Refurbish TV Chairs & Daynite sofa

By Frank Parker

“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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    Ramada Furniture commenced operations in the mid 1980’s and was owned by Graham and Justin Davies. Graham also owned Leather House a successful furniture retail business specialising in the sale of leather lounge furniture. His son Justine operated the factory in Canning Vale which took over a large purpose built factory from another lounge furniture manufacturer Stylecraft which had ceased operations.

    Grahame Davies sold Leather House in the early 2000’s and Ramada Furniture was subsequently sold to Lawrence Barnard. Lawrence also owned Featureline which locally manufactured more budget priced lounge furniture. He then operated the combined businesses wholesaling lounge furniture to the WA retail trade.  However due a changing market and the onslaught of inferior but cheaper imported lounge furniture the combined business failed after about 3 years.

    A couple approached us who were renovating their home which required updating their furniture. They were however mindful regarding waste and wanted to up-cycle as much as possible. They had purchased Ramada two leather lounge chairs and a footstool about thirty years ago which were looking seriously dated and if possible wanted them rejuvenated in fabric.

    We completely removed the existing upholstery from the two chairs and footstool then started the re-upholstery process fitting new heavy grade elastic webbing. High density foam was then laminated to the frame bodies and new polyester encased premium foam cushion inserts were fabricated. The lounge furniture was then carefully re-upholstered to original finish except the seat cushions were now reversible.

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    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.

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    This American company was founded in 1932 by two brothers-in-law starting business as a homewares manufacturer. In 1936 they purchased a bankrupt high-end furniture manufacturer in Vermont and adopted the name Ethan Allen in 1939.

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