Parker Knoll Fireside Chairs

Since I signed up to my upholstery course I have not been able to stop looking at chairs. I simply can't wait until July to start the course and have been scouring Freecycle, Gumtree, Ebay and the local charity furniture shops for a project to get me started. So when these little beauties appeared on Gumtree at a bargain price, how could I resist?

From Parker Knoll Revamp

They are a pair of 1960s Parker Knoll Fireside Chairs, model PK988 to be exact. They were in fairly good form when I picked them up apart from the hideous brown draylon velvet they had been upholstered in. I couldn't contain myself and stripped one of the chairs completely as soon as I got my hands on it! Mmmm look at those curves...

From Parker Knoll Revamp

The frames are solid teak wood and apart from a few scratches are in good condition. And look what I found under the upholstery when I stripped it off! The original label with model number and the date they were made 19.4.67. I love finding things like this, it makes something that little bit more special and interesting.

From Parker Knoll Revamp

I plan to strip off the orange tinted varnish, that most 1960s furniture is coated in, to take the wood back to it's natural colour. Then I'll reupholster it in fairly modern bold print, although I am still undecided on this. There are so many stunning fabrics out there, most of which are out of my price range, so I may look into printing my own. Check out this beautiful example of what I am trying to achieve, from the talented people at RESTORE in Cape Town.

Stay tuned for the rest of this revamp...