Portfolio

Dining chair

I bought two of these chairs second hand from a lady in Pickering. She explained that the chairs had been in her family for years and had been much loved and that she really wanted them to go to a good home. For me this made it all worthwhile and I couldn't wait to return the chairs to their former glory!

I stripped the chairs back to their frames, waxed and polished the wood, and re-built the horsehair pads from scratch. There are a lot of layers in these seats and hours of stitching and teasing!

The best bit is always putting the top fabric on as this is what brings the chair back to life. For this one I chose a lovely green ticking stripe, which set the newly polished wood of brilliantly.

It is now ready for another 100 years of use!

Gainsborough chair

This chair was kindly donated to me by a family friend.

This is a Gainsborough chair, otherwise known as a Library chair, and this particular example is likely to be from the late 1800s, or early 1900s.

When I started stripping the chair down I discovered that there was a lot going on underneath the top fabric. 4 other layers of top fabric to be precise! As the layers came off a whole different chair began to appear. Under it all there was a deep buttoned back which I managed to salvage!

Although I kept the back, the springs in the seat had gone so I re-sprung and re-stuffed the seat. I covered it in a bold harlequin fabric and finished off the detail with some double piping.

Quite the statement piece!

Victorian spoon-back chair

This piece was in quite bad condition when I bought it. The upholstery was holding the frame together so when I stripped it down there was quite a lot of repair work to be done to make the frame solid again.

It had been originally stuffed with a French seaweed called Alva Marina, (which was quite common in Victorian chairs), but had been deep buttoned at a later date.

I re-sprung, re-stuffed and re-covered the chair and left it without the buttons as I wanted to keep it as true to the original as possible.

This is one of my favourite pieces as it has such a beautiful shape and it looks fantastic with the subtle floral fabric.

Parker Knoll

This was another second hand find and had been living in someone's garage for a few years. It had been shredded by their cats and had even had a mouse living in the arm!

I stripped everything back to the wood and springs to start again. The wood was in really good condition because Parker Knoll's were so well made so there was no need for any repair work.

I re-stuffed the chair using foam and recovered it using different fabrics to create a patchwork effect. I really wanted to make it look crisp and funky - to bring it into the 21^st Century!

I love this chair now and it just goes to show what effect fabric choices have on your feelings about a piece. I also think the pink legs bring it all together.

Butterfly chair

This chair was in total disrepair when I bought it, but it was such an interesting shape I couldn't resist.

When I stripped it down there was some work to be done on the frame, but the spring cage was in good condition, so when I'd repaired the wood I covered it in foam and re-upholstered it in this cute butterfly fabric.

Now this is the perfect chair for a little girl's bedroom!