Saturday, November 16, 2013

Jarvi Armchair Makeover and Saturday's Vintage Treasure

Yesterday I was out all morning; first at a business consulting meeting, then to a sale where I picked up a couple of cute cabinets then to Balmain where a couple of pieces of my furniture are on consignment in a shop (D. Molineaux's Pop Up Shop, opposite the Town Hall pub). When I got home I was ready for some furniture renovation! I got busy with my paint brush and upholstery tools and supplies and refreshed a beautiful Jarvi Armchair. I love the look of these chairs and lounges and this one was in beautiful shape except for some slight wear to the timber and also the upholstery fabric needed replacing.


I decided to paint the timber in ASCP Graphite. I could have oiled it and left it but you have no idea how hard it is to sell brown wooden furniture. People just don't want it.  I did however want the timber to show through the paint and for the distressing to look soft and natural as though it had worn over the years.



The old upholstery was tacked AND stapled on and it took me an hour to remove it which is always the worst part of upholstering I find. Here is the before photo.



I was half tempted to just upholster over the original fabric but I thought that was just being lazy and I'm not very good at taking the easy way out.  So using my handy staple remover and pliers I stripped off the original fabric and shook out the dust and stuffing then put it all back together again, cut out the damask fabric using the old fabric as a guide and got stapling.


I had fun styling this just now next the beautiful carved cabinet that was my mum's. We are having a slow afternoon here today as my daughter has been vomiting since getting home from Little Athletics this morning and she and Phil are now having a sleep while my son and I potter, keeping the house quiet. Poor little girl. I hope she wakes better.



The chair is extremely comfortable to sit in and also looks good with a cushion.  Not just a show chair. It's for sale if you are interested.  Dimensions are 60cm deep, 58cm wide and approx 80cm from floor to top of the timber back. 



This morning my boy and I had a little wander around the school's car boot sale. I found a fabulous pair of matching silver serving tray dishes. $30 for the pair! They are heavy and well made. I didn't even try to barter as the old lady selling them was so lovely and even offered me some furniture that she is getting rid of. Nice people that you meet. 


I think these dishes will come in handy. Love them. The little handle works as a key and you can take it off and use the top as a dish also.


I love a vintage find on a Saturday.

Oh and here is my white cabinet in D Molineaux's window display!



and this little table



Have a great weekend
Fiona xx

11 comments:

  1. Lovely chair...And absolutely amazing what you can get accomplished in a day! Maybe you could bottle some of that energy and send it my way? Hope your little one is feeling better soon...
    Robin

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    1. Thanks Robin. I think I need to learn to relax!
      She’s much better today – Nippers this morning , and now at a friends. All good xx

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  2. love your chair but then again I love everything you do-love deex

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  3. The furniture is breath taking. What a great job you did on that chair!! So elegant. What I really want though is one of those little flying pigs in the last photo. Reminds me of my four pugs. :-) Love your blog.
    Sandra

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    1. thanks Sandra. much appreciated. the pigs are cute aren't they. Dee has beautiful things in her shop!

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  4. So beautiful Fiona, what a great makeover. Talented girl xx

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  5. What a fabulous make-over! Love it.

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  6. We have recently bought a new/old lounge suite. It says it was made by Jarvi & Co. year I'm not sure. It looks like your chair but the arms dip a tad more, the back is wood, no weave at all and the base looks like your french lounge. Is there a chance you could tell me what I have, not having a lot of luck finding information out there. Will send photo's if that will help.
    Hope you can help me
    My kind regards

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Thanks for taking the time to comment! Sorry if you have trouble commenting, you can always email me at lilyfieldlife@bigpond.com