Listening Through Time

At first glance, a platform rocker a client showed us looked like most other pieces from a bygone era; classic lines, carved arms and a semi-attached seat and back. The wear it had seen through the years was obvious; springs protruded from the middle of the seat, the finish on the frame was well worn and the fabric was threadbare and faded. Yet, when our client started talking about this chair, we couldn't help but listen as she stepped back in time. This was her father's chair; a piece of furniture she grew up with and now inherited. She pointed out how familiar the contour of the back was to her and how her father, being right-handed, had worn the finish from the right arm more so than the left. We were very moved by her stories and her relationship with this chair and pledged to care for this piece with that same intensity.

First Things First

Upon removing the old upholstery, we discovered a series of cracks, checks and splits in the frame that needed repair. Fortunately, the frame was made with hardwood so the repairs were straightforward and would last another lifetime. Both arms were loose with one being broken so we rectified those shortcomings as well. The seat and back springs were retied and covered with burlap where none was used before. Previously, the cushions rested directly on the springs resulting in unnecessary accelerated wear. We prefer to place a layer between the cushions and the springs to increase the life of the upholstery and improve the support the springs provide.

Holding on to the Past

The client stressed that she didn't want us to completely refinish the frame. She wished to preserve the decades of wear on the "hands" of the arms where her father had worn the finish away. While she wanted us to even out the overall tone of the arm posts, she didn't want us to cut into the original finish. Each scenario presented individual challenges. Our first step was to carefully clean the entire frame. The rocking platform received several applications of pigmented wax to match the color of the arms. The challenge was to make two different wood species appear similar. The arm posts were lightly stained to color in the nicks and scratches where the finish had been removed. The stain was applied very delicately so the original finish color would not be darkened too much as well as ensure the wood grain continued to shine through. The arm posts then received three coats of low luster tung oil to provide a durable, protective finish. The general tone was evened out while still preserving the "shadowing" and luminosity that only comes with time. The "hands" of the arms were meticulously cleaned without disturbing the burnished patina that is created from decades of human touch. This was one of the more important aspects of the chair our client wished to preserve.

The Comfort of Familiarity

There are times when nothing feels better than the fit of a favorite garment; even if that garment has seen better days. By extension, nothing evokes a greater sense of comfort than settling into the welcoming contours of a chair that had been molded by the use of a loved one; especially once that person is no longer with us. Our client understood that we needed to replace the seat cushion but asked if we could preserve as much of the back as possible. She loved the feel of this chair and wanted to retain that familiarity. We replaced the seat cushion with a wonderfully soft yet resilient foam and wrapped it in an envelop of lofty dacron. We managed to salvage the back by meticulously extracting it from the existing upholstery. We added a fresh layer of cotton and several layers of dacron while managing to retain the worn hollows that our client's father left behind. The client wanted the decorative tufting returned to the back so we took this opportunity to straighten out the tufting pattern from the original upholstery and placed the tufts in perfect horizontal lines. When making the buttons for the tufts, we centered a flower in the center of each button which also matched a flower at the placement of each tuft. The result was a subtle play with the fabric that is only noticed upon close inspection.

Listening Through Time

On occasion we are newly impressed with just how much our clients trust us to care for their treasured pieces. After the final consultation with our client before starting work on this project, we momentarily looked at one another in silence realizing how important this piece was to our client and how much history was involved. It's one thing to innocently observe the wear and tear on a piece of furniture and another to listen to the actual history that resulted in particular wear patterns. Suddenly a chair is more than just furniture; it has an identity, a story and a presence. We slowly deconstructed the chair and planned our approach carefully. When we delivered the finished chair to our client, we saw a subtle transformation occur as soon as she sat down on the seat. Initially she checked for the familiar fit of the back and ran her hands along the arms. When she started rocking, she grew quiet for a moment and looked very peaceful -- and very far off -- as though she were again listening through time that remains a very important part of her life today.

Sweating the Small Things

The original upholstery left tacks exposed on the underside of the arms as well as along the entire bottom of the chair. We didn't like how this looked on the original and wanted to finish the chair in a more graceful manner. We elected to use a same fabric concealment on the underside of the arms which produced a more luxurious look. When the chair tips back for rocking, the underside of the arm looks as beautiful as the top. We cut fabric strips on the bias and applied them to the bottom of the frame to create a seamless transition from the back of the chair to the exposed bottom. These small details, while taking time to execute, accumulate to lift this chair from the ordinary to the exceptional.