Stories

  • The Reupholstery of Van Treight Chairs

    ByFrank Parker
    Reupholster Van Treight Chair
    Reupholster Van Treight Chair

    The Story of Van Freight Furniture

    Van Treight Furniture was founded by John Van Treight in 1947. Operations commenced with only one assistant, making nursery furniture from a shed in Parramatta. The business grew rapidly moving into manufacturing quality colonial style bedroom, dining and lounge furniture. In 1959 they made the shift into their Homebush factory with about 50 staff. In the early 1960’s the company also started producing Scandinavian influenced design. Then in 1966 acquired the rights to import and manufacture under licence from Drexel Heritage. In 1972 Van Treight shifted to a new purpose-built factory at North Rocks NSW employing about 65 staff. By the mid 1980’s they were employing over 130 staff and supplying top-end furniture to the leading national department stores and specialist furniture retailers.  

    Flash forward twenty years and the renowned furniture manufacturers were toppling due to cheap imitation furniture flooding in from Asia. Van Treight Furniture officially closed in 2001 and Drexel Heritage filed for bankruptcy in 2014.

    Our Clients Story

    Our Fremantle based client contacted us saying she had two chairs which she purchased in 1978 for her husband’s home study. The chairs were in severe need of refurbishment. Upon inspection of these chairs, we instantly recognised them as Van Treight, one of the legendary local manufacturers from the golden age of Australian furniture manufacturing.   

    How We Transformed the Chairs

    Reupholstering the Chairs

    1. We completely removed all the existing upholstery from the chairs revealing a timber frame.
    2. The timber show-wood bases were cleaned then touched up with stain and polish.
    3. The original seats and back zig-zag springs were still in good condition so we just fitted additional spring edge wire links.
    4. The upholstery fabric was selected, it was the William Morris ‘Fruit Velvet – Midnight’ which suited the chair design.
    5. Cutting patterns were developed with the fabric being carefully pattern matched.
    6. High density foam was fabricated and laminated to the frames.
    7. The bodywork was then upholstered bringing the chairs slowly back to life.
    8. The outside arm and back panels were lined and padded then carefully upholstered with piped detail.
    9. The back cushioning was fabricated using polyester filled channelled and quilted inserts and the seat cushions were fabricated from premium foam encased with bonded polyester fibre. When filled the cushioning completed the rejuvenation.       

    The End Result

    Behind every re-upholstery job is a story and when the chairs were delivered the warm smile on our client’s face said it all.  

    Reupholster Manhattan Chair

    • “Restored the chairs to their former glory”


      Thank you for re-upholstering my two Van Treight chairs which I purchased in 1978 as a surprise for my husband, Professor Bob Reece’s study here in Fremantle. Along with purpose built Jarrah book shelves and a restored Jarrah desk from the Fremantle wool store building, they created a perfect space for his work. Your restoration with the exquisite William Morris fabric has restored the chairs to their former glory. Thank you. 
       

       
      Lesley   
      Fremantle W.A. 
    Call us Today to Get Your Van Treight Furniture Transformed

  • Our Restoration of a Manhattan Lounge Chair

    ByFrank Parker
    Reupholster Manhattan Chair
    Reupholster Manhattan Chair

    The Origin of Guy Rodgers

     The ‘Manhattan’ lounge chair was manufactured by Guy Rodgers of Liverpool. They were the largest and most well known makers of contemporary upholstered furniture, in the U.K. during the 1960’s. Their designs were all named after prominent U.S destinations. The Manhattan was the most popular Guy Rodgers style designed by Eric Phamphilon and George Fejer.

    Our Clients Story

    We were contacted by a client who we had previously reupholstered a lounge suite for. She explained that she had a single lounge chair remaining from her parent’s divan suite, brought over from the U.K when the family emigrated. She now wanted 
    to have the chair completely restored for her son and his family.

    Transforming the Chair

    The Reupholstering Process

    1. We removed all the existing upholstery and dismantled the timber frame. – the stained and lacquered surfaces were carefully sanded back. It revealed that the chair was constructed from solid Afromosia, an African timber bearing similar characteristics to Teak. 
    2. After the preparations had been completed the timber frame was stained a mid-tone walnut and lacquered with a 30% gloss to the original finish. 
    3. Completely new cushioning was fabricated from laminated premium foams then wrapped with bonded polyester fibre to replicate the seating comfort.
    4. The upholstery fabric selected by our client was a plain blue chenille, Wortley ‘Domo Capri’. This was reupholstered differently to the previous upholstery but was tailored to replicate the original finish
    Stripping back the chair
    A before of the manhattan chair
    A manhattan chair ready to be restored

    The End Result

    Our client told us her daughter in-law was ecstatic when collecting the chair and that her son also treasured the chair. These jobs are more than a monetary undertaking, we are trusted with family heirlooms just like this chair everyday – which are more valuable. 

    • “Looks Absolutely Brand New”


      This chair was part of a three-piece suite bought by my mother at a furniture store in Watford, Hertfordshire in the 1950’s. My parents were just a normal working-class 
       family with not much cash left before the next pay day, but we needed a new three- piece. Mum and I in the exciting outing finished up in the hoop which I believe was Calle Grange. We both fell in love with this particular suite, which was quite pricey. We committed to paying for the suite on hire purchase, paying a deposit then paid a fixed amount on a regular basis until it was fully paid. It was a rather unusual suite, the settee could become a single bed simply by turning the back over. The back panel was hollow designed for storing the bedding. We brought this suite with us when we immigrated to Perth in 1981. Mum had 
       it re-covered at some stage then after several years she decided it wasn’t needed and only kept one chair. When she passed my son said he would like the chair which 
       now required serious attention. Having seen the excellent job Parker Interiors had done in re-covering my armchairs Christopher asked them to restore this chair. Everything was done to perfection including the timber parts being restored and polished. In fact, it looks absolutely brand new and strangely enough the original upholstery was blue. Thank you all the craftsmen that had a hand in the restoration of a much-loved family heirloom, one that holds many treasured memories.
       

       
      Valerie
      Morley W.A. 
    Call us Today to Get Your Precious Family Furniture Transformed

  • An Amazing Transformation of Two Club Sofas

    ByFrank Parker
    Perth Reupholster Club Sofa
    North Perth Reupholster Club Sofa

    The Origins of Club Sofas in Australia

    Club Sofas are traditionally referred to as the Australian art-deco lounges produced from the late 1920’s though to the late 1950’s. These predominately featured pad and panel piped arms incorporating a timber tray, fluted or camel-humped backs and featuring timber feet. However, there was a resurgence of art-deco Club Sofas during the late 1980’s through to the late 1990’s mainly featuring oval shaped arms and camel-humped backs with piped detail.

    Request to Reupholster Their Settees

    A client phoned us explaining that they were renovating their old family cottage home. They had two settees which perfectly suited their lounge room but these pieces needed a few adjustments. They wanted an abstract floral design fabric. So we requested a photo to ascertain the current furniture design and fabric type. This was followed by a visit to their home with our suggested fabric samples to which a fabric was chosen. A quote was given for the transformation of their settees.

    Transforming the Settees

    The Reupholstering Process

    1. All existing upholstery was removed exposing the frames which required some attention.
    2. The oval arm facings had parted from the frame bodies, these were glued with cross-linking PVA, clamped and corner blocked.
    3. The frames were then re-webbed with heavy grade elastic webbing and laminated with new high density foam body padding.
    4. Then the foundation shapes were reconstructed using rebounded foam as a foundation then laminated layers of premium foam.
    5. The back cushioning was replaced with laminated layers of premium foam then bonded polyester fibre overlays.
    6. The seat cushion inserts were replaced with firm premium foam encased in bonded polyester fibre.
    7. The fabric Zepel ‘Minerva Emerald’, was than selected. A high-quality abstract floral chenille for the upholstery covering.  
    8. We re-upholstered the arms, then frame body and back cushioning to original.
    9. We gave it a superior finish including piping on the outside back panels. We decided to centre pipe the wrap-around seat cushions which served a dual purpose of providing reversable cushions with an improved look.

    The End Result

    Our clients told us from the onset that they are very fussy and difficult to please. However they were speechless upon delivery. with what was unveiled as the furniture wraps were removed. We trust the family will enjoy their refurbished club sofas for many years to come.

    Perth Reupholstered Floral Settees

    • “Extremely Happy”

      We are extremely happy with the work undertaken by Frank and the team in fully refurbishing our 32-year-old sofas, which hold great sentimental value for our family. Frank’s personal touch truly impressed us – he visited us on site with material samples, taking the time to understand exactly what we wanted, and attended personally when the sofas were returned. Our beloved sofas have been transformed into stunning, beautiful works of art. Thank you, Frank and the team!
      David & Roza
      North Perth W.A.
    Call us Today to Get Your Art Deco Furniture Transformed