Stories

How We Recovered This Antique Lounge Chair
ByFrank Parker
Thank You Parker Interiors, you excelled!
Our Grandfather Chair. This story is about a special Grandfather Chair circa 1920’s that came into our lives in the early 1960’s. A Grandfather Chair is one that entices you to sit in it, to lean back against the raised back and side arms, to gain full support for your legs, arms and body in total comfort, to then, relax, or read your favourite novel or to enjoy a refreshing nap.

In the early 1960’s after moving to a flat in Applecross, which I had sparsely furnished with items donated by family members, I felt the need for a comfortable lounge chair to relax in after dinner, to read, or listen to my favourite records. The need led me to a downstairs used furniture shop on the north side of Hay Street near to King Street in the city. There in the corner half hidden behind other items of furniture was a grandfather chair, which attracted my attention and more so after I sat in it. My offer of ten pounds was duly accepted. It was then I realised it would not fit into my small car for transport to Applecross. A bright idea came and led my return to the office where I told my boss of the problem and asked whether I could borrow his Valliant station wagon to which he agreed. The Valiant station wagon has a forward bottom hinged tailgate door with a wind down window. I then returned to the furniture shop with the wagon, loaded the chair into the rear, leaving the back to protrude out and above the roof of the wagon. A right royal position for transporting of a VIP I thought.

Following our wedding my wife and I moved into a 1900’s built two-bedroom house with a large central lounge room complete with a wood fireplace. The chair took pride of place in the lounge room near the window where one could sit and read or just relax. With the birth of our family, it became the sitting area with a child resting on each arm snuggled into my body. A place for reading and bed time stories and in later years for watching cartoons on our 20-inch B & W cabinet TV. With time the aged patent leather covering wore and started to tear in several locations resulting in the need for a refurbishment. Sadly, the outcome from going to a local furniture repair shop did not bring the chair back to its previous comfort or looks. So much so that we moved it to a semi-storage area at our current residence where it sat, rarely used for many years.

Late in 2024 an advert in the newspaper caught our attention with a pictorial advert by furniture rejuvenators, Parker Interiors which showed a refurbished chair like our grandfather chair. A phone call to gain information, followed by a lengthy visit from their principal Frank Parker late in November 2024 resulted in an acceptable quotation and selection of fabric from the infinite number of samples provided. With the pending Christmas break the chair was delivered to Parker Interiors in Canning Vale mid-February 2025 and the finished product was returned by Frank Parker in early-April 2025. The refurbished Grandfather Chair on return was a mind-blowing sight, beautifully restored of luxurious comfort, outdoing any new show-room product.

To ensure the 100-year-old chair would be dearly loved and appreciated for many years to come we gifted it to our daughter at Easter in 2025 to place in her unit alongside a window wall to allow her or others to sit in extreme comfort and to relax while taking in the scenic view and sunsets from her living room. As said by a legendary Bard, A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER. Thank You Parker Interiors, you excelled!
Charles
Swanbourne, WA
Evidence for Buying Australian Made Furniture

We can be complacent with where we choose to buy our furniture. Especially as the vast majority of furniture sold in Australia is mass produced from overseas. This is supported with statistics showing that 85% of furniture sold in Australia is imported with locally produced furniture accounting for 15%. In bygone years purchasers seemed more discerning regarding their furniture selection. People placed a greater emphasis on furniture quality rather than price. This story above of the restoration of this Grandfather Chair is both rewarding for the owners and for the master upholsterers at Parker Interiors alike.

Our Client’s Background

A gentleman (Charles) contacted us saying he had a 1920’s lounge chair that he purchased from a second-hand furniture store in the 1960’s which had previously been re-covered but was now in desperate need of repair. Upon inspection of this chair, it was obvious that it had seen better days and was overdue for major reconstruction and re-upholstery.

How We Restored This Grandfather Chair

The Jarrah Frame Repair

The chair was totally stripped down to the frame which revealed that it was obviously locally made as Jarrah was extensively used in the construction. However, due to a century of heavy use and sitting on the arms much of the structural timber was severely fractured. So we replaced the components than repair in this circumstance as it was covered by upholstery. The frame was repaired with replacement componentry which was glued with crosslinking PVA and screwed. The turned front and rear legs were carefully sanded back to bare timber, stained to the original Walnut finish and lacquered.

The Fabric Reupholstery

The frame was re-upholstered starting with the traditional foundation of coil springs laced to jute webbing then the spring-edge created and the springs tied-down and a hessian overlay fitted. Premium foam was then fabricated to shape and laminated with bonded polyester overlays. The outside arm and back panels were lined and padded creating the foundation for first class re-upholstery.

A flat woven Warwick Fabric was selected by the client for the re-upholstery. Since the chair was hacked with the previous re-cover, we had to use our knowledge and intuition in restoring the chair to its original condition. Given this we used the upholstery methods of the day with the chair gradually taking shape.

The End Result

The result spoke for its self and we trust our client’s daughter will intime be able to pass this chair onto the following generation.

Call us Today to Get Your Antique Chair Recovered
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Leather Interiors Reupholstery Project
ByFrank Parker
Background Information

Leather Interiors were a dominate up-market leather furniture retail store based for many years in Hay Street Subiaco. They manufactured a substantial amount of the furniture they sold. They also purchased a significant amount of furniture from other leading Perth leather furniture manufacturers.

Clients Request for Leather Sofa Repair

Our client contacted us saying they purchased two leather settees from Leather Interiors in 2003. She explained that the sofas received constant heavy use and were overdue for re-upholstery. Our client had decided on selecting a Tasman Tanning leather for their sofas.

The Leather Reupholstery Process

First Steps

These 2 ½ seater settees had indeed seen heavy use however the furniture seemed in good structural condition. We removed all the existing upholstery. We stripped the settees down to the frames which were constructed from Jarrah and plywood. No structural work require was required.

Webbing and Foam Upgrades

New seat and back heavy grade elastic webbing was fitted then high-density foam was laminated to the arms and frame bodies including the outside arm and back panels which were lined and padded. Polyester filled channelled and quilted back cushion inserts were fabricated. The premium foam polyester encased seat cushion inserts were fabricated by laminating two grades of foam creating a cushion that progressively firms and ensuring greater longevity.

Webbing and Foam Upgrades

New seat and back heavy grade elastic webbing was fitted then high-density foam was laminated to the arms and frame bodies including the outside arm and back panels which were lined and padded. Polyester filled channelled and quilted back cushion inserts were fabricated. The premium foam polyester encased seat cushion inserts were fabricated by laminating two grades of foam creating a cushion that progressively firms and ensuring greater longevity.

Time for the Tasman Tanning Leather

The leather selected was Tasman Tanning ‘Settler Amber’ being a beautiful traditional full-aniline leather. This was upholstered using large panel cuts meaning no sub-panel joins were required and it was top stitched to the original finish. The general finish reflects both the care that we took with patterning the job, our detailed sewing and upholstery skill.

The workmanship on this job spoke for itself and we know the reupholstered sofas will be enjoyed by the family for another twenty-two years.
Just admiring how wonderful the settees look
Hi Frank, Just admiring how wonderful the settees look. Thanks so much for doing a great job, we are very pleased with them. The whole process from start to finish has been great. I will pay the remaining invoice tomorrow when I’m in the office. Once again thank you it’s been a pleasure working with you.
Sue & John
Henley Brook W.A.
Call us Today to Get Your Leather Settee Beautifully Restored
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Refurbishing 1950s Western Australia State Ships Chairs
ByFrank Parker
Some History About the State Ship Chairs

These mid-century armchairs were originally either purchased or commissioned by the State Shipping Service of Western Australia. State Ships was owned and operated by the WA government having commenced operations in 1912 for servicing North-West ports and then operated a national service before being shut down in 1995. The chairs are interesting and appear to have been made in the 50’s, the era linking art-deco and mid-century. It’s also difficult to confirm the origin of these chairs, either imported from Europe or locally made using imported timber.

A WA Family and Their Interesting Chairs

Our client contacted us saying her parents arrived in WA after the war, previously living in Dutch Indonesia then returning to the Netherlands due to the Japanese invasion. After the war they migrated to Western Australia and her father worked for State Ships. These chairs were purchased by her father from State Ships in the late 60’s and then recovered in a floral linen.

How We Brought Back These State Ship Chairs to Life

Our Furniture Reupholstery Step by Step Process

We worked through our standard (and thorough) reupholstery process to ensure a high-quality finish on this pair of chairs. The upholstery fabric selected was Warwick ‘Eden Chintz’ also a floral linen but a bright contrast from the original fabric chosen by her parents almost sixty years ago.
The seat cushion inserts were fabricated in a similar fashion using a denser premium foam also encased in bonded polyester fibre.

We stripped the chairs to the bare frames; they were well constructed from Oak requiring no structural repairs.

the timber was sanded back, stained Walnut and lacquered to replicate the original finish. (The show-wood rails and legs on the mid-century chairs had been knocked around)

the upholstery seat foundation was also brought back to original with the inside back and inside arms fitted with jute webbing then hessian overlays as the chairs featured coil seat springing, so.

we brought the chairs into the modern times using high density polyurethane foam as the original body padding was formed using flock .

The back cushioning was deep buttoned with the cushion inserts fabricated from premium foam with bored buttonholes and a polyester wrap.

The seat cushion inserts were fabricated in a similar fashion using a denser premium foam also encased in bonded polyester fibre.
Why We Do What We Do…

Our client was referred onto us by her friend who said we could be trusted for quality work. However, this job as with many of the tasks we undertake are about more than just respecting a client’s expectations, its about honouring history and maintaining often bygone industry standards.
Happy with your workmanship
Hi Frank, I am very happy with the refreshed look of the chairs and I am happy with your workmanship.
Margie – Como
W.A.
Call us Today to Get Your Precious Accent Chair Reupholstered
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