Stories

  • 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

  • Our Transformation of Reproduction Antique Furniture

    ByFrank Parker
    Perth Reupholster Chaise Lounge
    Reproductive Antique Chaise Perth

    The Origins of Reproduction Antique Furniture in Western Australia

    Reproduction antique furniture sold in Perth, Western Australia during the 1960’ s and 70’s was mainly produced in Italy and Portugal. This tended to be well constructed although the upholstery was sometimes compromised. After this period antique re-production furniture tended to be sourced from South-East Asia which was competitively priced however there tended to be a substantial reduction in quality.

    Request to Reupholster Antique Style Lounge Suite

    Our local Perth client contacted us explaining she had two chairs and a chaise antique style lounge suite that was purchased in the mid 1970’s by her parents. She wanted to have the lounge suite reupholstered.  She also said that she wanted it slightly modernised in a contemporary velvet to compliment her lounge room.

    Reproductive Antique Chair Canning Vale

    Transforming an Antique Lounge Suite

    The Furniture Recovery Process

    Step 1.

    The chaise and chairs were completely stripped to the bare frames. The frames were soundly constructed requiring no structural repairs.

    Step 2.

    However, to be expected the show-wood had accumulated a few scratches over time, these were touched-up with stain and polished over to restore the original lustre.

    Step 3.

    Heavy grade elastic webbing was fitted for the upholstery seat and back suspension. the show-wood had accumulated a few scratches over time, these were touched-up with stain and polished over to restore the original lustre.

    Step 4.

    Then the foundation shapes were reconstructed using rebounded foam as a foundation then laminated layers of premium foam.

    Step 5.

    The deep buttoning formation was marked out with cylindrical holes then bonded polyester fibre overlays were applied recreating the original contours.

    Step 6.

    Our client had selected Warwick Fabrics ‘Lovely Atlantic’ being a flocked velvet with a semi-crushed pile. We initially upholstered the seats then slowly and methodically worked through the deep buttoning process. The outside arm and back panels were lined and padded with twin-piping trim fitted resulting in a fine tailored and slightly modernised appearance.

    The End Result

    The result was everything our client had hoped for, and we are confident that this re-upholstered chaise and lounge chairs are good for another fifty years.

    Perth Reupholstered Antique Chairs

    Call us Today to Get Your Antique Furniture Beautifully Restored