Tag: knoll

A splash of colour to chase away those winter blues..

After:

A parting shot of this winged Parker Knoll-style armchair, completely re-upholstered using modern techniques and materials,

is now hopefully brightening the cold dark and grey winter months at a lovely home in Ealing, West London.

Covered in #SvensktTenn #Joseffrank #Teheran

 

Before:

Every genuine Parker Knoll I have ever worked on carries a manufacturers stamp on the frame with a product number. This chair did not carry that stamp and so I had to treat it as a mid-century modern winged armchair in a style similar to a Parker Knoll.

As I had no idea of the true origins of the chair (make and model) I treated all the aged foams on the inside back and seat as not fit-for-purpose as I was uncertain as to their flame retardancy. Fitting new rubberised hair and medium grade foams, wrapped in polyester skin wadding was, legally, the best choice I thought I could make , ensuring the fillings didn’t exceed the shapes and thickness of the originally fitted foams.

The elastic webbing on the seat disintegrated upon removal so there was no sense trying to refit already damaged seat webs into a chair which needed new fillings and an expensive fabric top cover to be fitted. So the seat webs were upgraded to Pirelli webbing, fitted to prolong the suspension’s life within the chair.

As for the seat cushion itself;  the original filling, which in itself had degraded had no protection between the original foam and it’s top cover, this would have made the seat unusable within a short period of time of constant use. Simply recovering in the manor it came in would have worn out both the seat foam and the new linen top cover , as well as not necessarily conforming to the relevant health safety & fire regs. for domestic furniture.  I replaced the old foam with a medium soft grade foam, wrapped in white polyester skin wadding and stockinette, which protects the foam and the top cover from excessive wear through friction and ultra violet light (which degrades foam) while keeping all the fillings in place, having cut and shaped the foam and stitching its cover to the same size and shape as the original cushion .

My favourite aspects which I brought into the treatment and application of this wonderful fabric include the 7-colour topstitching on the seat cushion border, and the two velvet colour-coded cover buttons fitted into the inside back.

As the fabric itself was not compliant, the use of a wool safe flame retardant barriercloth was used between all of the fabric used in the chair and the fillings, additionally helping to prolong the life of the fabric from excessive wear.

My heartfelt thanks go out to Rowena Murphy who assisted me in the full re-upholstery of this statement piece.

A Fully Restored & Rocking Parker Knoll…

Before:

There was a time earlier this year when I found myself feeling blocked and overwhelmed  with the amount of projects I had taken on and I needed some help and business advice on how to manage the multiple projects I had taken on .
I sought help and advice through The AMUSF (Association of Master Upholsterers & Soft Furnishers) and I also looked at the Opportunity website, which linked me up to a Business counsellor, Dr Wayne Wright. and I took on a few assistants who helped me get my workload down to more manageable levels while at the same time helping me to increase my productivity.

Wayne entered my studio and immediately went to work setting me up with project management systems and helped me streamline my production of estimates and invoices.  As cashflow was really tight in return for his counselling and advice I offered to restore a chair for him in return for his help.

After:

It took little while as I had to get through a number of outstanding projects since the move to a new studio space, and it took a while to confirm a suitable fabric with my client, However with the fantastic help of Rowena Murphy, a recent graduate from Shoreditch Design Rooms and Anna F, we managed to get through a number of upholstery projects as well as turn out this fully restored piece just in time for Xmas eve, now recovered in  a smart woven wool from Eleanor Pritchard Studio (many thanks for taking my late order with a lightening quick turnaround!)

My thanks and congratulations for superb attention to detail (particularly the wood finishing) by Rowena.

I think my client was happy as he gave me a lovely bottle of Prosecco which , at the end of a particularly busy month (and a phenomenal year) ,which was enjoyed in timely fashion!

A Tickled Pink Parker Knoll Story …

Before:

Even though I explained that the cost of repair, refurbishment and recovery was comparable to Buying a completely brand new sofa my customer definitely wanted to have this Mid/late 20th Century modern Parker Knoll sofa restored to better than its former glory, as she loved the shape and size and practicality of it; with its fold down arms and fold away back allowing it to provide a great place to rest for her guests.

 After getting it into the studio, the rip-down revealed the extent of the complete seat failure. So I replaced all the broken serpentine springs, lashing them together with the still in good condition steel rods and clips (which took a little time and were a bugger to remove and replace!)

This time I also fitted and lashed hessian to the springs (something that wasn’t done originally), before fitting new wrapped seat foams. Refurbishing the arms with rubberised hair and foams and wrapping them in polyester before  cutting, stitching and fitting the new covers (backed with F/R barrier cloth to make the piece compliant) in a lovely pink velvet called “Peony” from Harlequin

My biggest challenge came with refitting the drop-arm mechanisms: Just when I needed to look at some old photos on my phone with just hours left before delivery,  I managed to loose a number of photo’s on my phone! Which were supposed to remind me of how to replace the drop-arm mechanisms in the arms. On that (very early) morning start I contacted some fellow upholsterers online. Shortly after a coffee I quietly and calmly thought the process through. By the time I did get some great responses back from the forum I had already worked out how to replace them! (Many thanks to those ladies and gentlemen for your input in any case) Nothing beats being able to figure things out for yourself !
Parker-Knoll-Just-collected-and-in-the-studio

After:

Before taking on this project I promised myself I wouldn’t ever work with “Shiny” or metallic Velvets  (They are usually not to my taste) ..However this velvet grew on me as I used it, the colour was lush and deep and for me had just the right level of lustre and by the end result It not only brightened up my studio, but brightened up my customers face and livened up her living room!

Ps: A big Thank you to my mate JJ for helping me deliver it: You’re a diamond!

Finished-and-delivered

 

 

Parker-Knoll-sofa-bed-conversion

 

 

 

 

Summer came early for these pair of Parker Knoll chairs and Footstools

 Before:

Contacted last September by a customer in North London, this customer had bought a pair of these Parker Knolls through

eBay with a very specific request to cover them in a certain way using 2 complimentary fabrics

my mission was to get them completed before her family and friends came that Christmas.

Only truth to tell, I  just managed to complete them, plus 2 matching footstools which the customer had found later,

delivering On Xmas Eve Just as everybody else had already packed up and left to be with their families & friends.

 

Twin-Parker-Knolls

 

After:

Refurbished and covered in Bluebellgray Petite Mode with Designers Guild Varese Turquoise with  In the rush to get these delivered I never really got a chance to get decent shots of all the work

So you’ll have to make do with this Phone image that I’m grateful my customer supplied earlier this year.

photo 1

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A Queen Anne Style in a wonderful weave…

Before..

James-chair-&-footstool

 

 

and After!..

Completely refurbished & recovered in Sandersons “Samarkand” (Colour Indigo).

For a very patient, kind & grateful couple near Crystal Palace (Thanks for that Beautiful bottle of Valpolicella (and that jar of homemade Chutney! )

James-Pearson-Chair

 

My thanks to Katy Chaytor Hill for her assistance

Atelier Ray Clarke Ltd T/A Ray Clarke Upholstery & Design Company registration number :12018355