Trustyle Furniture

By Frank Parker

Truestyle evolved from a lounge furniture manufacturing business which came into existence as W. E. Young & Co. The business was founded by Bill and Beryl Young who came to WA from Victoria starting the manufacturing business in the late 1950’s originally located in Claverton Street east Perth. In the late 1960’s the business relocated to Osborne Park.  The business was then taken over by several of the employees in the mid 1970’s with Colin Bainbridge running operations. The business then shifted to River road Bayswater to a purpose built factory.

Trustyle manufactured styles incorporating show-wood frames with the furniture being in the upper middle class for price and quality always being considered good value for money in the industry.

A client contacted us wishing to have her Trustyle lounge suite and dining chair seats re-upholstered. The Lounge suite was over thirty years old but remained structurally sound. It was originally upholstered in a patterned transfer print which were popular in the late 80’s and early 90’s but she decided to have the furniture re-upholstered in a plain chenille.

This was a straight forward job, we replaced the elastic webbing laminated new high density arm foam and fabricated new premium foam seat and back cushions encasing them with bonded polyester fibre. The upholstery was also relatively simple and back to original including the buttoning.

Our client was happy as her favourite piece of furniture was back to new condition and hopefully she will have many years of enjoyable use.

Similar Posts

  • Upholstery Up-cycling

    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!

    Call us Today
  • Reupholster to Modernise

    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.

    Call us Today
  • Tessa Vintage Furniture

    What is Tessa Furniture?

    Tessa Furniture is an iconic name in Australian furniture manufacturing being a prolific name during the heydays of the local furniture industry. We know re-furbished mid-century modernist furniture with a Scandinavian influence is a niche market. However the interest not only resides with those who have been fortunate to have witnessed this period of design history. Some discerning members of the younger generations are purchasing or inheriting or purchasing second hand Tessa furniture and having it restored.

    Why is Tessa Furniture So Popular?

    As per the above photographs Tessa lounges are extremely well designed and soundly constructed. This Tessa lounge suite was originally purchased in 1972. When the Tasmanian Blackwood timber was sanded and re-polished and new webbing and cushioning were re-upholstered – it looks amazing!

    Tessa Furniture History

    Tessa originally was known as Twen commencing operation in 1968. It then changed its name to Tessa in 1970. Tessa was formed by Fred Lowen, his brother Howard Lindsey and design technician Sigi Danielzik. Fred however commenced furniture manufacturing with Ernest 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 operation with international links.

    Call Us So We Can Help You Restore Your Special Furniture
  • Reupholster Arthur G Furniture

    Perth Arthur G Furniture

    The History of Arthur G Furniture

    Arthur G was established in 1979 Arthur Georgopoulus having initially commenced leather sofas in the garage at the family home in Melbourne. Today Arthur G has a large manufacturing operation in Huntingdale. His son Leonard joined the family business in 2008 with the focus then changing to direct sales. Arthur G now has showrooms in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. 

    How We Reupholstered This Piece of Arthur G Furniture

    It’s always a pleasure to re-upholster high quality Australian made furniture. The Arthur G furniture pictured was only about 10 years old however our clients were shifting into a new residence and wanted their furniture re-upholstered to coordinate with the new décor.

    The Furniture Reupholstery Process

    We completely stripped down the existing furniture revealing solid Victorian Ash timber frames and quality upholstery componentry. We encased the existing down/feather cushion inserts with bonded polyester providing a silky finish to the cushioning however there was no maintenance work involved. The settee was re-covered in a plush pink cut-pile velvet and the chaise lounge in Tasman ‘Matisse’ leather.

    Happy Clients

    Our clients were ecstatic with their re-upholstered furniture which we trust they will enjoy for many years into the future.

    Call us Today To Have Your Leather Sofa Reupholstered
  • Re-furbish Australian styled ‘Club Lounge’

    Perth Reupholstery Club Lounge

    The Classical Club Lounge

    What we generally recognise as Australian styled ‘club lounges’ were made from the late 1920’s through to the mid 1950’s. This design was not uniquely Australian however it was very popular during this era and the suite featured is typical of this period however many variations were available.

     These suites all featured the wide arms with timber trays and bases but some also decorative timber trim on the arm facings. The upholstery finishes were also available in a wide variation of finishes. This included cord trim, contrast piping and raised panel patterns on the backs.

    Our Client’s Request

    We were requested to completely re-furbish this ‘club lounge’ by a client who inherited this furniture from her parents but which originally belonged to her grandparents. This lounge suite was made in the late 1940’s and then re-upholstered in the 1970’s so it was in a dilapidated condition when received for refurbishment.

    The Reupholstery Process

    • We completely stripped the existing upholstery to the frame
    • The frame was well constructed using thick Jarrah timber
    • We screwed all the joints to eliminate any potential movement
    • We sanded back the timber arm trays and base blocks
    • Then polished the Jarrah leaving a natural finish
    • The suite was then re-upholstered using the traditional jute webbing, coil springs and hessian for the seat and back bodywork
    • For comfort and practicability we then use premium cushioning for the base, back and arm overlays also polyester encased premium seat cushion inserts.

    Combining the traditional and modern upholstery techniques gives an authentic finish but provides practical and comfortable seating.

    In rejuvenating this classic Australian styled ‘club lounge’ our clients will be able to cherish their family memories into the future.

    See more of our high quality reupholstered furniture here.

    Call us Today to Have Your Club Lounge Professionally Reupholstered
  • 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