From a Twisted Past

"I've had this chair in my basement for years. Would you be interested in looking at it?" We found ourselves in one of those marvelous old homes in San Francisco; a grand entry presenting the choice of ascending a broad staircase or opening one of several seven foot doors leading to cavernous rooms on either side of the hall. We were ushered to a basement space that meandered beneath the house revealing one stored wonder after another. There it was -- a wreck of a chair hiding in a corner of the basement piled full of boxes. We removed the boxes and lifted the chair to the main level. It had been sitting in that basement for over 25 years on uneven porous cement. The frame was so twisted that it didn't stand on all four legs at the same time. The upholstery was literally falling off the chair and the piece felt surprisingly heavy. We decided to take on the project with absolutely no idea of how or when we were going to approach it.

Rocks, Twists and Water

Eventually we found room in our studio schedule to address this project. We removed the rags of fabric hanging on the frame as well as the dried grass stuffing and shreds of cotton padding that managed to hang on through years of use and the ensuing period of neglectful basement existence. When we opened up the decking, we found a softball sized quartz rock rolling around the broken springs which accounted for a good portion of the weight we felt when lifting the chair and the reason for most of the broken springs. With everything removed we had no choice but to deal with the twisted frame.

The rails were cut from 1-3/4" by 2" maple. One leg of the chair hovered 1 inch above the floor. By applying some weight on the four corners of the frame, we could encourage the chair to sit flat but once we removed the weight, the frame would spring back out of square. It so happened that San Francisco was experiencing a highly unusual heat wave with daytime temperatures in the upper 90s. We soaked four towels in water and wrapped them around the four rails over night. The following morning we boiled pots of water and bathed the towel wrapped rails for 30 minutes to steam the wood. We removed the towels, placed the frame on a level deck, weighted down the four corners and let everything bake in the sun for three days. When we removed the weights, the frame was sitting totally flat.

Starting Fresh

With a perfectly square frame, the wood was restored and the frame rebuilt starting with an eight-way tie to create a stable seat followed by all new padding and findings. An exotic fabric with golden dragons on a celedon background was selected. New seat and back cushions were made with down filling to provide luxurious comfort to embrace the occupant. The back cushion was conceived as a large pillow with decorative trim running around the edge to compliment the background color in the fabric.

From a Twisted Past

The ability for some chairs to persevere sometimes astounds us. We came across a chair that had been purchased on a yard sale because someone's father felt it was a solid piece worth saving. Two and one half decades later it was rescued from dark storage in a basement and literally brought out into the sun. Thankfully we didn't find anything living inside but evidence was clear that at one time someone had made that chair it's home. We deliberated for 1 minute and decided to plunge ahead and resurrect this beautiful chair. The twisted frame provided considerable challenges both in straightening and finishing but once completed, the rest was a labor of love. This chair is as pleasing to one's eye as it is to one's body. Plump feathery down caresses the occupant as one sinks into its supportive comfort. It's the perfect resting place to straighten out the kinks of a busy day, reflect on accomplishments and contemplate dreams yet come.