Emotions ran high during a repeat episode of The Repair Shop on Thursday (August 20), as woodworker Will Kirk and upholstery expert Sonnaz Nooranvary encountered a pair of furniture design classics.
"Great chairs," Will said, before noting: "I don't know what's happened to them, they smell quite damp." Sonnaz added: "I was about to say, the smell is quite strong, isn't it?"
A pair of forlorn chairs
The experts met with the owner, Roger Parsons, who explained that the chairs once belonged to his twin brother, Chris. "He had them when he lived in Cornwall in the late 80s, early 90s. An opportunity for work took him to Florida. But he kept the house, rented it out with his possessions, and then he sold it, and I was tasked with emptying the contents out - and the chairs were amongst those items," Roger said.
"Chris sadly lost his life to cancer back in July 2022," Roger went on, detailing how close he was to his brother, who was just 17 minutes older than him. Sonnaz then shared: "Chris obviously had great taste, because these are ercol chairs. Quite stunning pieces. These were designed 100 years ago, if not more. And they're handmade."
'I've never seen chairs so bad'
The guest revealed that he was "ashamed" of the poor condition the chairs had reached. He said: "Well, I guess you can see, I didn't really look after them as well as I might have done. I've had them in storage, but it was damp storage. They've been under tarpaulin with a lot of other things in my lock-up. We've got fractures here. You can see a lot of water damage. Loose joints. I'm just ashamed, actually, that they've ended up in this condition."
As he began to assess the damage in his workshop, Will shared his concerns: "I've never seen chairs so bad." He added: "That crack at the top there - I'm not sure if I can fill that with something. And down at the bottom here, where it actually fits into the base of the chair, that has all crumbled away. I'm not too sure how I'm going to fix this."
An incredible transformation
After much deliberation, Will eventually decided to bleach the wood, while Sonnaz replaced the fabric cushioning. The chairs were almost unrecognisable when the experts unveiled them to Roger. "Wow, that's incredible. Absolutely amazing, amazing. I don't know which one to look at first! I've never seen them looking so good, and I'm sure Chris didn't either," a speechless Roger said.
He went on: "They'd be his best chairs, I think. [I] never really thought that they'd look anything like this at all," before Will jokingly interjected: "Nor did I!"
