Sometimes a fabric collection is launched and I fall in love with it. This new collection from Pierre Frey has the wow factor for me. The Tara wool is the perfect fabric for our mid century Danish chairs.

Pierre Frey say:

The characteristic of Donegal yarn is that it is made up of small flecks of bright and contrasting colours, finely and irregularly scattered over the entire surface of the yarn, which itself is often made up of several tones.  This mottled effect gives Donegal wool a handmade look that is both rustic and chic.

Tara is a pure new wool semi-plain tweed, is traditionally woven in Donegal and is made distinctive by the woollen flecks that punctuate its surface with fine coloured contrasts. If time has made the Irish tweed famous, the incredible work of yarn spinning as the exclusive colour range by Sequana make this fabric inimitable.

This Irish wool is soft, hard wearing and because its wool, sustainable. This wool does come at a cost, but quality and luxury costs that bit more and are worth paying for. Click on the link and watch this wonderful video showing how this fabric is made.

What do you class as a statement chair? There was an article in one of the weekend newspaper supplements which was about statement chairs. Quite frankly I found them rather dull and ordinary. A statement chair in my mind is a chair which has the wow factor. It can be a chair which is mass produced but it needs to have style, and be designed to catch the eye. It could be a chair which has a stunning fabric on it which gives it the wow factor. Above all it needs to be different and I couldn't find anything in this article which was different. All the fabrics were also plain and run of the mill, just ordinary.

Maybe I'm expecting too much. Are there enough customers who want a real statement chair rather than a run of the mill chair? Maybe this is why mass produced furniture is ordinary as that is what customers want. Are you scared of having something a bit different and with a wow factor? If so why? 

A statement chair I would say also needs to be comfortable. Why pay money for something you won't sit on, so I would always recommend sitting and trying furniture before buying. Its a very personnel thing. What suits one person, won't necessarily suit the partner or other member of the family. We are all different shapes and sizes so its important to try, and sit for a while to ensure the chair is comfortable and has the support you need.

If you're looking for a one off piece, our Danish and vintage pieces and be upholstered in the fabric of your choice, which means there would not be another chair like this. Our handmade chairs are available to be upholstered in thousands of different fabrics, can you can be as wow as you wish.

If you need some inspiration, this Danish teak arm chair looks so different from when it was upholstered originally. 

Well, 2020, what can I say? It's been tough. January was a great start to the year. We were busy and looking forward to our best year. Then we were hit by rain, and more rain which caused Shrewsbury to have the worst floods for decades. We had to close the shop because we couldn't get in. All roads in and out were flooded. It was pretty grim. Shrewsbury even made the national news.

Just as we thought things couldn't get any worse, Covid 19, Corona virus hit the UK with vengeance and we had to close. Schools closed early for Easter, but it will be over in a few weeks, perhaps a month or by the end of April we thought. How wrong could we be. We carried on working in the workshop as we had orders to fulfill until our supplies ran out and we couldn't get anymore until our suppliers opened. They re-opened and ran out of stock as the factories making upholstery sundries had been closed. They were now having to social distance so less people working and less stock being made and going out. The NHS (quite rightly) were given priority over anyone else, so we had to make do, and do what we could. 

June re-opening was a bit of a damp squib if I'm honest. I think many people were still too scared and worried about coming out. July picked up and we had a great month. 

August's drama was our son's A level results. Not what he was expecting but after a stressful few days, the results were over turned and he got what he deserved. University at Liverpool Hope was waiting to welcome him. When the virus started to spread again in September, our son's Computer Science course was online only. As parents we were worried that he wouldn't be able to come home for a weekend if he got homesick so we all waited a few weeks to see if things improved. It got worse in Liverpool with the city going into the highest lock down in the UK. Our son, initially not happy about staying at home, was then somewhat relieved that he was able to study from the comfort of his own home. When some of his friends caught the virus from other universities, he understood our concerns and was happy to continue working from home online.

November lock down arrived. It was cold and miserable in the workshop. I can honestly say that I was not enjoying being in there and I now have more sympathy with Mark when he is grumpy from working in a cold environment. Is there such thing as a warm workshop?

Mark was trained 33 years ago as a traditional upholsterer, so when we ventured into the Danish and mid century furniture about four years ago it was initially a little bit alien to him.

Figuring out how to re-upholster something so different from a Victorian chair was both challenging, and a huge learning curve. You are constantly learning when you are a skilled upholsterer and craftsman.

We fell in love with Danish furniture. Its quite often simple, small but what was surprising is the quality. Quite frankly the build quality is superior to some of the British designs.

The attention to detail is also what we love about this Danish mid century furniture. Gorgeous grain in the wood, elegant shapes, we were converted! The other beauty is that style wise it fits into all styles of homes, and if you happen to be in a small space, it fits. With all the mass produced furniture out there, we cannot understand why you wouldn't want a unique piece for your home.

Restored and re-upholstered saves waste, timber and will probably last longer than some of the new furniture which is made today.