Uncategorized

  • 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.

    Call us Today

  • Jardan Reupholster

    ByFrank 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.

    Call us Today

  • Restoration of Club Lounge

    ByFrank Parker
    Reupholster Club Lounge Perth

    What we generally recognise as Australian styled ‘club lounges’ were made from the late 1920’s through to the mid 1950’s. This design was not uniquely Australian however it was very popular in Australia during this era and the suite featured is typical of this period however many variations were available.

    These lounge suites all featured the wide arms, usually with timber trays and bases but some also had decorative timber trim on the arm facings. The upholstery finishes were also available in a wide variation of finishes. This included cord trim, contrast piping and raised panel patterns on the inside backs.

    A client approached us who is from a prominent furniture manufacturing family to restore their ‘club lounge’. This club lounge was not a family heirloom but a design from the era they had always found interesting and destined for their retirement home. It is always an honour to be asked by a contemporary to restore a favourite piece of furniture however the expectations are always as equally high.

    We stripped the 3 seater and 2 chairs down to the bare frames, removed the show-wood components then screwed the joints together. The timber arm trays were so badly damaged leaving us with no option than to completely replace them however the front base strips were sanded back and re-used have receiver three coats of lacquer.

    The bases and backs were re-webbed with jute webbing then the coil springs laced in, tied down and covered with heavy weight hessian. We then used synthetic ‘thumb roll’ to build up the edges and laminated layers of premium foam over the bases, arms and inside backs until the desired shapes were achieved. Flutes were sewn into the inside back covers and the suite was trimmed with contrast piping. The seat cushion inserts were fabricated by laminating various densities of premium foam then encasing them with bonded polyester fibre. The outside arms and outside backs were all lined padded providing a superior finish.

    The result was that we had brought furniture made about 80 years ago back to life. We trust the new owners will receive many years of enjoyable use of their furniture. However from a trade persons perspective we often wonder, what would those who originally made the furniture think of it now?

    Call us Today