Upholstery workshops

Upholstery can be a rewarding hobby or profession. If you'd like to learn more, take a workshop if you can. This is a great way to learn the basics of upholstery from a professional. Videos and books can be helpful but there is nothing like getting hands on experience with a professional.

With plenty of practice, you can learn how to transform old furniture into beautiful new pieces. Upholstery is a skill that takes time and practice to learn. Don't get discouraged if you don't get it right the first time. Be patient.  Consider your skill level and experience.  Don't try to be too ambitious on your first project. You may want to give up.

Removing all the old upholstery is hard and dirty work. It's part of the re-upholstery process so try not to get down hearted if you have to remove lots of staples and tacks. 

Our upholstery workshops are held in our Ellesmere workshop where we have moved to recently. We offer a four week booking of 2.5 hours per week, for a minimum of four weeks. You may need longer depending on your project, but 10 hours gives you enough time to see if you love or hate it. If you've never upholstered before then short stints are a better way to learn. It gives you time to rest rather than having a whole day which you will be shattered at the end of it. We want you to finish your project and not give up at the first hurdle if you are worn out having spent 7 hours upholstering. Mark has been doing this for 36 years and knows how tired he is at the end of the working day.

All tools are provided so no need to invest in tools. If you fancy having a go, then please do get in touch to discuss dates, and what sort of project you may have in mind. 

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Ole Wanscher chairs

We sometimes find chairs which we fall in love with. The design, shape and style just shouts at us. When we first saw this pair of Ole Wanscher chairs, we knew nothing about them but had to buy them. We are always thirsty for knowledge about any furniture we buy. Its lovely to know who the designer or maker is and its fascinating researching these designers and craftsmen.

Ole Wanscher was a designer we knew nothing about but the more we read about him, the more we wanted to know. 

Ole Wanscher was a Danish furniture designer born in 1903. He was known to be one of the greatest Scandinavian designers from the 20th Century. He was one of the leading figures in the Scandinavian Design movement, at a time when Scandinavian Design achieved worldwide popularity. He studied at the Danish School of Art & design and was influenced by Professor Kaare Klint. After completing his studies, the two worked together, setting up an office specializing in furniture design.

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Restored Danish Chair

I'm trying to improve my before and after photographs so you can see what can be done if you have the imagination and that is what you need, imagination.

These Danish arm chairs have always been popular, probably because the are small but also comfortable. Perfect for everyday use, and most comfortable with a good book.

Much of our unrestored Danish furniture doesn't get into the shop. Customers can see our stock on the website, then visit our workshop, and if they have the imagination they can choose the fabric and finish. This means you have a truly unique piece of furniture in your home. Now I know its not always easy to see past the often grubby old fabric, but if you look at a Danish sofa or chair, you can see the shape. They often have a lovely grain in the wood. Whoever made the chair or sofa had taken time to choose the timber and think about where it would look at it best.

They are often not huge pieces of furniture either which is what we specialise in. Small sofas and chairs are not always easy to find. If you have a small space, or indeed you are not six foot tall and want something comfortable and supportive to sit it, Danish chairs and Danish sofas are well worth considering.

The Danish sofa or Danish chair is stripped back to the frame, which means every piece of upholstery is removed. The frame is re-glued and repaired if required, legs sanded, stained and polished to the customers requirements. The frame is then upholstered so it complies with the UK fire regulations, and the final cover of the customers choice to finish. Hand stitched piping is often done to finish a piece off with studs or braid as requested or required. A completed Danish sofa or Danish chair ready for another lifetime of use. When you have quality frames, and use quality fillings and fabrics, this is what you have, a Danish sofa or Danish chair which will last.

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Restored Danish Mid Century Sofa

I'm not always very good at showing before and after photos as I often forget to take after photos, but this small Danish mid century sofa really shows what can be done if you have the imagination.

Much of our unrestored Danish furniture doesn't get into the shop. Customers can see our stock on the website, then visit our workshop, and if they have the imagination they can choose the fabric and finish. This means you have a truly unique piece of furniture in your home. Now I know its not always easy to see past the often grubby old fabric, but if you look at a Danish sofa or chair, you can see the shape. This is what we love about much of the Danish chairs and Danish sofas we have, their shapes. They are often not huge pieces of furniture either which is what we specialise in. Small sofas and chairs are not always easy to find. If you have a small space, or indeed you are not six foot tall and want something comfortable and supportive to sit it, Danish chairs and Danish sofas are well worth considering.

The Danish sofa or Danish chair is stripped back to the frame, which means every piece of upholstery is removed. The frame is re-glued and repaired if required, legs sanded, stained and polished to the customers requirements. The frame is then upholstered so it complies with the UK fire regulations, and the final cover of the customers choice to finish. Hand stitched piping is often done to finish a piece off with studs or braid as requested or required. A completed Danish sofa or Danish chair ready for another lifetime of use. When you have quality frames, and use quality fillings and fabrics, this is what you have, a Danish sofa or Danish chair which will last.

The photographs below show what is possible if you have the imagination. If you'd like to see our currently availability then please take a look, or get in touch if you would like us to source something for you.

Danish chairs 

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Danish Sofa Restoration

The Danish furniture we buy to restore and re-upholster is quite often unusual pieces which you may not have seen before. We like interesting individual pieces, and we can see beyond the sad upholstery. We can see shapes and detail that lots of people would miss or would not even entertain! The skills Mark has lets us buy furniture which some would turn their nose up at and dismiss without a second glance.

This particular sofa caught our attention for a few reasons. Its actually bigger than we would normally buy, but what struck us was that it wasn't deep. We have so many people come into the shop complaining that lots of furniture is so deep, their feet don't touch the floor and its not good for posture. This hit the spot and the teak arm tops gave this simple looking sofa, style and elegance without being fussy. We don't like fussy show off furniture! 

It hadn't been long on our website when a local couple came into the shop to enquire about it. They had been looking for quite sometime but couldn't find anything new they liked and most sofas were just too deep. They came out to the workshop to see the unrestored sofa and decided it was for them. They chose the orange wool from Abraham Moon as they liked bright colours. Most of the modern furniture they had been looking at was beige so beige was not even and option on this piece. Orange works so well with teak and is one of our favourite fabrics. Natural wool and hard wearing so ticks all the boxes.

The sofa was delivered yesterday, so take a look at the video to see the before and after photos. If you don't have imagination then hopefully this will help.

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