Pair of Vintage Chairs - Cherry Red

These were two vintage/retro chairs. They were pretty dirty and in horrible shape, but they had the potential to be really great chairs. Apparently the client's wife had been hoping he would throw them away, but I'll bet she liked the final results.

Before!









Apparently they must have goofed at the factory because there was a new, unused yellow cover in the same fabric under one of the two chairs.



The foam that was left in the chair had completely disintegrated into crumbling dust.

The chair frames are actually made from moulded fibreglass.



The chrome stands also needed to be cleaned and polished. Here's a before/after showing the difference!





The finished photos are shown without the little adjustable feet, because Pierre had to acid-soak them to remove the rust.

What a difference!

Victorian Tufted Parlor Chair - Denim Blue (Project of the Month)

Here is a lovely antique chair that looked fine, but was in need of an overhaul. I liked the velvet, but the client wanted the chair to match the wing chairs we recovered for her earlier this year: Blue wing chairs.

Before:



As soon as I had seen this chair, I was excited (because I love antiques), but I also felt that something was wrong about it... The seat just didn't look right.





After removing the seat fabric, I could see why it looked wrong. A previous upholsterer had covered over the original rails, which were in a beautiful walnut.



He (or she) really butchered the chair. This is heartbreaking to see.







The holes could be fixed (at additional cost) but the client didn't want to invest the extra money into the repairs.

The chair frame was very loose, so it had to be dismantled, scraped, and reglued.



All solid again, touched-up, and ready for webbing.



New webbing and 8-way hand tie.





New burlap.



Original straw-stuffed edge roll reattached and re-stitched.



The original straw, and horsehair were reused, along with fresh cotton.

Here's the finished chair. We did minimal additional damage to the rails (only 2 or 3 staples), should the next upholsterer/owner choose to repair the rails.



We were also extremely lucky to find a gimp cording (the ribbon edge) that was nearly a PERFECT match to the blue fabric. It's nearly invisible.



Note that the wood side braces are now much more visible, and not buried under fabric (see before photos).

IKEA Sofa - Natural Linen

I was quite surprised that this sofa was actually an IKEA piece. A lot of people assume that most Ikea products are "throw away", but this sofa was actually pretty well made. This is the third piece for a client in natural linen.

See two (3) previous pieces here:
Pair of Easy Chairs
Loveseat

Again, the sofa has seen better days.









To match her loveseat better, the arms were modified.





Here's the finished and refreshed sofa! Ready for many more years of use.

Rolled Arm Easy Chair & Ottoman - Neutral Grey

This was probably one of the most comfortable chairs I've ever sat in. I quite liked the traditional (and fun) fabric it had, but the chair was being given to the clients' daughter, and was going in a nice neutral (modern) grey.

Along with the chair was an ottoman, which was a total nightmare (you'll see why).

Before:











To make the two pieces blend together better, we had to refinish both to match, in a medium-to dark walnut colour.

But before we could do that, we had to strip down the pieces. Here's the beginning of the "Ottoman From Hell".

Cover 1 removed:



Ugh.



Cover 2 removed:



Ugh!



Cover 3 removed:



4 COVERS! FOUR! It took longer to strip down the ottoman than the entire rolled-arm chair!

The previous upholsterer was also lazy with the chair, since he upholstered over the original deck, as well as the arm caps:





These were *removed*, and the new deck installed properly. (Note refinished legs)



Finished ottoman:





Finished chair:
I should also note that this was a very well built chair, with a massive frame, and coils.



The back cushion and the seat were filled with soft padding, rather than a foam, which made them really comfortable. The arms and the height of the back were also just perfect. This is the kind of chair you can spend hours in, or even fall asleep in. The clients' daughter is one lucky gal!