The laziness of the indolent

OK, so its been a while since we updated here.

Thats a result of a number of things - some would say all excuses, I claim reasonable causes.

First was winter.  That means snow, which means snowboarding.  For us that also means Otaihape Alpine Club  at Whakapapa, Mount Ruapehu.  If you are looking for a great simple family oriented club with no pretensions, this is it.  Membership and subs are reasonably priced, and yes, you can ski in, ski out.

Winter also means rain in Auckland. As you know we mostly work outside, so rain means no working.

And we got a bit lazy.  The truth will out.

we are all clever barstards...

ok, so the site title is a little irreverent, but the content - oh wow, the content!

cleverbastards.co.nz features some just great stuff from independent New Zealand artists and craftspeople.

Everything from $11 tea towels to a transportable bach, the quirky and iconoclastic sit next to useful and iconic on this great site.

Go have a look - you'll love it!

...and rattan for dessert!

Parker. We think. This four-seater sofa-bed and single chair are at the least Parker-esque low lean and ludicrously good-looking!



Cool eh? Hard to add anything that will make this more appealing, so we will leave you to looking - get in touch if you want it though!

Kiwi a la carte...

So, in line with the post below, here's a true Kiwi suite from the late 1950's early 1960's.




As you can see, this three plus one plus one is pretty darn cool. The chairs are a mum and dad pair - one is high-back, the other mid-back. In our imagination, it would be refinished in kiwiana style - fern motif or the like - perhaps something with jandals :-)

The timberwork is all in great original condition including the legs with their metal ferrules and swivel feet. Notice the semi-oval sort of line on the arm-rests? Doesn't it just remind you of watching Apollo moon rockets on a 19 inch black and white TV????

Again, this is suited to a medium to small size lounge space. I'd love to see it in an Omaha Beach or Waiheke sort of "statement" location where it could ground the designer pretensions and excess with some basic retro style.

scandinavian a la carte

We are going to be trying something a little different for us over he next few months.

Up until now we have bought stuff, refinished it to our own tastes and then tried to sell it.

The new plan is to sell pieces in their raw state and provide options for finishing to suit the buyer.

We have no idea how its going to work out!  We started this last week and had one item sell (a Don sofabed) and one client who has some work under consideration.

The advantage to the buyer is they get to choose fabrics and finishes to suit their aesthetic.  The disadvantage to them is its a bit of a leap of faith - they are trusting that we can do what they want.

The advantage to us is that we have pre-sold the piece.  The disadvantage is we are committing to the buyer's timelines!

Its all going to be interesting...

Meanwhile, heres some stuff that is on offer. The first is a NZ four-seater sofa.

WARNING! "Clicking" on the images takes you to the relevant source files which are large-ish.  Feel free to do so, but if you just want to re-run the slideshow, click the little icon at the bottom right of the image, then click the play icon that presents after that in the bottom right of the message panel.



As you can see, it is presently "fairly ruff" but it will come up nicely. The timber is relatively blonde and has only light grain figuring in it. At just over 2.05m wide, it fills a lot of space but is quite light on its feet.

The arms have an interesting angular flare to the rear and overhang quite significantly at the front. The seat has the typical radial spring system and the back is sets of horizontal springs. Oh - its a low-back version too so its got a great looooong loooow profile.

We have a stubby Morgan high-back two-seater that came to us from Hamiltron along with one of the Larsen tables we told you about earlier.



This is real "old lady" stuff at the moment - a brown velour fabric just screams out for doilies on side-tables and antimacassar cloths on the backrests! But the bones are good.

The size would suit an apartment or even a larger bedroom. We also have three low-back chairs in hte same Morgan style that could each be matched to this piece.

More soon!

Got a Parker suite!

It was just an atypical situation for us.

A listing on Trade Me for an original Parker teak lounge suite, start bid mumble mumble dollars - not high, not low.  So we laughingly slapped on the opening bid thinking "Fer sure it will end up double that..."  Six days later, we own it!

The seller was an architect with a great home - not flash, just clean simple style - in the heights of Taupo.  Recently widowed, he is moving out of Taupo and "cleansing" himself of various possessions.

We drove down on a blue-sky autumn day to collect it and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.  Breakfast in Tirau, then on to Taupo and met with the seller.

He tells us that he has owned the suite for almost 50 years so that makes it an early 1960's piece.  The cushions have been recovered on the chairs, but the material on the sofa was original in a dusty pink for both.  The frame has marks of its history including the typical Parker backrest breakout which had been sort-of repaired.  The rattan backrests are in excellent condition though, and the rubber suspension system has been replaced with a modern webbing alternative retaining the original fixing system.

Probable finished look is similar to this.  Lots to get through first though!

We would love to hold onto this for ourselves.  We recently sold Peggy (a Parker sofa in the same style) and kind of regret doing that.  If it wasn't for our riotous daughter Alice, we would definitely hang on to this elegant, curvey, delicate suite.  However, practicality will likely dictate that this suite moves on to a more suitable home.

Ebonising and advertising

ok - been a busy week!

Jos comes from a marketing and advertising background and her sis-in-law sells media for a crust.  She is to blame for targeting you with stuff you don't need but feel you have to have when you see it during your favorite hour of TV.  The reason you feel that urge is that SIL is VERY good at what she does...

Anyway SIL is moving office, and they are going with the retro 60s-70s theme.  Ta-daaaaaaaaah!  Lounge Lizards to the rescue.

SIL breezed in on Friday 10 days ago, pointed at various bits cluttering up the house, made wild exclamations of delight as we draped fabrics over furniture, approved a budget, drank wine and left.

She chose a Frank Lowen / Morgan sofa with sled legs, a pair of Don low back chairs with the spear shape uprights on the rear legs and a pair of wire frame arm chairs.  Catch?  She wants them ebonised - thats the black finish that still allows the grain to show through.

Irony alert - check out what we had to do to go the other way (black to brown) on the black sheep suite...

Mild panic.  Spent that weekend trying various approaches that didn't look like cheap acrylic paint drooled onto timber, or a nasty accident with mascara.  Got it right after a while with the help of test panels donated by a dead-on-arrival wall unit.

Got the approval from SIL on the look and shade, then looked around for a piece to test it on.  Up jumped this orphan.  We got him recently and we are a little baffled as to what his pedigree is.  But for this purpose, it doesn't matter.

He is a sapele mahogany frame with a rock/recline mechanism that uses a NZ native timber subframe.

Cool - everything we needed, and three days later, the change of colour was complete.  What do you reckon?  He's up for sale now so check for him on Trade Me.

More on Mr Larsen's tables...

It seems they may be flavour de jour.

Do love the black vinyl chairs though. Kinda classy and practical.

Kudos to lovebrigade - its a great looking suite and they deserved the excellent price they got.  The new owner should be very happy.

More Larsens than a Danish shipping company

Ok, turns out the tables below ARE from the man Otto himself. One even has his maker's stamp on it.

So what do you do with two identical 1350mm Otto Larsen pedestal tables? You go looking for suitable chairs of course. And in Kaukapakapa we found the answer to a danish prayer.

A real nice couple up there were keeping a waaaay cool Otto L rectangular extender table, but selling the trademark chairs - six of! Done deal - you couldn't hold me back.

Now, the lower Kaipara Harbour has to be a happy hunting ground 'cos we were up there a few weeks back on a collection round. Parakai as it happens. On the way home we picked up some FUGLY chairs. OMG. Shoot the dog.

Got them home and left them outside for three weeks - that bad. They refused to rot away, so this week I stripped the buttoned vinyl upholstery off one of them.

Surprise surprise... Sapele mahogany frame with a Jorganesque copy of a ladder back! Oh Joy!

Photos soonish. Look for the tables as a suite on Trade me over the next few weeks or contact us directly if you are interested.

Don marketing from 50 years ago...

Hows this for cool...

Mrs Morgan had triplets.

Here we go - three Morgan low-back chairs.  Unfortunately, the original 1970's fabric is worn out and covered in cigarette burns, so these are a full recover.

We will probably be splitting these to sell as a pair, with the remaining one partnered with a two-seater sofa we just acquired.

The arms on the Morgan seating are more swooping in the vertical than the Don product, but has less shaping in the horizontal.  The Morgan frame has a slightly heavier feeling than the Don's tend to be, but all the same spring suspension systems and a similar look.

Otto! Is that you?

Larsen this, Jon Jorgensen that - if you can attach a vaguely scandinavian name to it - you're in!  Values treble!

So is this table an Otto Larsen, or is it "after Larsen", in other words a knock off - as authentic as a Bangkok sapphire?

If it IS Larsen, thats great because we have two of them!  If its not, we've got a couple of nice "after Larsen" tables that we can let go at down to earth prices.

If any one can tell us, e-mail at the address on the right in the About Us section.

The Black Sheep are finished!

The Black Sheep are now sold and living happily in Raglan.  However - read on!  We can do the same for your suite, or supply one for you...

If you scroll down (and down, and down...) you can find the ongoing story of the black sheep.  Well, they are finished, and here they are.

These guys started as dumpster refugees and have become a great example of what can be done with a bit of hard work.  OK, six months of varying degrees of application and then three weeks of concentrated effort.

As a reminder, here's how the used to look (those easily frightened should avert their eyes at this point...)

Anyway, the black sheep became an experiment - a test bed for various techniques as we trialled the ways to refinish the timberwork.  We think we have got it right with this suite - its a combination of special paint stripper, lots of sanding, hand-rubbed danish oil and a finishing polish (twice actually).

This is all done with the pieces completely dismantled - every single piece is individually refinished and then the whole unit is reassembled.




This means we had to learn how to properly reglue all those joints.  Clue for starters - PVA is not the product of choice.  We eventually learnt that you can't avoid using relatively high cost professional products ful of nasty chemicals.  In this case, Resorcinol glue.  This is a two-pack product that is commonly used by boat-builders and furniture makers - for good reason.  Its waterproof, and sticks like the proverbial devil's dumplings to the nocturnal furniture cover...

You need a LOT of sash clamps as well!

We've also learned that in almost all cases - replace the hardware.  Its thirty years old after all.  So new spring hangers and eyes go onto everything.

Now we can do the upholstery.  All the fabric we use is upholstery weight - not curtain fabric not heavy apparel stuff, real upholstery.  Every piece is overlocked to bind the edges against any fraying, and then machined to individually fit the cushion foams.  The result is a great fit and long life.

Less swearing too eh Jos...

And here is the result...

...more photos...

These two recliners sold and are now living in Epsom in Auckland in a beautiful house on the slopes of Mount Eden.  Although we don't currently have more frames like this, get in touch as we have some alternatives...

We have recliners.  Henare is shown below, but for those of you with a more (refined?  feminine? petite?) fine-line aesthetic, how about these?

These are a Don item but I don't know exactly what age.  The frames are extremely light and yet quite stiff - well they are after we've rebuilt them!

The grey complete chair you see came from a buy we did locally along with a sofa we bought.  The original owners had it as a part of some office reception furniture.  As you can see, we haven't touched it yet.

The bare frame came from a new friend (and competition) of ours Ange (Trade Me name angeandnige).  This is one crazy lady.  She buys and sells without fear of the deal or her long-suffering husband's feelings.  You are a strong man Nige!  Anyway, we bought a dresser from Ange, got talking, blah blah, and got away about an hour and a half later.  With this frame.

Now Ange loves this era, does a great job with upholstery, but doesn't like doing the woodwork.  The frame she gave us looked like firewood when we got it (she was going to throw it away!), but now it looks like, well, a really nice presentation piece that you will love!.

What do you reckon Ange?

(BTW, if you click on the images, you get linked to the full-size image.)

Now, if you are interested in purchasing either or both of these chairs drop us a line - the e-mail address is shown on the right hand side at the top of the page. 

We promised photos...

...ages ago.  Sorry guys.

Still, worth the wait I hope.  Below are the next few pieces that are due to go under the pump.

Henere the Don recliner

This Don recliner came to us from Hamilton and to be frank, it has sat unhappily un-named because its such a dog.  Anyone who ever had kids come home with a clearly dying bird will remember the advice - never name a dying animal.  We didn't name this one.

The frame was very loose - every joint needs re-gluing, so at least it was easy to dismantle.  A couple of bodged repairs have been done in his sad history, but nothing that will be insurmountable or detract from the finished product.

I pulled the frame apart this week and stripped and oiled it and now I'm feeling a little better about it!    The frame is still in pieces - the photo is as he came to us.  The timber is the usual sapele mahogany used by Don in the 1970s and it has come back to life beautifully with classic grain and a satin finish from the oil.  The Hamilton recliner in now Henere.

The recliner mechanism is similarly sad and will take a bit of engineering to refurbish.

At the moment Henere is un-upholstered.  We had a client looking at it but they have decided they don't want a recliner so Henere from Hamilton is available.  We have a second matching recliner for anyone wanting a pair.

New Year Sales

In England, the Christmas and New Year sales are legend.  Sun-starved folk rush from Debs to Harrys to Marks and Sparks, picking up bargains from overstretched retailers and spending like drunken sailors on shore leave.

Our New Year Sales were a bit different - we ended up selling three major pieces right when we were least expecting to do so

First to go was Mareta, the Mangere sofa.  She left us in January to a new home in Newmarket, Auckland.   Her new owners seem to be putting together a very coordinated 60's look  picking out really nice pieces from wallpaper to major furnishings.  We think that Mareta will look great and they appear to be pretty enthusiastic too!

Next, Wellington struck again.  Heidi the hardback has been a labour of love for Jos - a learning curve that has given her new skills and confidence.  Heidi's new owners are also forming up a pretty comprehensive 60's style and seem to be moving a number of great pieces south.  Auckland's loss and proof of where the seat of power lies.

Finally, today we arrived home from a weekend away to find the Morgan boys are no longer ours.  An Auckland buyer hit the Buy Now and will (as soon as we have arranged it) have two new 'laxing options in their home.

Whew.  So now we have to do some more work.  Tomorrow finally looks to be a clearish day with goodish light, so its time to take some pictures, show you all what's coming up, and then get our butts into gear.

THe Black Sheep - Part III

We have finished all three frames!  Its cause for celebration, because we have been experimenting with finish on these three (had nothing to lose really - they were already fugly), and we have had a breakthrough.

Every time we complete a job, we congratulate ourselves on how well it has turned out - and we truly believe it. But we have moved from 100% sanded finishes to chemically stripped and sanded.  From urethaned, to stained and varnished, to oiled, and various types of finishing oil.

With these guys, we think we have arrived.  This is the best we have acheived so far with a glass-smooth and softly lusterous finish.

We'll have some images up in a couple of days, and we are happy to discuss fabrics with anyone who is serious about purchasing but wants a particular design or look.

If we get no takers we will do a  set of squabs we like and put it on out there.

FYI, if you want a bigger suite we have a second three seater in this style that we have yet to attack.  It will finish identically to these ie BEAUTIFUL.  Possible combinations then are 3+3+1+1 or 3+3 or 2 x 3+1...

Why auction upwards?

An auction should ensure that an item realises its maximum value in the market at the time.  But all Trade Me auctions are set up as increasing bid auctions.  Why do we do this?

It doesn't make sense from a seller's point of view, unless you are in a commodity market.  Sure for milk, oil, timber, used cars and the like, the idea of an auction that starts at a low figure and works upward to one bid beyond what the second-to-last bidder is prepared to pay is a great way of meeting the market.

But for one-off items its dumb.  Must be why real estate agents love it. For a singular item (say a Paratai Drive property, a Ferrari, a Van Gogh, or a Lounge Lizards furniture piece!) the best way to achieve maximum value is by reverse auction, sometimes called a dutch auction.

In a reverse auction, the starting point is set at the highest price the seller thinks is possible in the market.  This offer is slowly lowered over the duration of the auction until a buyer bids in and the item sells.

There is no competitive bidding - the first bidder is the winner.  How is this an advantage to everyone?

Well, the seller is more likely to get the best price for the item because the potential buyers are encouraged to bid at the highest price point they see value - otherwise, someone else may bid and the item is lost to them.

Buyers have a complete certainty when they place a bid - if they bid, thats the final price.  No emotional blackmail as another bidder tops them a dollar at a time, no over-excited bidding regretted later.

This system does rely on the market having information - as many potential buyers as possible need to know an item is for sale, and the seller needs to have a reasonable idea what the value proposition is in the market.

So, we are giving it a go.

Its a little messy on Trade Me because they are not set up for it, but it can be done. If you see one of our pieces on Trade Me and its a reverse auction all you need to remember is that you use the Buy Now button at the earliest price you think the item has value for you.  Because otherwise, someone else may get it either at that price or at the next offer down and you will miss out...

the black sheep - part II

A looooong while back we posted about a vile looking black acrylic-painted suite we had bought.

In our head-long rush of recent days, I started looking at this suite and stripped the first chair.  Originally we thought that we would stay with a black frame, but having stripped and oiled the pieces its obvious that we have to stay with the natural colour.

When they are dismantled these pieces look so, well, insignificant.  Just a pile of firewood really.











Check out the before and after pictures - makes all the work worth it eh!