Innerspace Chair Brained
It's difficult to think about upholstery without conjuring up images of 'Antiques Roadshow', but we meet Emily Farncombe, a young local upholsterer who can put the rock back into your rocking chair
Innerspace: Chair Brained
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What led you to choose a career in upholstery?
After 18 months living in New Zealand, I had a phone call from my mother telling me that my estranged great uncle was quite ill and that I should come home. I spent a month living in his house, which was like an untouched time capsule - he was a great admirer of beautiful furniture and ‘things’. He had wonderful taste, albeit a little eccentric, and some of his old pieces of furniture were in need of some serious TLC, though I realised that when his house came to be sold, his furniture was just going to be sent to auction and possibly meet a tragic end! This struck me as the perfect opportunity to learn how to restore his beautiful old sofas and chairs, so I booked myself onto a two year full time course in upholstery at Burnley College of Construction. I finished the course in May 2009, and started up my business whilst I was still on the course.
Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
It comes from a love of bringing antiques back to life. I strongly believe that restoring antiques and bringing them to life with contemporary fabrics has great potential - I deeply love old furniture, and think it’s such a shame that we live in such a throw away society. Sometimes I will strip down an old piece of furniture and find notes from the previous upholsterer, or an old piece of newspaper from when it was last done. It’s like unwrapping a piece of history - each piece has a story to tell! I always try and put a note or a magazine article in each piece I re-upholster now, so that there is something interesting for the next upholsterer to find in years to come!
Are there particular designers whose work you admire?
In terms of past designers, there have been some greats like George Hepplewhite or Chippendale whose designs are so timeless and beautiful, but there are also some contemporary designers too that I love such as Aiveen Daly, who has taken a ‘fashion’ approach to upholstering her pieces.
Where do you find the materials for your work?
I try to source my own fabrics as locally as possible, from Leeds-based companies such as Ross fabrics, but for a commission piece, the customer will usually choose their own fabrics - I recently upholstered a piano stool for a customer who wanted me to use her husbands old tweed trousers! Whenever I have any spare time, I go to antique fairs and auctions to find my own furniture to work on. It’s on these pieces that I would like to collaborate with print designers, to come up with pieces that are truly quirky and unique.
Which is your favourite creation to date?
Without a doubt, it’s the entire burlesque range that was created in partnership with a Brighton-based designer called Dupenny. She’s actually a wallpaper designer, but I saw her work in the Sunday Times design section and thought how wonderful her designs would look on furniture, so I contacted her and we agreed to try a collaboration which has worked brilliantly. I had to restore the chairs and then apply fabric, even though the chairs I used had never even been upholstered before. It’s the combination of old decadence and quirky, off-the-wall newness that makes the range work so well. I love working with old pieces as they have always been made using old techniques, and are built to last. It is so satisfying to bring something back to live that truly deserves the time and effort you put in to restore them!
What do you hope to achieve in the next five years?
I hope to have established a distinctive style of my own, so that people will walk past one of my restored antique chairs and say “wow, that’s an Emily Farncombe, wouldn’t it look brilliant in our front room!” I also want to keep collaborating with other designers and makers. To me, a combination of old and new can bring a house to life - I believe that everyone should have a piece of furniture in their house that turns heads, and tells a story.
Emily is based at the Artsmix* studio, Factory 4 in Sheepscar, where she also runs a workshop called Re-vamp Your Furniture, giving the public an opportunity to bring their old furniture back to life. For more information on Emily’s work and her workshop, visit www.emilyfarncombe.co.uk, or contact her on 07769530373 or at emilyfarncombe@aol.com
Posted on Wednesday 30th September 2009
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