Below is a beautiful Victorian era fainting couch. Our client wanted to surprise his mother with this restoration as a Christmas gift. This is one of her favorite pieces, but it was in dire need of restoration. Since the house was being totally renovated, it seemed like a good time to sneak the fainting couch out of the house.
The restoration was complete from the ground up! We discovered some damaged springs, many broken glue joints, and some added 2×4’s that a previous upholsterer had added to try to stabalize the springs.
All the fabric and old padding was removed, then the spring unit was removed in order to strip the old finish. Once stripped, the frame was completely disassembled, repaired, and re-glued.
The show wood is all nice quarter sawn oak. It was stained a rich classic walnut color and finished in a satin sheen.
Before the cover fabric could be installed, the springs were repaired (correctly), retied eight ways, and the padding was replaced. The final upholstery details included adding all the buttons and decorative nail heads.
The result was a great looking antique, restored for the next 100 years! Take a look at these before photos and you get an idea of the surprising transformation.
