Stories

  • Restoring Timberline Furniture

    ByFrank Parker

    Timberline Furniture commenced operations in Perth WA with the factory being located in Willetton. The furniture manufacturing business was founded by Ron Jones and Hedley Van Der Straaten in the early 70’s and ran through to the mid 90’s with about 10 – 12 staff. Ron was a Wood-Turner by trade and managed operations with Hedley managing sales and general business. Timberline predominantly manufactured dining furniture but also made some lounge and occasional furniture. During the 80’s they entered into a collaborative venture with co-ordinated designs, Trustyle Furniture making the lounge suites, George’s Cabinets making the cabinetry and Timberline the dining suites. These co-ordinated furniture ranges were sold by furniture retailers throughout W.A.     

    Our clients were involved in furniture retailing and furniture transport for many decades and contacted us to re-upholster their Timberline ‘Captain’s Chairs’. These were a very popular occasional chair from the late 70’s and early 80’s not just in residential sales but they were also used in commercial hospitality applications.

    The chairs were originally upholstered in a Nylex ‘Deerhide’ vinyl which was a quality product in its days so we advised using a vinyl from the Austex ‘Studio’ as a quality replacement. The existing upholstery was completely removed, then the show-wood frames cleaned and polished. New high density foam was laminated onto the padded areas and the chairs were upholstered to the original finish with piped and space studded detail.

    Our clients re-upholstered ‘Captain’s Chairs’ looked in place around their bar with complimentary comments passed over a few drinks.

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  • Restoring Fler Furniture

    ByFrank Parker

    Fler Furniture was founded by Fred Lowen and Earnest Rodeck in 1946 and ran through until 1968 producing iconic designs now referred to as ‘mid-century’ furniture. Featured in this article are the Fler D71 ‘Norsk Divan’ and the E71 chair purchased from a Perth furniture retail store in 1960.

    Our client contacted us saying she had furniture purchased by her parents in 1960 from a Perth furniture retailer. This furniture was then given to her daughter by the grandparents when she set up home then her daughter had the furniture re-upholstered in the late 1980’s. When this furniture was re-upholstered the upholstery design was altered and finished to a very poor standard. Her mother recently took back this furniture and wanted it restored to original condition and finish.

    The divan and chairs were completely disassembled including the timber frame components. The timber components were sanded back with the oversized fixing holes and dents filled with two pack resin then reassembled using a crosslinking PVA. The frames were then stained to the original timber tone and three coats of 30% gloss lacquer was applied then finished with a rub of superfine steel wool.

    New cushion inserts fabricated from premium foam with polyester overlays now conformed to the original dimensions. The fabric selected by our client was a sage velvet having a semi-crushed effect with the upholstery also detailed to the original finish.

    The result spoke for itself and our client was absolutely delighted with her restored mid-century furniture taking her back to childhood days.

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  • Restoring Heritage Furniture

    ByFrank Parker

    A gentleman approached us through a referral as he had a chair requiring restoration, it having been in his family since the 1860’s. The chair was described as a “Sewing Chair” and was apparently made in Victoria.

    When clients are trusting you in restoring treasured family furniture we are driven by a responsibility to exceed their expectations. This was the case when we were given the task of restoring a “Sewing Chair” made in Victoria during the 1860’s. The upholstery had been removed and the frame had been partially sanded back. It appears to have been constructed from Victorian Mountain Ash with the timber in good condition but the joints were extremely loose.

    The job was to carefully knock apart the chair frame, drill out the broken dowels then re-dowel the joints using a crosslinking PVA. The only variation to the frame restoration was Vic Ash corner blocks were fitted. Paint stripper was used on the show-wood sections of the chair frame then it was carefully sanded. The frame was originally stained a dark “Oak” tone so this was replicated then three coats of 30% gloss lacquer was applied with the frame receiving a final light rub with super fine steel wool.

    Traditional methods were utilised with the foundation upholstery. Jute webbing was fitted to the seat and coil springs laced into place with jute webbing also fitted onto the back with a hessian overlay. The coil springs were tied down and a hessian overlay fitted with a thumb roll on the seat front and side edges. Then modern techniques were used fabricating the padding using high density foam and polyester overlays. An Australian made fabric was selected for the upholstery covering featuring a small over-all pattern with the blue tone contrasting well against the stained oak frame.

    This job did exceed our client’s expectations with the following testimonial.

    • Frank, thanks so much, chair is amazing

      Frank, thanks so much, chair is amazing. My sister will get her piano stool restoration done by you mate. Warren reckons it’s just brilliant. Well done Frank.
      Paul
      Bridgetown W.A.
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