Bridge Chairs May 3, 2016 00:06

Kiki Voltaire has been sourcing and restoring Bridge Chairs - Fauteuil Bridge - from France for nearly 10 years. Bridge chairs were originally designed in the late 1930s for ladies of leisure for games of bridge, afternoon tea and gossiping! The chairs are stylish, of small proportions, well made and extremely comfortable. Manufacturing continued until the 1950s.

Bridge chairs have a small compact size which makes them easy to use in most rooms - suiting a bedroom, office or even to accompany a dinning table. The frame is usually constructed in beech timber and on occasion oak - typically finished in natural wood or stained.

We often take delivery of the chairs covered in bicast (artificial) leather but we have also seen several interesting covers over the years!

We remove the entire upholstery as the springs and the padding are not so comfortable after 70 years! We also restore the wood, by cleaning or even removing the existing finishing which is often very dirty! This process can take several days - a real labour of love. Then we re-upholster the chair.

The final step is to decide on the fabric to finalise the design!

If you fancy learning how to restore Bridge Chairs and practice your French at the same time, check out these classes run by by Etienne Champenois of the Stage-Tapissier in Paris and Uzes.

For additional information on Bridge Chairs, check this blog by Capella Kincheloe were you can see a pair of our very early Bridge Chairs in Pink Camira fabric.