Before & After: Contemporary Sectional

When this sectional arrived, it was in desperate need of some TLC! We aren't sure of the designer, but it was an interesting piece with an attached cubical side table and full recessed base. The wood was terribly faded, as was the leather as you can see! We had no problem bringing it back to life!

Custom Upholstered Ottoman

We've made this style ottoman many times, it's a favorite of our clientele, as well as a favorite style for us! There are so many ways we've fabricated it; different wood, different fabric, different nail heads, no nail heads, leather instead of fabric - that's why custom furniture is so special! You can customize and make it your own.

This particular ottoman is covered with a tightly woven fabric and classic French natural nail heads. The white oak frame is cerused with a light finish - it's gorgeous and classic.

You can see other incarnations of this ottoman here, here, and here!

Before & After: Plycraft Mr. Chair

While the majority of our Eames-era chairs are authentic Eames Lounge Chairs, there are some replica chairs that have become iconic in their own right. The Plycraft Mr. Chair is one of the them. If you're a die-hard Eames fan, this won't cut it for you! But if you're looking for a comfortable chair, with mid-century lines, beautiful molded wood and a leather seat & back, you won't be disappointed!

When it arrived, this particular chair was still in good general shape, however the wood was terribly faded and the leather worn. Besides bringing the wood back to its' original gorgeous tone, the owner wanted to give it a new look, which white leather upholstery achieved - Voila!

Remembering Vladimir Kagan

image via

We were so saddened to hear of the passing of iconic furniture designer, Vladimir Kagan, recently, who died of a heart attack at the age of 88. He started his career, designing furniture, over 65 years ago and was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 2009.

The son of a Russian cabinetmaker, he was born in Germany in 1927, and emigrated to the United States in 1938. Early on, his focus was painting and sculpture, but soon found himself deeply attracted to architecture and design. He graduated from the School of Industrial Design in 1946, majoring in architecture and later continued his architectural studies at Columbia University. 

In 1947, he joined his father in his woodworking shop, where he learned to make furniture. In an interview he recounted his father telling him, "'Measure three times and cut once'; I would be of the school of cut three times and never measure"

His early interest in sculpture was evident the design of his furniture pieces, with their organic curves and continuous lines. Over the years we have reupholstered several of his pieces, such as this Swanback sofa:

We have also made pieces that are influenced and inspired by his beautiful designs and shapes:

For another client, we reupholstered their Serpentine sofa, and designed an ottoman to match the style.

He will sorely be missed, but his designs live on. 

Custom Upholstered Bed

This custom bed was recently finished and installed for a client on the east coast. We get a lot of requests and orders for this particular style, and have shared them here, here and here.

The details are always beautiful, such as these cerused oak feet and fabric wrapped corners.

Before & After: Mies van de Rohe Barcelona Chairs

Looking at them straight on, these Barcelona chairs don't appear to be in horrible condition. Upon closer inspection, however, you notice the scratched and worn leather, the deflated cushions, and then there are those straps! It appears a repair was attempted at one point, but not a very good one. We were happy to get these in our workshop and glad to have the opportunity to restore them to their original condition.

Ah, much better! Ludwig would be proud. Another Barcelona restoration can be found here and here is a set of Barcelona stools that were restored.

Classic Pair of Sornay Chairs

These armchairs are one of our most popular custom chairs; they are frequently requested and even though we've made them with many different kinds of fabric, with many different finishes, they still stop us in our tracks upon completion.

The design is hugely simple, and that's what makes them so spectacular. They work with traditional, classic and modern decor, blending seamlessly into whatever inspiration has been drawn upon.

More Sornay chairs can be found here.

Velvet Diamond Tufted Bed

We are taking off our humble hats right now, because this bed is completely spectacular! Beautiful blue velvet with a diamond tufted headboard, the attached box frame is also upholstered and features nail head trim where the fabric meets the walnut frame.

There is just as much attention to detail on the back as on the front with the nail head trim.

Before & After: Jorge Zalszupin Paulistana Chair & Ottoman

Brazilian furniture designer Jorge Zalszupin was certainly ahead of his time - he designed these Paulistana chairs sometime in the 1960's and besides standing the test of time, they are a beautiful example of mid century design. The image above are the chairs & their ottomans when they arrived at our workshop - not in terrible condition (considering their age), but definitely worn, with some tears to the fabric and nicks on the wood.

One of the most notable details, however, was the incorrect placement of the seat-back brackets. These pieces had apparently been reupholstered previously, and the craftsman who did the work did not know how to put this piece back together! Worse, they didn't bother researching the piece to make sure they were being true to original design.

Additionally, our research indicates that the ottoman bases are not original to the designer, as the original design had a metal base similar to the chairs.

We completely restored the pieces down to the rosewood frames, including the restoration of the wood.

These pieces are very rare, and when you can find them, very expensive. Restoration is usually time consuming as we strive to preserve the integrity of the original design and function. Our goal is always use the same materials, or as close as possible, to the original.

We also do our homework, especially on a rare piece, to ensure that we are staying true to the designers vision. We have so much respect for these early pioneers, of course we make great efforts to make sure everything is perfect.

You may remember another Jorge Zalszupin set of chairs we restored not too long ago - and stay tuned, we have yet another Zalszupin chair in the workshop right now that we will be sharing at a later time!