!

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      We were so happy with the two black leather chairs you re-upholstered for us.
      Monique
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    This leather is an exceptionally high quality semi-aniline leather used to upholster a beautiful contemporary settee. The client thought that the scarring was excessive and considered them as leather imperfections. With this type of rustic look natural leather defects are acceptable and indeed considered a feature. However scarring where the surface is broken can be seen as a type of leather damage and should be confined to inconspicuous areas of the upholstery.

    This was a case in which the client complained with possible good reason. The manufacture should have been more prudent with the leather cutting process and the furniture retailer should have better explained the natural features of rustic semi-aniline leather to the client. Fortunately this settee was made in Australia and both the manufacturer and retailer acted quickly  to rectify the problem resulting in a happy ending!

    Call us Today to Have Your Timeless Furniture Restored
  • 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.

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  • Jardan Reupholster

    Jardan owned by brothers Nick & Michael Garnham commenced operations in 1987 from humble beginnings having eight staff by 1997 with over one hundred and seventy employed today.  All furniture is custom-made in a modern equipped factory located in Melbourne with retail outlets now in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

    A client approached us saying they had purchased a Jardan 3 seater settee when their children were just toddlers now their children are young adults and the settee has served them well but was in desperate need re-upholstery. Our clients were true patriots as they also selected an Australian made fabric for the re-upholstery.

    We removed all existing upholstery from the timber frame and the only casualty from almost two decades of heavy use was one broken spring which shows the value of purchasing high quality Australian made furniture. We laminated new high density foam to the frame body and fabricated polyester filled channelled and quilted back cushion inserts and polyester encased premium foam seat cushion inserts. The settee was then re-upholstered with the outside arms and back lined and padded with piped detail.

    Our clients were glad they had made the correct decision in having their settee re-upholstered in a quality Australian made fabric, it should be good for another two decades and the grandchildren.

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    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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