The old wooden bench has regained its former beauty and charm

I'm one of those people who appreciates old furniture and feels comfortable surrounded by all kinds of "junk". I feel so connected to past generations, I feel that we are still together, that time stands still precisely to keep us together. But even furniture ages with us and something has to be done to save it. Unfortunately I had an unpleasant experience in the past with a bench with chairs that can be classified as German baroque, which I love very much and which has been reupholstered without paying due attention to the wooden parts, especially the joints. Now the chairs are almost unusable because they creak and move and are totally unsafe.

That's why I want to show you how a very similar bank was rescued to understand why I always tell you to call in the professionals. I saw this bank at SaveMob. It was basically a set, with armchairs and chairs, that you could see the beauty of despite the way it looked when it was brought in for restoration. It was clear that it had been altered over the years, with the seat part reupholstered, but with a totally different material than the backrest had been made of.

It was also missing one of its front legs, so it could not be used without the risk of breaking under the weight of the person sitting on it.

At first, textiles and all upholstery were removed. Parts badly damaged by decay or by interventions over time (nails, badly repaired tears) were identified and removed and then restored.

All other parts were dismantled, stripped of all joints and cleaned down to the wood.

This was followed by the restoration of missing or badly damaged parts. The advantage of repairs made to SaveMob is that we are talking about a workshop where there are specialists for each area. If the bench had been taken to an upholsterer, as I did years ago, there is a possibility that the upholstery part would be very well done, instead everything wood would be repaired as far as an upholsterer can. That is, the legs were re-glued, nailed here and there, without rebuilding the seat part that had simply been destroyed in the past by faulty attempts to stabilize the seat. The result I mentioned above.

In the case of the bench I'm talking about, the missing parts have been rebuilt by sculptors, copying the model perfectly.

With the missing pieces rebuilt, each piece was glued together. They were then clamped in presses and left for the time needed for the adhesive to set and the gluing to be perfect. This is where a specialist carpentry team comes in. In the photo you can see the wooden corners that were added after gluing the structure at the perfect angle. This is how the sofa becomes very solid.

After that, the whole wooden part was sanded white, beaten, primed, the primer was sanded after drying, and finally the lacquer was applied, just like in a furniture factory.

Once the varnish was completely dry, the upholstered parts were restored. The upholstery was done with bows tied with thick string, zebra and sackcloth, as it was done in the old days. No sponge, polyurethane foam or anything like that.

As the original fabric used was not known, the bank having been upholstered and reupholstered over the years, the client chose a fabric that was both pleasant and a little precious, to highlight the beauty and value of the bank. The result was truly remarkable.

The bench was brought along with 2 armchairs and 6 chairs, as damaged as the bench. Team SaveMob worked professionally and managed to save them all. The workshop's policy is that at the end of each job the customer takes delivery, after which they agree to delivery. This way the owner received back a beautiful and durable piece of furniture, which he will enjoy for decades to come, keeping the memories with him.