Stories

  • Reupholster Chesterfield Settees

    ByFrank Parker

    The Chesterfield sofa was developed by skilled furniture artisans in the mid 1700’s for Lord Philip Stanhope, the third Earl of Chesterfield. The Earl was known as a trendsetter and commissioned local artisans to produce an upholstered piece of furniture to which gentlemen could sit on without creasing their suits.

    Chesterfields would become the most renowned sofa design in history defined by the scroll arms, low back, deep buttoning and studded trim. They were usually upholstered in dark traditionally toned leathers. However over time this design has been modernised and is often now upholstered in velvets.

    A couple approached us with two 2 ½ seater Chesterfield settees purchased in the mid 1980’s being made by Moran of Melbourne. These settees were over forty years old and attracted constant use but had stood the test of time well which was a display of their quality.

    We removed the existing upholstery then started the re-upholstery process by fitting new jute webbing and fitting new spring units. The foundation of the inside arms/backs were fine so we just laminated and thin foam layer with a polyester overlay and new seat cushion inserts fabricated from premium foam then encased in bonded polyester fibre. The upholstery fabric selected was again a quality plain velvet which is suitable for this design sofa while also being very durable and serviceable.

    The result spoke for itself and we often find clients select fabrics similar to their original selection because of favourable performance and design suitability. This was no exception and our clients seemed overjoyed with the result.

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  • Reupholster to Modernise

    ByFrank Parker
    Lounge suite reupholstered in Perth

    Our Clients Shifted House and Needed to Update Their Furniture

    Our clients approached us as they had shifted from an older traditional styled house into a new modern mid-century styled home located in the Perth hills. They had a much loved traditional Torrance & McKenna lounge suite consisting of 2 x wing back chairs and a low back 4 seater settee. They wanted to retain this lounge furniture but re-upholster it to suit their new home.

    Selecting the Best Upholstery Fabric

    The most important aspect of this process is to select an appropriate fabric for the re-upholstery process. Our clients had two issues to consider, the upholstery fabric selected had to suit their existing lounge furniture while looking in place in a new mid-century styled home. The upholstery fabric selected fulfilled the criteria being an abstract floral design with the blue and autumn tones looking effective on the polished concrete floor and picking up the tones of the timber cabinetry.

    What We Did to Renew This Lounge Suite

    This job was a complete re-build so we removed all the existing upholstery. The frame was re-webbed with heavy weight jute webbing and the coil springs laced into place then the sprung edges constructed.

    New high density foam padding was laminated to the frame bodies with the upholstery back to original including lined and padded outside arms and backs. The cushion inserts were fabricated using premium foam and then encased with bonded polyester fibre.

    The cushions were upholstered back to the original finish being boxed piped seats and centre piped back and arm cushions.

    The result spoke for its self and our clients were ecstatic when their re-upholstered furniture was delivered. This is great example of up-cycling fine furniture which was purchased new 45 years ago and is now good for another 45 years.

    Call us Today to Get Your Furniture Updated to Match Your New Home

  • Restoring Heritage Furniture

    ByFrank Parker
    Reupholster a Sewing Chair Perth

    The History

    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.

    Our Clients Furniture Restoration Request

    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.

    How Our Upholsterers Reupholstered the Chair

    We followed the following steps carefully:

    • Knocked apart the chair frame
    • Drill out the broken dowels
    • Re-dowelled the joints using a crosslinking PVA
    • Victorian Ash corner blocks were fitted
    • Paint stripper was used on the show-wood sections of the chair frame
    • It was carefully sanded
    • The frame was originally stained a dark “Oak” tone so this was replicated
    • Three coats of 30% gloss lacquer was applied and the
    • Frame received 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.
    Call us Today to Have Your Heritage Furniture Restored