1960's Icelandic Chair in Bute Tweed

A 1960's armchair made by Icefurn reupholstered in Bute Turnberry tweed.

This chair was manufactured by Icefurn and designed by Th. Gudmundsson (see labels below attached to underside rail). The customer remembers this being something to do with a business venture between his father and an Icelandic colleague, probably in the 1960's. If anyone can shed any light on the origin of the chair, please get in touch.

The chair came to me in the worst state imaginable, my customer having found it in his dad's barn where it was being lived in by rats. Before I got my hands on it, it looked like this:

As it was so bad, I made one of my daft little films of the restoration project, here it is for your viewing delight.

This was a commission.

American rocking chair

A (1940's?) American rocking chair in fabric supplied by the customer.

This came to me in pieces and I was very close to just saying 'no', but the customer told me how they'd had it for many years and how much it meant to the family so I agreed to have a go at it. I took it apart and glued it back together, fixed up the inner rails so they could take the upholstery webbing and by the time I'd fully reupholstered it, I'd come to understand why they liked it...

It's quite nice innit?


This was a commission.

Bus Stop Chair at Abercraf

Here's another old dining chair I saved from landfill, now available for bus travellers on the A4067 at Abercraf ((A4221 turnoff).

This blue painted shelter is clearly too Cardiff City for local Swansea fans who have graced it with the direct 'Cardiff Scum' and the classy 'We 8 Cardiff'. As a Luton Town fan, I thought I'd best use an orange fabric to state my own allegiance.

The chair is covered in a ludicrous cheap fur and adorned with some complementary lurid fishing lures on the leg.

And why not?

More dining chairs in Welsh wool

A set of hardwood dining chairs reupholstered in Melin Tregwynt Mondo Sage doublecloth.

The customer liked how the darker shaded spots not only match the wood colour, but mirror the carved circles on the back spindles. I rather like this too. And I love how the spots form nice straight lines - I love straight lines.

This reproduction dining set was of no real quality but now looks better than anything you can buy on the High Street. You can easily pick up a set of dining chairs at auction for under £50 - give them to me and I'll reupholster them for roughly £30 each plus the cost of the fabric. Four upholstered dining chairs in a spectacular fabric for less than £250 - even Ikea can't match that...

These were a commission.

Oak Dining Chairs in Welsh Wool

A set of eight oak dining chairs (6 diners, 2 carvers) reupholstered in Melin Tregwynt Carew Ember.

A very high quality dining set now in a very high quality fabric. It's important to find an accent colour for the wood when selecting a fabric, and the light orange shapes in this one matched the wood perfectly.

This was a commission.

Armchair in Linen

A 1980's High-Wycombe armchair in Tinsmith's Lichen Linen.

As any upholsterer will know, linen is a very unforgiving fabric to work with, it shows any bumps and almost highlights any hand stitching. Nevertheless I was happy with this chair. The wings had to be entirely pre-stitched by machine and slid on - something like a loose cover that is anything but loose. Each wing/arm took five or more attempts, but once they were done the job was all but finished. Thankfully it was a feather cushion, nice and easy.

This was a commission.

(Further apologies for the phone photography, I now have my camera back so things should improve).