Upholstery in
Ivanhoe East

Ivanhoe East is a smaller, quieter version of the pattern we see right across this pocket of the north-east. Work tends to arrive one piece at a time rather than a whole house at once, a wing chair here, a piano stool there, a chaise that has sat in a hallway for thirty years waiting for someone to fix it properly. The owners are usually not in a hurry. They want it done right.

That patience suits the kind of work an antique piece actually needs. A single treasured chair gets the same attention as a full suite: the frame checked and repaired, the horsehair or springs assessed honestly, and the timber French polished rather than just wiped over. Small jobs are not lesser jobs here.

A wing chair or chaise from Ivanhoe East usually comes in on its own rather than as part of a bigger job, which means we get to spend real time on it. If the horsehair inside is still sound it gets kept, pulled apart and re-carded rather than thrown out for foam, and where the frame calls for hand tied springs we still tie them in the traditional nine-way pattern rather than reaching for a shortcut.

The timber side of the job is often the bigger part of the work on these smaller pieces. Show-wood arms and legs get French polished on the bench, and because it is only one chair rather than a whole dining suite, we can take the time to match the finish to what is left of the original rather than rushing a flat coat over it.

The single piece that comes out of Ivanhoe East is usually old enough that the problem is structural before it is cosmetic. A joint has worked loose, the timber has dried out, or webbing that has been stretching for years is finally past holding a seat's shape. We deal with the structure first and quote honestly on what that takes.

Where hessian and webbing have failed they are replaced outright rather than patched, because a patch on old webbing only buys a few more months. New Dunlop HR35 foam goes in at whatever density the piece needs, and the cover, whether fabric or leather, is cut and sewn to the actual shape of the frame rather than stretched over what is already there.

Restoration, upholstery and French polishing all happen in the one Eltham North workshop, with a restorer and polisher of fifty years, a machinist of thirty and an upholsterer of twenty two between us. Hardwood frames we build carry a thirty year guarantee on the frame, we are fully insured, and Ivanhoe East customers are welcome to come and see the workshop, best to call first since it is a residential address.

Our quote covers checking and repairing the frame, deciding honestly what is worth keeping underneath, new Dunlop foam where needed, and a cover cut to the piece, priced at what that work and quality materials actually cost. A quote a long way under that has usually left a step out.