Fully Restored Chair. Traditional Upholstery by Emma Mullender

Upholstery Fabric. Haveli by Matthew Williamson (2020) by Emma Mullender

We love how my Dad’s armchair once again takes pride of place! Emma was extremely patient with us, expertly guiding us to make the best choices, and we absolutely love the finished piece! Thank you so much!

Jenni and Nic De Knoop

The Brief

This large winged back chair originally belonged to my customers father. It had been sitting in the garage for a very long time and was very much in need of a makeover. After viewing lots of fabrics, Nick chose “Haveli” which is the most beautiful richly coloured chenille jacquard fabric designed by Matthew Williamson. I was excited to work with such a luxurious fabric!

The Process

This chair definitely wins the title of “The Longest time stripping a chair” as it took me 7 hours to strip back to the wood! There were many layers underneath the dishevelled top fabric. The chair seemed to have been upholstered many times, without removing any of the old layers! As you can see from the above slide show, there were many techniques to reupholster the chair. It was a lot of work but I really enjoyed bringing it back to life, and the fabric was an absolute dream to work with!