Custom Upholstery

By Frank Parker

This custom-made dining lounge was designed and manufactured by a cabinet making firm then upholstered by a local upholstery business. The frame was well designed and constructed however there were continual substantial issues with the upholstery. Unfortunately this is something that occurs to often in our industry. 

A client approached us saying she had a custom-made dining lounge and there were substantial issues with the upholstery and she had given up trying to negotiate any solution with this upholstery business. The entire front edge of the seat had collapsed and buttons which she did not want but were initiated by the upholstery firm had ‘popped’. Our client engaged us to completely re-upholster this dining lounge.

We completely removed the existing upholstery and discovered the problems causing the clients concerns. The previous upholsterers had used high quality foam on the seat however they had used a water based contact adhesive to which there are still major application problems and is was simply just not effective. Also the reason they had to place buttons into the seat and back panels was that the patterns were not true to the frame sizes causing the cushions to distort.

We started from scratch making templates true to the frame then fabricated premium cushioning and laminated it with bonded polyester fibre. The cushion covers were then carefully marked with sewing indicators and sewn to shape as such large panels can either be stretched or gathered. The lounge was then upholstered with minimal effort as the fabric covers fitted perfectly.

The result was that our client was absolutely overwhelmed with the result and we have since received repeat work from her. This just goes to show that quality work is always the best form of advertising and everyone is a winner.

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    ByFrank 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!

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  • Reupholster Art Deco Chairs

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    From our understanding these chairs were made in Czechoslovakia in the late 1920’s, manufacturer unknown. For their time the construction techniques used are quite advanced utilising a ‘push-in seat’ and back flutes located with spring-edge wire. However the most significant thing about these chairs is the general proportion and balance of the design.

    A client contacted us saying that she had acquired two art deco European chairs requiring restoration. Upon initial inspection we found the chairs had been shabbily re-upholstered and covered in decades of grime. As we stripped away the fabric on these chairs it exposed some of the original upholstery providing enough information for an authentic reconstruction.

    The first step was several construction repairs to the timber frames then removing the layers of grime. The show-wood components of the frames were then gently sanded back, stained a mid-tone Oak then three coats of clear lacquer. Then with the upholstery we re-constructed the sprung edge seats and backs by lacing in the springs, fabricated the spring edge wire and tying down the springs. We then sewed on the hessian overlays and ring-clipped on polyurethane edge moulding. The seats and backs were then layered with premium foam and polyester overlays. The client’s fabric selection suited the chairs and was practical to upholster. The panels were cut being carefully pattern matched then largely pre-sewn but requiring some hand stitching.

    The re-furbishing of these chairs combined traditional methods with modern materials however did not compromise the design integrity. Our client was overjoyed with the result and the chairs now take pride of place in her lounge room.

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  • Reupholstery of Late 19th to Mid 20th Century Classic Australian Furniture

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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.

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    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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  • Re-upholster Antique Chairs

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    Occasionally we receive antique chairs which are basically well preserved but they have been previously shabbily re-upholstered or upholstered out of context with the era. This rarely does the furniture justice and usually results in complete restoration.

    Our client came to us with a lounge chair made in the 1890’s having been originally purchased by her deceased husband’s grandparents. She was honest in explaining that under her instructions the chair had been re-upholstered in the early 1980’s in a pastel cotton and the style modernised to match their décor at a previous residence. She was now ashamed of her previous decision and wanted the chair re-upholstered to its previous glory.

    The chair’s design had been modernised by having a loose seat cushion fitted and absence of piped detail. We removed all the upholstery stripping the chair down to the bare frame and the turned timber legs were then cleaned and polished. Heavy weight jute webbing was then fitted to the seat and back, the coil springs laced, tied down then hessian overlays fitted. We used synthetic ‘thumb roll’ on the seat front, arms and back scrolls then laminated premium polyurethane foams finished with polyester overlays. The seat cushion inner was fabricated from high resilience foam and encased with bonded polyester fibre.

    The chair was then upholstered using a fabric selected by our client which suited the chair and was basically in keeping with the period. The result was a chair which was modernised to a degree under the cover for comfort however retained much authenticity with the upholstery finish and piped detail. Our client was over joyed with her chair and no doubt will become a family heirloom.

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  • Reupholster Parker Furniture

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    Parker Furniture commenced operations in 1935 as Dagger & Parker formed by Alf Dagger and Jack Parker making chairs and cabinets fashioned from packing palettes. Post war they manufactured reproduction Queen Anne and Art Deco designs then Alf Dagger resigned and the business was renamed JW Parker and then Parker Furniture.

    Tony Parker joined the business in 1949 working in the polishing and finishing area while studying furniture design at East Sydney Technical College at night. Tony then left the business for the UK working in furniture sales management and design for John Lewis. Jack reluctantly made some of Tony’s modernist UK inspired designs but showed little commitment in promoting these designs. Tony then displayed these new designs at the Sydney Furniture Exhibition with a year’s production being sold in four days! Grace Bros. then stocked and displayed these new designs with sales expanding so did the staff and the factories. After several shifts Parker Furniture premises was situated on eight hectares at Seven Hills and the business employed over 380 staff by 1973.  

    The brothers sold the family business in 1990’s but without their enthusiasm and due to a changing market the company had closed by 1997. Covermore Designs rose from the ashes formed by former Parker employees and is still going strong today manufacturing some classic company designs and re-furbishing past production pieces.

    A client approached wanting her Parker lounge suite to be re-upholstered. They had previously lived in Sydney and had purchased this suite in the early 1980’s. The lounge suite remained in exceptional condition, partially due to care but also testament to the quality design and construction.

    Our client selected a linen similar to her original choice for the re-upholstery. We removed the existing upholstery with the timber frame and springing system still in superb condition. New premium padding was laminated onto the arms and frame body. New polyester encased premium seat cushions were fabricated also polyester filled channelled and quilted back cushion inners were made. The lounge suite was then re-upholstered being carefully pattern matched at all stages.

    Our client was overwhelmed with her re-upholstered Parker lounge suite as it was delivered into her home it took her back to a bygone time.

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  • Reupholster Merry Widow

    ByFrank Parker

    Little information has been passed down through the industry or indeed written about the history or origin of ‘Merry Widow’ settees or lounge furniture. We can only assume it is historically linked to the Austro-Hungarian opera the ‘Merry Widow’ which had its debut in 1906 and was marathon performing during the period. This would co-inside with the start of the art-deco period which a merry widow could feel indulged on such an opulent sofa. 

    A merry widow settee and two chairs were brought to us by a farming family from the south-west. The furniture belonged to her grandparents and she believed was made in the 1930’s and had already been re-upholstered twice and modified. Our job was to bring it back to its glorious by-gone past, a very labour intensive task.

    We removed the layers of fabric stripping the suite down to the bare timber frame. The turned legs were discarded which were an addition during an 80’s revamp then the frame joints knocked apart and glued with a two pack resin then screwed. The rear legs, front blocks and timber trays were sanded then stained as the Jarrah had bleached and finished with three coats of lacquer.

    The re-upholstery commenced with fitting jute webbing and lacing coil springs into the seat, back and arms, then fabricated the sprung edge, and tied down the springs then applied hessian overlays. We then fitted synthetic edging to the sprung edge, top inside back and arms and laminated premium foam layers overlayed with bonded polyester fibre. The upholstery fabric selected suited the period being a very high quality black abstract floral velvet which looked extremely sumptuous. The outside arms and backs were also lined and padded and finished with piped trim.

    Our clients were breath taken with the result as they had seen the previous re-upholstery when teenagers but this was far superior in every detail and designed to last for another lifetime.

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