This insane story is finally out!! Click the link in our bio to watch the 26 minute documentary. Thank you @nbcnews and @aniucar for investigating and producing this phenomenal piece - I know you guys worked super hard on this. We're so grateful to get our story out there.
Broken Eames Lounge Lower Backrest.
Most shops repair these by taking the cheapest route and simply glue the break right back together in either ignorance of how plywood works, or worse, zero concern for the longevity of the repair - creating a weak, brittle, and dangerous joint that will soon break again. We know because we see these rebroken lazy glue jobs on a regular basis. We have the equipment and Master Woodworkers to properly rebuild the molded plywood. Each backrest spends roughly 40 hours with our experts.
We also meticulously puzzle the Rosewood back together. If you get the details perfect under the magnifying glass, it looks nearly invisible to the naked eye. We also make the repair butter smooth. You don't want to be able to run your hand over and feel the break, at all. We see many of these that are tragically repaired by slathering a lot of wood filler wax plus pen graining. The wax shortcut makes it difficult to rework later, as wax repels all adhesives.
We also see many who trusted a shop that improperly repaired the original shockmounts. Either by using cheap replacement shockmounts or re-gluing the original shockmounts on a 1st-3rd generation lounge. Aging rubber breaks down into a kind of micro-dirt. And if you glue to that, it will eventually shed enough that the shockmount fails again. Many shops only replace one or two shockmounts when all four need replacing. Sadly, a lot of the Eames Lounges we repair arrive within one year of having been purchased from reputable dealers and restorers. Catastrophic damage can be the outcome of these shortcuts.
Sometimes, it seems impossible to tell if a backrest has been broken after we've repaired it, but a keen investigator will be able to see the small signs. We are Eames Specialists and have repaired and restored thousands of Eames Lounges from all over the world, over more than 20 years. We are known for our conservation approach, employing original materials and methods for the era of the piece.
If this accident happens to you, don't beat yourself up, you know where to come for a sound repair with a long term guarantee. Thank you for hiring us to do the work we love.
How did you spend your weekend?
This is Root. He had a productive weekend. He found this little couch from my childhood. I was back and forth between the workshops and the studio all day Sunday and he was there on this couch in the studio every single time I popped back in. 😅 🐈 😼 👑
#modernism #modernarchitecture #catslovemodernism #modernconscience #interiordesign #seattledesign
Lots of gratitude that we get to work on Eames Lounges (and lots of other special Eames furniture, and lots of other special Modern Classics 😝...) every day.
We are known worldwide for mending the worst of the worst. Collectors and institutions come to us for our conservation mindset. We always work to restore the piece to as original as possible. We only use original materials and methods, and we manufacture all of those obsolete period-specific components and hardware that are impossible to find.
Now decades into this work, we are in it for the love of the craft. 🙏
Happy to be here. 💋
***We have several vintage Brazillian Rosewood Eames Lounge and Ottoman sets available for custom restoration. They range in era from 1st to 3rd generation. DM if you are interested.
***We also buy vintage Brazillian Rosewood Eames Lounges and Ottomans. The more tattered, the better, we can handle it. 🙌 DM if you're interested in selling.
#Eames #vintageeames #experteamesrestorer #eamesexpert #eamesbuyer #eamesloungeandottoman #vintageamesloungeandottoman #eamesrestoration #specialtyfurniturerestoration #midcenturyfurniture #modernclassicfurniture #heirloomfurniturerestoration #eamesrepair #670/671 #hermanmiller #vitra #Millerknoll #brazillianrosewoodfurniture #rosewoodeames #interiordesign #designrestoration #collectiblefurniture #furniturecollection #midcenturymodern #modernism #onmodernism #modernconscience
Two of my babies. Root, who seems to love all of my furniture as much as I do, and my Risom sofa, which is among the first pieces I bought for myself.
I was in Chicago, putting myself through college and getting my Architecture degree. As a designer, your home and your furniture is an extension of yourself and I already felt this way. I couldn't really afford this sofa I found in an antique store in my neighborhood. But it was so perfect. It's a beast at 7'6" long, and the seat is 2' deep with the loose cushions removed. I am tall and hated the body pain of wedging myself onto friends sofas, my head on one armrest and my ankles on the other - I wanted a sofa I could stretch out on, and that guests could sleep on and think 'wow, that's the most comfy couch I've crashed on.' The frame is Brazillian Rosewood and it has two internal hardwood beams that make it stout and weigh as much as a tank. The shop owner was kind enough to put it on 'layaway' for me, interest free, and I popped in once a month to visit it, and pet it, and make payments. After parting with $1200 altogether, and feeling like a crazy person for spending so much money on a piece of furniture, I brought it home and we've been in love ever since.
Helping with the photo shoot.....
It was dirty and needed to be trimmed, so I let him have his fun. 😂
#shopcat #catsandmodernism #catsofinstagram #catphotoshoot
Another top to bottom Eames lounge restoration. Always honored to work on each one of these.
This one came from an interior designer who rewarded herself for her success in her new practice by buying this chair new from the showroom in the 70's. She called on us to restore it so that she could pass it along to her family. She chose brown leather, both originally and for the restoration, which is absolutely striking against this particular flitch of Brazilian Rosewood. We restored the rosewood, which was badly chipped and damaged from years of love, and reupholstered in a yummy brown buttery smooth leather. We'll post some additional before and after photos soon.
Much love to everyone for supporting our hard work in conserving these classics.
Eames Lounge restore. Full restoration on this one: new leather, new upholstery fill and backers, new shockmounts, polish the aluminum, replace missing hardware with period correct components, refinish wood, repair chips and dings in wood, and of course, carefully preserve those spectacular original labels.
