Oliver’s Upholstery

By Frank Parker

Oliver’s Upholstery was founded by Andrew Oliver in the late 1980’s being situated in Perth Western Australia. The business manufactured economically priced upholstered furniture for the WA retail sector. The business grew quickly becoming one of the larger upholstery manufacturers by volume in the State. However about a decade of operation cheap inferior products started coming into Australia from Malaysia and Thailand then flooding in from China.

With the value area of the local market being displaced with imported furniture Andrew Oliver changed directions renaming the business Oliver’s Re-upholstery focusing on re-upholstery and commercial upholstery.

Long term clients approached us when renovating their home wanting to have two wing back chairs re-upholstered. These clients resided in a leafy Perth suburb and thought the chairs were rather special but it’s difficult to explain to such clients that their taste in furniture maybe a bit ordinary, especially if they want the chairs re-upholstered in a high quality leather.

The upholstery was rather tacky so we stripped the chairs back to the bare frames and were rather surprised that the frames were soundly constructed. We sprung the frames, laminated the body work with high density foam padding slightly redesigning the upholstery. The leather was a full-aniline leather from Tasman Tanning and was a pleasure to use as the chairs took shape. Using more traditional labour intensive upholstery techniques paid off as displayed by the finished product.

Our clients were simply “gob-smacked” with their re-upholstered wing back chairs which just goes to show that you can make a silk purse from a sow’s ear!

Call us Today

Similar Posts

  • Boans Furniture – reupholster

    ByFrank Parker

    The Boan brothers opened their first department store at Wellington Street Perth in 1895 then moved into selling furniture in 1912. After the First World War demand for furniture was strong so Boans commenced manufacturing furniture from a factory located corner Saunders and Glide Streets Perth. The range of furniture made was extensive from cabinetry to upholstered furniture, mattresses and cane furniture.

    With the anti -Asian sentiment dominate during this period the Factories Act of 1904 forced Asian furniture manufacturing companies to stamp on their products “Asiatic Labour” and so Boans like many other local furniture manufacturers of time took advantage of this situation advertising that their furniture was made with “European Labour Only”.

    During the late 1960’s Boans started retailing furniture from other specialist manufactures and also started importing furniture. Boans remained dominate and indeed an iconic retailing business in WA for almost a century and was sold to Myer in 1986.

    We were approached by a mother and daughter who had fond memories of their lounge furniture purchased from Boans in the early 1960’s which was made under licence to Parker Knoll in the UK. The lounge suite had served the family well for almost 60 years however it was certainly due for re-upholstery.

    They selected a Warwick linen to replace the original Sanderson linen so the furniture would retain an elegant appearance in their sitting room. We completely removed all existing upholstery then rectified a few minor structural issues with the timber frames. The tension springs were replaced and the bodywork padding was replaced with high density polyurethane foam and the cushions were fabricated from premium foam and encased with bonded polyester. The linen was pattern matched, cut and sewn then upholstered to its original splendour.

    Call us Today

  • Re-styled 1940’s chairs

    ByFrank Parker

    Occasionally clients are unhappy with the style of the chairs presented to us for repair and re-upholstery. This can be as a result of either initial design flaws, poor re-upholstery or poor reconstruction as a result of previous damage or sometimes a combination of these factors. The idea is not necessarily to bring a chair back its purest original form but occasionally compromise with slight re-styling to compliment the client’s décor.

    These two 1940’s chairs were presented to us by a client as they had been passed down to her through the family. She wanted the chairs to be re-upholstered however she wanted the arms modified on one chair and the wings to be altered on the other chair. This re-styling was required partially due to initial design flaws but also due to past re-upholstery exaggerating these flaws.

    We completely stripped the existing upholstery on both chairs down to the bare frames. The top arms on one chair were then cut down to a cigar shaped arm in keeping with the design while the other chair had a plywood strip removed from the inside wings which improvised as a thumb roll. The two modified chair frames were then re-upholstered using a combination of traditional and contemporary methods.

    When these re-styled chairs were delivered to our client she was ecstatic with the outcome. We trust the chairs will be enjoyed and continued to be passed down to future generations.

    Call us Today

  • Modern Antique Chairs

    ByFrank Parker

    It is becoming more common to re-upholster antique furniture using bright modern fabrics. At first this may seem sacrilege to connoisseurs of fine furniture but if quality antique furniture is being saved no one can complain.    

    A client approached us saying she had found a pair of identical ‘Grandfather’ antique chairs beside the railway line in York W.A. At first we just assumed these were nothing but discarded antique reproduction chairs however upon inspection our client was correct, they were indeed genuine antique chairs from the mid to late 19th century.

    We completely removed the existing upholstery and carried out some structural repairs then touched up the polish work. We then used traditional methods to re-upholster these chairs only compromising by using premium foam seat and inside arm/back overlays. A modern teal velvet with black velvet piping was used to cover the chairs and trimmed with black gimp.

    Well what could we say, the clients were elated and the chairs looked stunning! The chairs were saved and our clients can enjoy their rejuvenated furniture for many years.

    Call us Today

  • Re-upholster leather Tessa furniture

    ByFrank Parker

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

    A client approached us with her much loved Tessa leather lounge suite which she had inherited from her parents. She wanted the lounge fully restored as she remembered it growing up on the family farm.

    We completely removed all existing upholstery then sanded the frame back to bare timber. Several timber rails were re-glued then the frame was finely sanded. The Tasmanian Myrtle timber frame was then stained back to the original finish and given three coats of lacquer being lightly sanded between coats.

    The original springing systems were fine in the backs and the settee seat however new premium quality elastic webbing was fitted to the chair seats to conform to the original specifications. New channelled and quilted polyester back cushion inners were fabricated likewise new polyester encased premium polyurethane seat cushion inners. The quality of the seat and back cushion inners however far exceeded the original upholstery componentry.

    It is extremely important to use a high quality leather for the upholstery and we used the Tasman ‘Matisse Manuka’ which is a superior quality semi-aniline leather from New Zealand. All the detailed stitching was replicated and needless to say that our client was elated at the family lounge suite being returned to its former glory days.

    Call us Today

  • 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!

    Call us Today

  • Club Lounge Restoration

    ByFrank Parker

    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