Refurbish Lincoln Furniture

By Frank Parker

The Background to Lincoln Furniture Nedlands W.A.

Richard Laurence the founder of Lincoln Furniture worked in the upholstered furniture industry in California USA and immigrated with his family to Perth Western Australia in the late 1960’s. He initially worked with Perth furniture retailers for several years to gain an understanding of the local industry then commenced Lincoln Furniture.

Reupholstering a Lincoln Lounge Suite

This Lincoln lounge suite consisting of 2 x 2 ½ seater settees and 2 x chairs was purchased in 1978 from the Perth furniture store – Lincoln Furniture. Lincoln Furniture was established in Perth in the early 1970’s and the company operated until the early 1990’s. This Nedlands based furniture manufacturer used to produce high quality traditional American style furniture. Parker Furniture had the privledge to beautifully reupholstered this lounge furniture to restore it for its appreciative Western Australian owners. The lounge was originally constructed with a unique sprung edge utilising no sag springs which was an American system and had previously not used by Australian lounge furniture manufacturers.

 

Call us To Have Your Old Lounge Suite Reupholstered

Similar Posts

  • Upholstery Up-cycling

    ByFrank Parker

    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

  • Re-upholster antique chair in linen

    ByFrank Parker

    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!

    Call us Today

  • Le Cornu Furniture – reupholster

    ByFrank Parker

    Le Cornu was an iconic South Australian furniture manufacturing and retailing business. Operations commenced in 1861 when Phillip Le Cornu started a wholesale cabinet making business in Adelaide. In 1885 the factory was largely destroyed by fire and recommenced operations at a former church in North Adelaide. In 1921 the founder died and his son Phillip took over the business expanding operations and by 1924 employed 25 people.

    In 1954 the business went factory direct with a diversified range of furniture and over the next two decades expanded retail stores in S.A and Darwin. In 1989 the North Adelaide store was closed and then the business was sold to Fantastic Holdings in 2008.

    Our client approached us wanting to re-upholster a settee purchased by his parents from Le Cornu in 1959. This settee was the surviving piece of the lounge suite which he grew up with and lounged upon as a teenager. It was still upholstered in the original fabric being a ribbed velvet which would have been the latest trend at the time of purchase.

    We removed all the existing upholstery from the settee frame and it was well constructed with little structural work required. The frame was re-sprung with heavier gauge no-sag springs on the seat and the back springs were replaced with the same gauge. The springs were linked, outside arms and back were lined with hessian and high density body work padding applied. The original cushion inserts were latex and these were replaced with polyester encased premium cushions. The two seater settee was then upholstered to its original finish in a ribbed Zepel gold velvet.

    Our client was gobsmacked upon delivery of the settee saying it was just as he remembered it as a child growing up in Adelaide.

    Call us Today

  • Reupholster Parker Furniture

    ByFrank Parker

    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.

    Call us Today

  • Re-upholster Charles Mackintosh chair

    ByFrank Parker

    A client approached us saying they had a ‘Mackintosh’ chair in desperate need of re-upholstery. They had purchased this lounge chair in the UK in the 1970’s and it had just been re-upholstered, they were told it was made about 1910 and was a Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868 – 1928) design reflecting the ‘Arts and Craft’ period.

    Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect and designer who played an important role in the turn of the century ‘Arts and Craft’ movement. He became interested in architecture at a young age and enrolled into the Glasgow School of Art at fifteen meeting the McNair children (marring one of the sisters). The foursome collaborated becoming renowned for their refined stylization of furniture. In 1889 Mackintosh became an apprentice at the architectural firm Honeyman Kreppie and was made a partner in 1901. He demonstrated a break from traditional Victorian design being influenced by Japanese and Celtic art. He was famously commissioned by Catherine Cranston to design the Willow Tearooms (Glasgow) interiors and furniture for which he developed the famous Argyle chair.

    We completely stripped the upholstery to the frame on this chair and judging from the construction techniques it coincides with the period. The chair was then re-sprung and completely re-upholstered being covered in a linen supplied by our clients.

    There is however something extremely strange regarding this chair? The construction techniques coincide with the with the ‘Arts and Craft’ period and the design coincides with the Mackintosh style of the period however from our research he never designed a fully upholstered lounge chair, only dining and occasional chairs with a few show-wood framed lounge chairs. Our client loved their rejuvenated chair and the mystery remains!

    Call us Today

  • Ethen Allen Furniture – Reupholster

    ByFrank Parker

    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.

    Ethan Allen now a public company and has four manufacturing plants in the USA and one in Mexico with retail outlets across the USA and Canada. Although the company had suffered a severe decline in business over the last few decades the share price is now rebounding with the strong public sentiment towards supporting home grown products and businesses.

    A couple were referred to us to have their two Ethan Allen ‘Restocrat Recliners’ re-upholstered. They purchased these recliner chairs in the mid 70’s while living in the U.S. Their present home still reflected the architecture and furnishings from the 70’s so it was the preferable option.

    These recliner chairs were stripped back to the bare frames and the mechanisms were removed. The quality of the mechanisms were outstanding, we just cleaned them up with the timber frames only requiring minor repairs. The frames were re-sprung and new cushioning was fabricated from premium foam and encased with bonded polyester fibre. The fabric selected by our client was a 70’s pin stripe velvet which was a prefect replacement.

    What could we say, these recliner chairs looked like they had just been purchased from an Ethan Allen store forty five years ago! However the important thing was that our clients just loved their rejuvenated recliner chairs.

    Call us Today