Antique Caned Chair Replaced Seat

 

Caned Chair Before

Caned Chair After

This is an antique parlor chair which had a broken caned seat. It’s not uncommon for this to happen with old caned chairs. They don’t hold up well to a knee or an active child who decides to jump on the chair as if it were upholstered. Caning is pretty durable but does have its limits.

Caning comes in many sizes, so it’s important to measure the holes in the diameter of the chair’s seat and get the caning that fits those holes. This chair had 1/4” holes, so it used 1/8” caning, which is considered medium. Caning also comes in super fine, medium and larger sizes. The procedure is the same, but I prefer working with the medium size cane since it is stronger than the finer sizes and holds up to the pulling and tugging that comes along with installation. 

Chairs get a lot of use, so the upper portion tends to get dirty from the oils from our hands, so they require cleaning and polishing for them to look fresh again. This one needed a good cleaning and a touch up of polyurethane instead of a complete strip. If a full strip isn’t in the budget, a partial strip usually works well. Either way, the chair is always better than it was prior to the restoration. This chair was made of maple, a hardwood, so it will hold up for many more years to come. If you have a caned chair that is a big saggy, simply lay a damp towel on it overnight and it will tighten the caning again to its original tautness. Just a little tip that allows you to get more use out of the chair before investing in a complete cane renovation. 

Antique Rocking Chair New Caned Seat

Here's another old beauty of a rocking chair that need the broken caned seat replaced. Like many older chairs with caned seats, they tend to get broken after years of use because the cane gets brittle and if a child happens to put their knee onto it, well, there goes the caning with a hole in the middle. If the caning is slightly bent in the middle, it can be made taut again by placing a damp towel on the seat overnight. This technique softens the cane, thus tightening gradually when it dries and giving it more use, at least for a little while. But when it completely breaks through, the only alternative is removing the old,

Antique Rocking
Chair After

broken cane and replacing it with new cane. This is a “strand” cane chair, which means that it has holes surrounding the chairs seat where the cane strands get woven through. This is a seven-step process that is quite tedious, but if you listen to music or a podcast (like I do), it’s not so bad. It’s actually pretty relaxing once you get into the groove of it and allow your fingers to work their magic. 

For this chair, I used 2.25mm fine caning. This is based on the size caning that was in the chair originally. There are methods to measure the distance between the center to center holes to determine the proper size caning to use, but I prefer just to measure the existing old cane to make sure it will fit since the hole technique isn’t always accurate. The reason is that when many of these very old chair were made, whoever drilled the holes didn’t always measure the exact distance between holes as well as the size of the holes, therefore to use just the holes is not the more accurate way to get the proper new caning installed. 

In my experience, it’s better to use a slightly narrower size than one that is too large as this will be a real problem during the final binding step. If the cane is too big and overfills the holes, it’s nearly impossible to get the final strands through the holes without pushing the cane back out of the holes you’ve worked so hard to get securely in place.

This was to date my very best caning job because everything flowed smoothly and the caning was even and straight. The trickiest part was the the curved arm was attached very closely to the holes on that part of the seat, so the arms had to be lifted up enough so that I could thread the caning through the 6 or 7 holes that were very close to the bottom of the armrest. Some of those holes were drilled at an angle, so that made caning in those areas even more challenging as I tried to find the angle of the hole. However, once that was completed, the rest was easy by comparison. Caning is always done with the first step going front to back, underneath, then pulled through the hole and brought forward again. You repeat this process from the center all the way to the right (or left) side then finish off the other remaining side in the same manner. The next step is horizontal, left to right, starting in the back upper corner of the chair, following the same weaving. 

Third step is going over the first step, keeping the strands to the right of the first vertical strands. This is so that when you weave the fourth step, you go over step 3 and under step 1. This is the actual “weaving” part of caning which will set up the diagonal weaves that go from the upper right to the lower left corners. Finally, you weave from the upper left to the lower right corners, going under vertical and over horizontal one way then the opposite for the other side. 

Binding is what finishes off the top. A slightly wider section of caning is measured around the circumference of the chair. This covers up the holes with sections of caning coming up and going down the same hole, pulling tightly to keep the top edge secure. After this is done, you tap in a 1/2” finishing piece to plug the hole(s) where the caning started. It sounds a lot more complicated then it is, but if you follow the steps, you too can become a caning master. It’s definitely a great skill to have, some call a “dying” art as not many people are doing this anymore. It’s also a unique and creative way to add texture to your home with caned pieces such as speaker covers, cabinets and footstools in addition to chair seats and backs.

Here’s the video of the final step of me caning this rocking chair:

https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5936537173467203420/6863734281706129925

Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Coffee Table Before

It was not uncommon for a coffee table such as this to be used in households across the country during the 1950’s-1960’s. They usually had a top and a lower shelf where people would store their T.V. guides (which have become obsolete) as well as books, magazines and other keep close items. This maple table was likely used in a living room to serve multiple functions.

Coffee Table After

But like many items of furniture that are used on a daily basis, this table had also experienced wear and staining over the years and needed some TLC to bring it back to its original glory.

The first step in most restoration and refinishing projects such as this is a thorough stripping with liquid stripper and lots of elbow grease to remove the debris from the stripper and the old finishes that come off in a goopy and sticky mess. (It’s handy to keep plenty of empty margarine and cream cheese containers handy for this purpose).

Stripping and sanding is always long and tedious, but necessary process to remove all the previous layers of grime. Once this had been achieved, we give it a good sanding so it will accept the new stain. This table had a lovely brass decorative accent border on the top. We chose to remove this so it didn’t get damaged during the refinishing process, then cleaned it up later prior to re-applying it. This is the jewelry of the furniture as it sets off the finished piece and makes it look great. We opted for golden pecan stain with a satin polyurethane to protect its finish. Most table tops receive three coats of poly for extra durability. This table had delicate legs which was a sign of great craftsmanship and the fine art of mid-century modern furniture.

Two-Tier Antique Mahogany Table

Table Before Repair

Table After Repair & Refinishing

This table came to me as you see in the photo on the right, with three legs that were broken, the center piece which held them together was missing on two out of the three legs.

These missing sections had to be reconstructed using a template, traced from the legs themselves. This was an lovely antique two-tier table commonly seen during the 1920's and 1930s. Many people remember these tables in their grandparents homes, so they now hold a special place in our hearts along with all those memories. Commonly used for knick-knacks, plants, collectibles and many other

Art Deco Dresser

Art Deco Dresser Before

Art Deco Dresser After

This lovely art deco dresser was one item of a complete bedroom set with other art deco items. This dresser is a classic example of timeless beauty with clean lines and elegant design. Made of lovely cherry, this dresser had a great, solid structure and plenty of use left, albeit a bit worn around the edges. It needed a good, solid comeback and had been crying for a total restoration. But no restoration is easy. This dresser required a lot of attention to details.

First we removed the hardware (which would later be cleaned and polished by hand) and the drawers, some of which had bottoms that weren't completely attached. A few nails in the exact center of the support board in the back of these drawers reinforced the bottoms, so they were once again strong enough for perfect functionality. Each drawer was then completely stripped, sanded and stained with cherry stain, then put aside while we did the same work on the body of the dresser. The stain brought out the beauty of the wood's grain, always my favorite part of any restoration.

Handles before and after

Measuring at 52" tall, this dresser offered plenty of storage with deep drawers and a solid body. The bottom decorative rail had been loose and fell off during the pick up drive, therefore it wasn't show in the "before" photo, but we glued and nailed it back after refinishing it as well. After applying two coats of semi-gloss polyurethane, this deco beauty was once again the star of the show. The handles had been polished and after they were reinstalled, added the "bling" which was the perfect touch in another great refinishing job.