Chair for a Friend

Chair After

Chair Before

My guess is that this chair was approximately one hundred and fifty years old, give or take. The seat springs were poking though the bottom, making it something you would not be able to sit on without falling through! Not a good scenario. But when my friend of fifty-plus years had asked me if I could reupholster this chair, I said, "Of course!" I would welcome the challenge, especially since I have mastered re-tying seat springs so they can be functional. 

Spring tying is a skill that you must have if you tackle upholstery projects and doing it right is essential to the future life of the chair. (Check out the springs in the photo to see what they looked like before they were repaired.)

So once I had removed all the tacks and nails, I stripped the fabric from the chair. The seat had the original horsehair. Next step, I replaced the old webbing with new webbing and re-tied those old springs. I began the process of building up the chair's seat by covering the springs with burlap to keep them in place. I added a one inch layer of foam over the burlap and stapled it. Next I added a couple layers of raw cotton to soften the foam and shape the seat. Finally, I covered the raw cotton with a high thread count muslin to keep it all smooth and soft before I stapled on the new ticking material that my friend had selected. The material was great to work with and looked terrific. Whenever I work with patterns, I make sure I find center of the seat before securing the fabric to the chair to keep it even and appealing to the eye.

Stripes all lined up, I worked on the top. The old webbing was not attached very well, so I replaced it with new webbing for strength and comfort, as well as long-lasting wear. I covered the webbing with thin foam and raw cotton before I attached the new fabric. The back of the chair needed a little bit of raw cotton before I could cover it with the final ticking fabric. Once all the fabric was stapled in place, I cut fabric for the welt cord to replace the old upholstery tacks used on the chair originally. I attached the welt cord to the seat, back front and back and made sure I had enough material for the armrests, which I did last. For the armrests I replaced the horsehair with foam and cotton and covered it with the ticking and finished it off with the welt cording. What a difference this reupholstery made in this antique chair. And it is as comfortable as it is pretty.

Springs Poking Through

Before repair

Credenza Gets Painted White

Credenza After

Credenza Before

This was a classic Booker Credenza, likely from the 1970s or 1980s. Our customer had wanted a completely different look so she opted to have Jim paint it white. She had selected a soft white to match her decor. Once the paint was chosen and cabinet was in place, 

Jim prepared this large, heavy piece by removing the doors and shelving and then masking the leather detailed doors since they would remain the same. The doors had a really interesting raised leather curved design, which looked great with  the style of furniture that this was.

Once he had everything masked off and ready, he lightly sanded everything then primed it. Once the primer was dry, he carefully painted everything using Benjamin Moore paint in a matte finish. Jim's many years of painting experience comes in real handy for these large paint jobs. For this type of work, spray painting is the best solution. It is even and looks great, without brush strokes. Certain pieces can be brushed well enough, but for larger furniture, spraying is superior. The finished product looked great.

Three-Tier Antique Table Refinish

Three-Tier Table

Three-Tier Table

Chances are your grandmother had one of these three-tier tables in her home housing plants or knick-knacks. These were very common in the 1950s-1960s, used for various household items. This table was in fairly good overall condition but needed a minor repair on one of the fluted edge molding pieces. 

It's actually amazing that these molding edges were still intact since many other tables we've done in the past didn't have them or they were too damaged to salvage. It looks better with the edging as it also serves a purpose, keeping things from slipping off the tiers.

Jim decided to take this apart to work on it since this made it easier to reach all the areas that needed to be refinished. He stripped, sanded and stained the entire table unit with a blended stain mixture he created. We get great results when we mix and match stains with other stains. You get a very rich, deep color and it brings out the tones and flavors of the wood. The result was stunning, a lovely deep, rich color that looked terrific with the style of the table. He used satin polyurethane to finish it off and protect it for the customer's usage. So it is once again ready to be handed down to the next generation for their enjoyment.

To see another table we have refinished, click on the link below. This one is only two tiers, but was very nice.

https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/search?q=two-tier+table

Bookcase Refinished

Bookcase After

Bookcase Before

A simple three-shelf bookcase is always a handy way to store books and other items you want to keep close at hand. This old bookcase had seen better days as it was quite worn and in need of some TLC. Made of pine, this bookcase had a single drawer, handy for keeping checkbooks or receipts. 

It needed to be stripped, sanded and stained with walnut stain, then protected with two coats of  polyurethane to keep the finish new looking. The drawer pull just needed a little polishing and it was good as new. A perfect size for a small room or office, this bookcase will serve its purpose for many years to come.

Dining Room Chairs Upgrade

Dining Chair After

Dining Chair Before

This is one of two chairs that looked pretty good initially, but at closer inspection, they both needed spring work (broken zig-zag springs) as well as new fabric and foam. The original fabric color was tan, neutral enough, but my customer had wanted a color change so she chose a lovely linen style weave gray fabric, which looked terrific.

These chairs were a bit tricky to strip down and reupholster. Luckily the seats were removable, so I was able to work on them without them being attached to the chair itself. Jim did his magic on tightening the chairs as they were both a bit loose and wobbly. Once I removed the cushioned seat, he tightened them up. The seat portion was actually made up of two sections, the top cushion itself and the side fabric, which wrapped around the entire cushion. 

Beneath the entire seat was a zig-zag spring structure with three springs. One spring on each chair had broken away from its metal clasp, so we needed to reattach the springs before I could do any upholstery work. Zig-zag springs are attached by a small metal clasp that staples into the frame. This usually requires two people to do this because the spring is very, well, springy, so it has to be held by one person and securely attached by the other person via two screws. Once that was done it was all systems go.

I replaced the old foam with new foam and softened it up with dacron before I could staple in place the new gray fabric. Once the seats were done, I attached the seats' side fabric by attaching it from the topside and turning it under against the previously used cardboard, then stapled it to the bottom edge of the seat. I added chambray (dust cover) to finish the seats. The back of the chair was quite a bit more difficult as the front and back were separate sections of material and had to be treated as two sections. The front had to be removed as well as attached first, then the back, along with welting to finish it off for a touch of elegance. After this work was complete, both chairs had acquired a brand new look, ready for an updated kitchen.

Antique Chair Reupholstered

Antique Chair Before

This was a second chair I had done for the same customer. Made in the late

Antique Chair After

nineteenth century, this chair had seen better days. The interior sides were pretty chipped away, so I did a bit of repair work to beef up the boards prior to stapling. Otherwise, it was structurally sound. 

The old material was not in poor condition, but my customer had wanted to use the same material as I had used on the previous chair since she had plenty of it left over. That's why it's a good idea to purchase more than you think you will need in the event you want additional upholstery projects done or perhaps pillows to match.

I replaced all the foam and padding in this chair to give it a softer and more supportive seat as well as the back portion. In the original upholstery they had used tacks that bordered the edge, but I opted for double welt cording, a more updated version of the old tacks used. Also, once tacks are used on a project, it's difficult to reapply them because they will want to default to the old holes, which are likely bent and uneven. For a chair such as this one which had probably been upholstered a few times in its life, those tacks damage the wood, making it brittle and difficult to work with so using welt cord is a better solution.

Once completed, the chair looked pretty good and was quite comfortable and well suited for any room. Antiques are great to work on because they are generally made very well and can be used for many more years to come when reupholstered.

Before and After Photo

Tavern Chair Redo Revisited

Tavern Chair After

Tavern Chair Before

This was a set of three chairs that were identical to four chairs I had done last year. It turned out that the woman who we did these chairs for sold the guy four chairs which he had us refinish for a table and chairs set. The woman had three more chairs she had wanted to get refinished, but chose a cowhide material instead of the gray that we had used previously. They actually turned out pretty nice. 

Like the previous tavern chairs, these had a lovely medallion on the back panel which came to life and was visible after Jim had refinished them. This medallion was barely visible before.

Made of solid oak, these rustic style chairs made a great addition to the customer's dining room and were sturdy enough for many generations to come. My guess was that these chairs were likely built in the early 20th century, perhaps mid-century, or even earlier. It's anyone's guess since it is seldom that furniture has a date to mark its inception.  Heavy and solid, these chairs were another unique project for us.

Check out the link below to view the first set of tavern chairs we had done last year:
https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/search?q=tavern+chairs

19th Century British Plantation Chair Re-Caned

Plantation Chair
After

Plantation Chair
Before

Large, one of a kind and very labor intensive, this is a 19th Century British Plantation chair which was in dire need of new caning due to the broken seat area. This was definitely the largest caning chair I had ever done and possibly the largest chair I had ever worked on. I had never seen anything like it, so after some research, I discovered its origin. Used by plantation owners, chairs such as this were preferred for veranda seating due to the caning, which allowed easy air flow to cool its occupant. 

This chair had a feature that I had never seen, dual caning. The front of the chair had strand (woven) caning and the rear had press-in caning. I knew I had a great deal of work ahead of me when I took on this project and I was absolutely right. Because of the sheer size of the chair, it was difficult to reach the farthest points in the curved portion of the chair. There was a lot of stretching and reaching to achieve the results required to make this chair work.

I had to be creative with following the curve of the seat by using a cardboard sleeve to keep the caned strands somewhat even while weaving the strands from the top to the bottom edges of the chair. Since the strands had to follow the lines of the chair and stay loose, it was hard to determine just how loose they needed to be. This was quite difficult. Once I accomplished that, it was time to begin the actual horizontal weave. The farther down I got, the more difficult it became. I had to twist and turn my body to reach these distant areas. (See photo below). Eventually I finished the entire front and tackled the back. This was difficult because the front caning came through the part where the back push-in spline had to go. Suffice it to say it was quite challenging. I was extremely happy to be finished with this chair that took about six weeks of labor intensive work to complete.

Rene's weaving of
the plantation chair

Antique Chair Refinished w/New Cane Seat

Antique Chair
Before

Antique Chair
After

This antique chair had seen better days. It belonged to our customer's great-great grandfather, likely dating back to the early 20th century. Commonly seen with a set around a dining room table, this chair had many spindles and a fair share of darkened stain that needed to be refreshed.

The back had oxidized and had a lot of alligatoring, which is a rough texture formed by years of exposure to either sun or the elements. It had lovely carving which was practically invisible due to the alligatoring. 

The seat had been caned and was broken, so once Jim had finished his magic I tackled it by installing new press-in caning. Once the refinishing had been done and the newly caned seat was installed, the chair one again looked great and would serve for many years to come and may last another 100 years or longer. By stripping off the old stain, the beautiful oak was again exposed, transforming the chair to a younger version of itself.

Antique Dresser Converted Into Wine Cabinet

Dresser After
as Wine Cabinet

Dresser Before

This was originally an antique dresser, likely dating back to the early 1900's as it had been sitting for quite a long time. It had a musty smell, the drawers could not be opened (without a hammer) and the top was warped. Needless to say, this dresser was going to be quite a challenge. 

Our customer had wanted something different, unique for this old lady. She needed to be repurposed into something else. After discussion and brainstorming ideas, it was decided that this old lady would be better suited as a wine cabinet, so Jim got to work on the overall design and started to make it happen. 

In order for this to happen, it required open space, so the top and second drawer were removed completely and a brand new interior structure had to be designed and built. Jim sketched out ideas and came up with the center being open for wine glass storage and the left and right sections, as well as beneath the opening would hold wine bottles. Once he had designed and built the divided sections, he primed and painted it black with chalk paint. We lined the back opening with wallpaper selected by our customer. 

Brass drawer pulls were used for the drawers which matched the brass lock covers perfectly.  Jim even located a skeleton key for the drawers at a local antique store, so they can be locked if needed. The two drawers could be used for utensils or linens, depending on the person's preference. The drawers were also lined with the same wallpaper as the back of the wine area which made it a functional, cohesive design. This was a major overhaul of a once neglected, musty old dresser. The newly painted wine cabinet was fresh, modern and a multi-functional item of furniture, well-suited for entertaining and storage.

Antique Cedar Chest Restoration

Cedar Chest After

Cedar Chest Before

This cedar chest had seen better days as it had been in storage in a garage for several decades. The exterior had become rough, with a sand-like debris covering the front bottom decorative edge. 

The overall condition of this cedar chest was very good, except for the back leg which needed to be tightened because it was loose. The interior was in mint condition, lined with newspapers that dated back to 1954.

The front of this cedar chest had a lovely carving which was hidden by the many years' it had been sitting in storage. It had darkened with age, therefore the lovely detail wasn't as clearly visible as it should have been. It was screaming "make me pretty again!"

The legs were quite decorative with their ball shape, lending a strong, sturdy appearance. The top was quite scratched, with a deep gouge in one area. Jim had his work cut out for him by stripping, sanding and staining this piece and attending to the loose back leg. The front decorative carving was removable, which made it more accessible to refinish, as this was done separately. He used cherry stain which lightened the entire cedar chest, therefore making the front detailed carving more visible, with a striking new appeal. Like many other cedar chests we have done, this one was unique and lovely again.

If you would like to see other cedar chests we have done, please click on the links below.
https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2019/11/solid-cedar-chest.html
https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2016/08/1948-lane-cedar-chest_22.html
https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2015/04/elegant-cedar-chest-revival.html
https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2013/12/1945-lane-waterfall-cedar-chest.html
https://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-waterfall-cedar-chest.html

Dining Room Chairs Upgrade

Dining Chair
After

Dining Chair
Before

This is one of four dining room chairs which needed an upgrade with new upholstery. The old fabric was still in remarkably good condition, however my customer had wanted to match curtains with the chairs so she chose a silvery-gray fabric which gave the chairs a classy and elegant look.

Unlike most of the other chairs I have worked on, these had a unique approach in how the fabric was attached to the cushion. After inspecting the bottom, I realized there were no screws holding in the seats. Everything was done from bottom up. Beneath the fabric was the Dacron; beneath the Dacron was the foam and underneath everything was the webbing. 

The material had been attached by staples at the base of the seat's top, covered up with double welt cording. In most dining room chairs the seat is removed by unscrewing it from the base, so each seat can be worked on independently of the chair. The advantage is that you have access to the entire seat and can work on a tabletop. For this particular chair, that was not the case. Everything had to be removed and reassembled right on the chair. This leaves little to no room for error (not that that ever happens...lol). Once I established how these seats were put together, I proceeded to yank off the old welt cording, then removed staples, lots and lots of staples at the base of the seat, surrounding the entire chair.

Because these chairs needed new cushions, I removed the old Dacron and cushions and replaced them with new high density foam. I also reinforced the old webbing by adding some new webbing strips to give the bottom extra firmness and support. The old webbing was likely original, narrow and a little sloppy. I used three inch jute webbing, which provides a stronger, more stable seat. For the cushions, I used the old cushions for size and shape, then cut the new ones and aligned them on the webbing, then secured them with staples on the bottom edge. 

New Dacron covered the foam and then the chairs were ready for new new fabric. Slow is pro, so I took my time and made sure the material covered the chair enough to allow for the staples without covering the lip of the seat. The final step was gluing the double welt cording to the bottom edge which covers the staples while providing an elegant finishing touch to the seats. Two of the chairs required a replacement of the chambray dust cover, so once those were done, my project was complete.

Dining Chair
Before/After