site by Stefan Hepner

 

Olek Lejbzon & Co. undertakes restoration of fine furniture or architectural millwork on a small or large scale, ranging from a single kitchen chair requiring recaning to refinishing, reupholstering, and repairing all of the furniture of a major courthouse or a church, or the executive headquarters of a corporation. We work in our shop, or on-site, as our clients' require. Our shop occupies a 70.000 sq.ft. building in Newark, NJ, and a smaller 11.000 sq.ft. facility in NYC.

All types of finishes may be applied, ranging from clear or pigmented lacquer, to compounded polyester "piano" finishes.

Our reupholstery service includes custom residential and contract work. We handle all aspects of high-end residential reupholstery, and can use horse hair & cotton padding, partitioning of down cushions for stability and firmness, and offer fabrics from dozens of manufacturers. We also custom dye, stain and finish vegetable tanned leather.
We can refinish conference or board room tables on-site, with catalyzed lacquer or polyurethane. We carefully protect & mask all existing objects to avoid staining or contamination with dust. Applications of noxious finishes is generally done during off-hours, with precautions taken to minimize spreading of volatile fumes through HVAC systems.
Maintenance of existing finishes can be done on a contractual basis, or per job. We can furnish references upon request.

 
We routinely dispatch European cabinetmakers to inlay missing veneers, or solid wood, and can hand carve to match existing millwork. Such maintenance can be done on an hourly basis, or per job or periodic contractual basis.

 
 
Reupholstery services offered include cleaning of cloth & leather furniture and fabric wallcoverings or partitions, and recovering of furniture. We can furnish fabrics or work on a c.o.m. basis. Repairs may be done on-site.

 
This 19th century Gothic style pulpit required extensive replacement of missing moldings and carved elements. Matching new finishes with existing is an art , and Olek employs fine European artists with technical university degrees and many years practical experience to maintain the patina of our clients' furniture. They can routinely match difficult species of wood, and work closely with our cabinetmakers to achieve the best results.

 
 
Replacing as little wood as possible, our craftsmen inlay missing elements, and strive to save the maximum possible of an original piece.
Broken chair legs may have the upper and lower sections around a joint spliced together by rebuilding a leg around a mortise, achieving a functional repair that will last for decades.
We stand behind the quality of our repairs.

 
 

Unlike many other shops that merely mask a piece's structural defects before undertaking reupholstery, Olek Lejbzon & Co. carefully rebuilds or restores a piece of furniture's joints and other elements before reupholstering it.
   

The platform of this early 20th century sofa must be replaced, with new webbing, retieing the springs, sewing in new horsehair & cotton padding, and supplementing the feather cushion fill of the seat cushions.

 
   
The patina of an old leather sofa is wonderful. But , after 80 years or more, the leather is often too fragile to sit on. Our solution is to take a top-grain vegetable tanned hide, and then apply aniline dye, pigmented stains, and leather lacquer to replicate the patina of the original worn leather. We also work with exotic leathers including ostrich, buffalo, shark or manta ray, goat, calf, and suede.
 

This gondole chair on the left has a blind-caned back. The cane is stretched from hole to hole and pegged in place until the end, when the pegs are glued and cut off. We also do reweaving of:

  • splint (usually 1/16"x3/4" ash)
  • rush (natural or twisted natural or synthetic)
  • rope
  • wicker
  • rattan
  • bamboo
  • reed