Q. I have an very dark set of pine family room furniture that came from a very expensive furniture store back in the late 1970's. I am tired of this dark look and want to refinish the set lighter. Is there any thing special I need to do with this set or do you think the dark color will come out when I strip the old finish off the set?

A. Stripping this set will lighten it only to the extent that the finish had color added to it, which probably was not much. The pine was stained with dark stain over raw wood or perhaps after using a conditioner to even out the color. In any event the pigment of the stain has penetrated deeply into the pine because it is so soft. The end grains in particular will have absorbed a great deal of color.

The set probably will appear to have a grayish tint after you complete the stripping. You can then bleach it using two part wood bleach or oxalic acid. Do not use household chlorine bleach. Chlorine will give the pine an ugly yellow-green cast on top of the gray. Even after you bleach the set repeatedly you probably will never bring it back to the look of natural soft wood. It will always have a grayish cast and the end grains will be dark. Save yourself a great deal of trouble and expense and either paint the set in some imaginative decorating scheme or sell it to someone who can still appreciate the vintage look. After all that look will almost certainly be back in style some day.

Q. My second hand Danish modern couch is starting to show its age. I have re-oiled the teak and it looks pretty good and I am looking at fabric to have the cushions redone but I am concerned about the webbing under the cushion. It looks like rubber and it is very stretched out. In some places it has started to break and does not support the cushion very well. It fits in groove in the edge of the frame. What is this called and how do I replace it?

A. You have what is known as Pirelli webbing, like the tire company. It should definitely be replaced if it is sagging. You can order the 2" wide replacement webbing from most finishing and furniture supply houses including Van Dyke's Restorers, 800-558-1234, www.vandykes.com  or Constantine's, 800-443-9667, www.constantines.com . You can order by the foot or the roll. You also need the webbing clips that hold the fabric into the slot. They are very inexpensive and well worth the cost rather than trying to reopen and reuse the existing clips which are also probably rusty. 

Order some extra webbing so you can experiment with the length of the individual straps. They should be pulled tight into the groove but not stressed. Once you find the right length cut all succeeding straps from the original pattern, not from each successive strap. You will also find lots of other uses for the left over webbing. It makes great vibration isolators on electric motors and is useful in clamping wooden furniture since it has some natural hold. It allows you to put clamps on a slightly curved surface without marring the wood.

Q. Why is a certain type of high end couch called a recamier?

A. The name comes from a portrait, now hanging in the Louvre, painted by French artist Jacques Louis David of Madame Recamier in 1800. Juliette Recamier was royally yet provocatively lounging on a couch shaped like an ancient Roman bed for the portrait. Madame Recamier was a much celebrated beauty and social figure of the French Empire, having many flagrant affairs with members of high society after having been wed at the age of 15 to a middle aged banker. The name just became associated with the style of the couch.

The version of the flat couch from the French Empire period that has one end higher than the other is called a meridenne.

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