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.