Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Antique Mahogany Parlor Chair

Parlor Chair Before
Parlor Chair After
This was a small, mahogany parlor chair in need of some TLC. It had a few broken sections which Jim was able to repair and then touch it up since the finish was in good condition. Touching up a piece of furniture is a less expensive alternative to a total stripping and refinishing, which involves completely removing the old stain down to bare wood and applying new stain and polyurethane.

This chair had nice carvings on the backrest with Queen Anne style legs. The seat was in pretty bad condition, so the springs had to be removed and retied on a new webbing bottom. 

My customer had selected fabric from one of my previous jobs, a lovely gold diamond design on burgundy material, which was perfect for this style of chair. What was once a nice cushion was completely gone, so after the springs were retied, I secured them with burlap which keeps the springs securely in place and allows for a nice construction of the other materials that followed. 

After the burlap was on, I added three layers of raw cotton to make the seat nice and fluffy, followed by three layers of dacron, which is a soft batting that adds comfort and bounce to the seat. The final step was attaching the gorgeous material and finish it off with a double welt cord that follows the bottom edge of the seat.

Small enough to stash in a corner and perfect for additional seating, this parlor chair is a perfect addition to any dining room, adding beauty as well as function. 

Monday, December 2, 2024

Worn, Sturdy Chair Gets Facelift

Chair After
Chair Before
This worn chair was in rough shape when it came to me. Although it was quite sturdy, the exterior was in need of a major facelift. The chair had taken a beating by an overzealous dog which had chewed up the left seat section, showing exposed springs. 

The chair had once been a light tan material but had darkened with use and age as the fabric was quite worn out. This was an extremely heavy chair with a strong frame and lots of springs which gave it plenty of bounce. Springs feel good in a chair only when they are not poking through it!

The first step involved in this massive project was removing the old material and documenting (literally) each step as I carefully pulled staples and nails out of each section of the chair. This type of chair has several areas and each one has a specific methodology to put together as well as take apart. Taking it apart is exactly the opposite of building it, which means that I had to remove the center, left and right outer sections first, before tackling the interior seating area. This process is vital to assembling all these components when reupholstering the chair, since I used the original fabric to make templates for the new fabric, which was a blue seat with plaid top and backing, making this a unique, two-tone chair.