Jardan Reupholster

By Frank Parker

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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    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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    The History of Torrance & McKenna

    Torrance & McKenna was founded by Andy Torrance and Allen McKenna commencing manufacturing high quality lounge furniture in 1939. Their business however was interrupted during the war years with both joining the armed forces. They recommenced operations from their factory in East Perth in 1945. Torrance & McKenna flourished for three decades during the boom years for local furniture manufacturers supplying the up-market Perth retailers with high quality custom-made lounge furniture.

    The business was sold in 1975 to Gerry and Kath Edwards with their son John later taking over operations. Gerry had an intimate knowledge of the industry being the state manager for Wilson Fabrics, the distributer of Sanderson Linen. In 1979 Torrance & McKenna started selling direct into the market which was a good strategic move to maintain a reputation for quality as discount furniture was starting to dominate the local retail scene.

    In 2002 Torrance & McKenna was purchased by Yogesh and Dina Shah. Yogesh having a degree in furniture design maintained the quality for which the business was renowned also introduced a re-upholstery service then shifted to a larger premises in Osborne Park. The business was subsequently purchased by an interior designer Deborah DeFiddes in 2018.

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    Our clients approached us by saying they loved their Torrance & McKenna lounge furniture which they had purchased in 1989 but it has just worn out due to heavy use over a thirty year period. They wanted to flash back thirty years with an identical suite.

    Our clients were in luck as their suite was upholstered in a Sanderson Linen and this particular design was still available. We stripped back the existing upholstery to the frames, re-webbed the furniture then laminated high density padding to the body work and fabricated new polyester encased premium cushioning. The lounge suite was then re-upholstered to the original finish and our clients were absolutely delighted.

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  • Refurbish TV Chairs & Daynite sofa

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    “TV chairs” and “Daynite sofas” became popular from the late 1950’s and remained in production through to the early 1970’s. This coincided with the introduction of television and the modern appliance age. Today we generally refer to TV chairs and Daynite sofas as mid-century furniture which has regained popularity amongst novices and enthusiasts of this era. This furniture setting was made in W.A. by Condor Furniture in Osborne Park owned by the Trethowan family.

    This set of TV chairs and Daynite sofa were presented to us by our client who wanted them completely refurbished to original condition. The existing upholstery was striped to the frames then the frames sanded back to raw timber. The timber frames were constructed from Nyatoh, a Malaysian timber which is ideal for this type of furniture. The frames were then stained brown teak and three coats of clear lacquer applied.

    The new upholstery started with replacing the no-sag springs then fabricating polyester encased premium cushion inserts. The upholstery fabric selected was similar to the original covering being a flat woven rust coloured fabric.

    The result was a refurbished classic mid-century lounge setting that took our clients back to the time of their initial purchase. We have no doubt that just as nostalgic memories will be relived good times are still to come for our clients to enjoy their furniture.

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  • Tessa Vintage Furniture

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    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.

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    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.

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  • Re-upholster antique chair in linen

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    The use of different upholstery materials can totally transform the appearance of a chair. You may have inherited a chair or just have seen an antique chair where you admire the design but have to use your imagination regarding a suitable fabric for re-upholstery which would suit your décor.  In this situation take your time to investigate the possibilities and possibly consult with an upholsterer experienced in this area of work.   

    A client came to see us from the South West farming town of Boyup Brook as they had inherited chair from the United Kingdom made in the 1880’s. This chair had sadly resided in their shed for many years and was in a dilapidated state having been previously in leather. They wanted this chair to be re-furbished for their bedroom so a Heritage Linen with a matching soft pink cotton velvet for piping.

    The existing upholstery was completely stripped to the frame then structural repairs carried out and the legs re-polished. We then fitted jute webbing, laced and tied down coil springs with hessian overlays. The shapes were then developed utilising modern polyurethane furniture edging instead of fibre fill stitched edges and premium high density foam instead of the traditional flock and fibre. We feel that using this combination of traditional and modern methods of building the upholstery foundation gives an authentic finish with superior comfort.

    The chair was then upholstered a high quality screen printed vat dyed linen with a matching pink cotton velvet piping. This gave a softer appearance to the chair which was required by our client. This chair having been constructed in the 1880’s was now rejuvenated by descendants of the original owners and functional in 2019!

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  • Club Lounge Restoration

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    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!

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