Home is where the Vinyl is..

The Brief

• To style music corner.
• 3m X 1.5m space.
• Storage of vinyl records, decks, mixer and amplifier.
• Concealed Storage
• Harmony with rest of room
• Design to please both homeowners.
• Original upcycled furniture
• Disco ball and Lights

The Process

I started off by looking for a suitable sideboard for the record decks and mixer to sit on. It needed to be the right height, width and depth, hold a few record’s and also be at the right price! Keeping to a budget when buying second-hand furniture is important as you’ll be spending money on materials, which can be costly!

The next step was to plan the design and colour scheme. Knowing the music corner had to flow well with the rest of the room, I chose to use blues, greens, golds and browns to blend with the rest of the kitchen.

The Details

I usually use wallpaper when restyling furniture, but it can be expensive and add ££ to the materials budget. So when I came across this beautiful peacock design gift wrap, I was chuffed! It was good quality paper, the colours were just right and at £3 a sheet, you really can’t go wrong! When using paper on any upcycling project it has to be sealed to a waterproof and wipe clean finish so it is protected for many years to come.

The sideboard has a 2tone distressed paint finish. I used an ochre colour as the base layer, then a bold turquoise blue on top. The drawers were painted with a mid grey paint to give contrast. By choosing a mixture of gold, and black & white handles, I have picked out the key colours in the peacock design paper.

The tall unit was purchased in “Trading Boundaries” In East Sussex. Its a great shop that sells a lovely range of antique Indian furniture. The cupboard comfortably fits a CD player, amp and about 300 records!

The whole interior scheme has been united by either the colours (greens golds and blues) or the repetition of circles (records, disco ball, art). The circle of life painting (by local Forest Row artist Sarah Charlton) looks great against the lattice design of the tall unit. The metal circle art, which sits above the sideboard has background lights and includes a musical word-search!

If you would like a design consultation, my first initial meeting is free of charge.

Emma x

Painted Russian Doll House

Inspiration and the Process

I have a collection of Russian dolls that I’ve wanted to make a ‘house’ for a long time. They had been sitting on a shelf for years, but I wanted something more permanent for them. I went on a search to find the right size ‘home’ and found a plain white kitchen shelf on a second hand selling site, which I just knew would be perfect for the job!

Using a mixture of acrylic paints, I painted flowers and butterflies on a background of black to create a arch shaped design that would help highlight and show off the dolls unique designs.

I’m not sure if I’m just imagining this, but I’m sure their smiles are wider than before, either way, they look happy in their new home 🙂

It is said that Matryoshka Dolls represent a woman’s fertility and motherhood. The design of the big-bellied doll portrays a mother’s plump figure and her important roll in the family, by the nesting of her “children” dolls inside.

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!

“Fully upholstered Victorian Horse Shoe Chair” by Emma Mullender

Crushed velvet fabric on antique chair (2016) by Emma Mullender

Thank you so much for the painstaking attention to detail in restoring my chair. It looks and feels beautiful and has been given a whole new lease of life. The care, craftmanship and professional service was more than I had hoped for and I am therefore a very happy customer.

Zoe Constable

The Brief

This Victorian Horse shoe chair had been in the clients family for many years. Nothing was salvageable needed a full strip down and be rebuilt. My client found some great quality crushed velvet fabric that was a dream to work with. She wanted the chair to sit pride and place again in her home.

The Process

Rebuilding a chair is a physical job. It requires a lot of patience and a huge amount of time to strip and rebuild a chair. Traditional methods, which include re-webbing, sewing in new springs and a gradual build up of stuffing using hessian, horse hair, coconut fibre, cotton wadding and special stiches were used to complete this antique chair. Double piping frames the arms and side panels.

Fully upholstered chair covered in Themis fabric by Sanderson.

Upholstered chair (2018) by Emma Mullender

“Emma went above and beyond to help me source the most beautiful fabric. She has an excellent eye for detail and has given my chair a new lease of life. I love it”

Liz Stark

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The Brief

Quite often the reason I’m asked to upholster a chair is because it has been inherited and has a sentimental value. Liz wanted to transform her dads old chair and small footstool. She wanted a modern fabric, but a design that would stand the test of time.

The Process

I took Liz fabric shopping to get a feel of what she likes. She chose a beautiful peacock design fabric, made by Sanderson. When I received the chair it was in a sorry state to say the least! It needed to be stripped back to the wood and built back up again. Originally the chair had a very flimsy box cushion seat made of foam, which I changed to a fixed seat by building up layers using traditional upholstery methods. I also sanded the dark varnish off the arms, exposing a lighter shade of oak, which matched perfectly with the feathers in the fabric.

“Pub Bench” Stig Ljunberg fabric” by Emma Mullender

Upcycled Bench (2019) by Emma Mullender

Creativity is making marvellous out of the discarded

Inspiration

I was lucky enough to be gifted some beautiful fabric from my mother in law. She bought the fabric, which designed by the famous designer Stig Ljungberg, whilst visiting Sweden. Ljungbergs fabrics was founded by Erik Ljungberg in 1948 and sold a collection of fabrics designed by Stig Ljunberg. I was super impressed by the design, it was right up my street! and I knew that I wanted to use it to cover a bench for our kitchen. Now I just needed to find the bench!

The Process

It took a while, but I eventually found a bench that would be suitable for our kitchen table. As always, I bought the bench second hand for the bargain price of £20! The bench was in great condition, but I wanted to paint the wood. I used a chalk paint (which rarely use) because I didn’t quite fancy the job of sanding the wood down! I also had the arms on the bench shortened by a carpenter so it would fit under the table better.

Unfortunately the fabric wasn’t quite long enough, but I was determined to use it, so I sewed in some black end panels each side and made a feature out of them by decorating the ends with some yellow studs. I’m really happy with the finished result and the bench sits happily in our kitchen. I even made some art to match the design!

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The Best Things in Life Are Old, Loved & Rescued!

Leopard Print Cabinet

We bought this from Emma to use as a drinks cabinet. High quality finish. We are very pleased and looks great in our room. Thanks Emma!

Maggie Sharp-Smith

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Large Retro Sideboard

“Emma transformed an old and very weathered G plan sideboard for us. I fell in love with the wallpaper and set about finding a sideboard to put it on. Emma was very helpful and gave great ideas and solutions. The sideboard is now the main focus in our room, and we all love it!”

Yvonne Leggett

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1960s G-Plan sideboard

We bought this lovely sideboard from Emma. We were impressed by her professional approach and her helpful manner. We highly recommend her to others!

Mr & Mrs Southcott

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Retro Chest of Drawers

The essence of art is to produce the modern idea under an antique form.     

Oscar Wilde

Do you have some retro furniture that needs bringing back to life?

Get in Touch!

Emma x

When in doubt, don’t throw it out!

Decoupaged Bureau

 Restyling old furniture is a great way to transform your existing furniture. You get to choose the exact colours, textures and patterns, and quite often at the fraction of the cost of buying something new.

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Maid Marion Kitchen Cupboard

Emma has changed an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan! Marion was a very old piece of family furniture. Little did we know what bad condition it was underneath the many layers of paint Emma had to get through! She kept me informed of her progress and advised us with the best options. A hardworking business woman with great integrity. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Emma. Thank you for what you did!

Julia Foster

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Butterfly Design Drawers

Matching furniture to accent colours present around the room, has given this chest of drawers a much needed boost of colour and personality.

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Lego Storage Drawers

Parents will be all too familiar with the intense, sharp pain in feet caused by an unassuming Lego Brick!

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Vanity Unit for Family Bathroom

One mans trash is another mans treasure. Changing the function of an old dressing table to a vanity unit has given an old piece of furniture new purpose and lease of life.

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Do you have a piece of furniture you would like to see resurrected? Send me a picture so we can discuss ideas!

Emma x