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  • Club Lounge Restoration

    ByFrank Parker

    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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  • Restoring Fler Chairs

    ByFrank Parker

    Fred Lowen and Earnest Rodeck met on a refugee ship escaping Nazi Europe bound for Port Melbourne. Fred Lowen started work in 1942 as a fitter and turner but woodturning was his passion. The two commenced their business in 1946 under the acronym FLER starting in an old stable.

    The business grew quickly as they engaged with Myer Emporium supplying modern designs with turned legs and Scandinavian influence. By the mid-late 1960’s Fler had manufacturing operations is several states. The massive demand for this style of furniture in Australia was created by the post-war residential boom in modern housing.

    A couple were referred onto us as they had two Fler SC55 chairs produced in the late 1950’s and two E31 chairs from the 1960’s requiring complete restoration. They originally were purchased new by her parents but unfortunately were very poorly ‘restored’ by a supposedly reputable business in the 1980’s. Given this we had to completely strip the chairs back to the raw timber frames with the intention of restoring them to their original splendour.

    With the frames completely sanded back the timber was stained Mahogany then three coats of clear lacquer. The cushion inserts were originally latex rubber however premium polyurethane foam encased with bonded polyester fibre is more durable and provides superior comfort. We re-upholstered the chairs in a velvet using the original finishing methods resulting in glowing fine lines.

    Our clients were astounded with the result taking her back remembering the chairs in bygone years. This work also provides great pleasure for us as furniture manufacturers and restorers.

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