We ran across a Primavera wood headboard, by Herman Miller, with the ebonized wood legs and two drop-down padded backrests which conceals storage space.
The top and sides of the unit were heavily scratched and water stained. The drop-down padded backrests had been previously redone by gluing cane to the fronts (replacing the padding and upholstery), and then putting formica on the opposite side of the frame as a backing – a real collector of dust bunnies! This was as good an example of how NOT to retrofit a beautiful piece of furniture as I’ve ever seen.
The first order of business was to take the frames for the backrests down to the bare frame. This piece had been reupholstered so many times, it was hard to find a spot of solid wood to staple anything to and have it hold. I decided to fill all the holes with wood putty and add support “L” ‘s to the corner of the frame for support. Purchasing 2″ webbing material from the local fabric shop, I interwove the horizontal and vertical straps and stapled them to the now solid frame.
Next, the exterior of the headboard had to be stripped and sanded. The deep scratches would just become part of the “character” of the piece, but the stains just would not disappear. I brought out the wood bleach (Oxalic Acid – available at any hardware store), and spent a couple of hours total working on a smaller and smaller stain area until it was clear of any stain. With sanding and my wife’s magic touch with stain and finishes, the shell looked remarkable!
After a lot of time researching on the internet I was able to find replacement spring loaded ball catches that had fallen out of the bottom of the frame. The final steps were the padding and upholstering of the drop-down back frames.
I really think we were the last stop before the junkyard for this beautiful piece. It smiles at me whenever I see it.
RetroRefit 