Ingmar Relling designed these great daybeds for norwegian manufacturer Ekornes in the mid- sixties. They were part of a vey successful line of furniture that could be combined in many ways, hence the name Combina. We used to have them at home when I grew up, and one of them became my bed when my parents got new couches. The seat could be lifted to store my pillow and duvet when I had friends over. It's a classic mid- century piece of furniture, quite similar to the George Nelson daybed.
A couple of years ago I tried to get hold of a couple of them, put an ad on FINN (the norwegian equiuvalent to Ebay) and found two just an hours drive from where I live! And they were the exact same green color we had back home.
The woodwork was in quite a bad shape, the legs having been bumped into for decades when vacuuming. The daybeds had spent the last ten years in a basement and were soon to be thrown out. All the legs as well as the support for the seatbacks needed som TLC real badly. The less visible parts of 60s teak furniture were often made of beech wood and then given a teak stain. This was a way of economizing as exotic woods were very expensive. The exposed wooden parts are made of teak, and, luckily, are in very good shape.
I sanded all the old stain and oil off (hard work to do by hand, do not recommend it...), then gave it a new coat of good quality teakwood stain. I was originally planning to reupholster them, but the color is so great, and you don't get wool fabric of a similar quality anymore. I decided it would be a shame not to keep it, and had it thoroughly cleaned.
I gave away some perfectly good couches for these, and have to admit they are not half as comfortable, but I love them to bits..... I'm totally in love with teak firniture. I have a beautiful credenza that I will show you later. The table in the photographs are my grandparents old coffee table, also in gorgeous teak. Bless the sixties!
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