This Piano bench came to my studio looking and feeling a little sorry for itself. Stripping it right back to board gave me the opportunity to introduce some new, fresh and sustainable materials for its fillings , some rubberised hair, and for the first time, I got to use the #springbond #Ultraflex foam made from recycled plastic bottles, before wrapping it in layers of Recycled polyester skin wadding and wool safe barriercloth before finally cutting, stitching and fitting on a sumptuous Cotton #Velvet called #Artemis in colour #Blush, sent by those Angelic purveyors of Maximalist Natural textile designs @houseofhackney .
My customer should enjoy tickling the old ebony and ivories while Sitting on This!
#upholstery #atelier #Rayclarke #bespoke #piano #bench #modern #Crafted #withlove
A fairly straightforward recover of a slipper chair (Though I did replace the original calico casing) , in this Gorgeous printed velvet called #japanesegarden in colour #Blossom from those Lovely people @linwood_fabric , trimmed off with a leafy green #squirrel #gimp I sourced from more lovely people down at @vvrouleaux.
This piece will be heading over to my customer next week, Hopefully they will love it in the flesh.
#atelierrayclarke #Bespoke #Upholstery #Refurbish #Recover #chairs #London #autumnvibes
And finally this one is ready to head home!… Many thanks to @the_upholstery_cabin for letting me use part of her workshop during the rebuild. Quite proud of the fact the seat pad is made from 100% sustainable materials: CocoLok Rubberised hair , latex foam and wool felt , wrapped up in an FR calico parcel before fitting it inside the custom seat pad cover.
And onto the Next!
#atelierrayclarke #Bespoke #Upholstery #Reupholstery #refurbish #Recover #London
How many of you have squeezed in a rush order between projects? Was it worth it?
#craft #Skills #pay#the#Bills #ARC #Atelier #rayclarkeupholstery #Refurbish #Recover #Ponyskin #leather
A Big love, Hugs and shouts out to upholstery sister Rhonda of @thewhimsicalchair from across the waves over there in the US of A for tuning in!
Have you heard it yet? our last one was a gem With Jim Athey of @georgesmithfurniture
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#SitonThis! #podcasts #spotify #applepodcasts
Sometimes you have to change production processes and change tack on a piece. Fully traditional feels more rewarding to complete but in this case time, the piece itself as well as customer budgets compelled me to find quicker solutions to complete the inside back and wings using sustainable but more modern materials like rubberised hair, wool and calico instead of stitching and stuffing fibre and hair throughout. Still i’m glad I got to use traditional methods on the arms. And fully sustainable materials throughout the piece. It’ll go out looking and feeling better than it did when it arrived and As long as the customer is happy than i’m happy. #Bespoke #sustainable #upholstery
Hey there you lovely people!
Its been a good while since I`ve posted on Instagram. I sort of took a “Busman’s Holiday”: Taking this particular project with me to and from @the_upholstery_cabin, while I’ve also been helping Vicky rip out her old bathroom and help source new/old bits for her bathroom renovation.
I`d be super happy to be back in my workshop, were it not for the fact I`ve contracted Covid this past week😩.
In the meantime I’m taking time off to recover-and hopefully I’ll be back to full strength and speed in a few days!
In the meantime, Tune in and listen for our next @sit_on_this_workshops Podcast episode, releasing tomorrow on @spotifypodcasts and @applepodcasts -This next one is a real eye-opener!
#Traditional #upholstery #AtelierRayClarke #Bespoke #London #craft
I Completed the last 4 of 16 Conference room office chairs which were collected on Monday evening. A lot of unpicking, (top)stitching , deconstruction and reassembly.
My heartfelt thanks go out to @bowparryupholstery @abbielaurie_upholstery , @suzannemobbs_upholstery and Anna F for all their help and assistance.
#Reupholstery #Recover #Black #Vinyl #office #conference #chairs #BerkeleyHomes #London #Atelierrayclarke
Last 4 of 10 dining room chairs , With refurbished , recovered and ready to return to their home tomorrow. Looking very vivid in @camirafabrics #Aquarius colour: Amber
Many thanks to @the_upholstery_cabin for her help on an exhausting but successful Sunday two Sundays ago.
#Upholstery #Diningroom #Chairs #Refurb #recover #reupholstery #London
Happy Birthday Mum.. Loving you .. Rest in eternal peace Thank you for my life Rxxx
Is it just me or are some of you upholsterers also putting in a shift at the weekends? I’ve been alittle backed up over these past few weeks while i’ve been tackling a very big job, finally due to be delivered and fitted this Tuesday. When you’re mainly a one-man band it can get tricky when some projects stall and you’ve got to keep going while you work details out. You may tackle one or two smaller jobs while you work out the details in the bigger one, only sometimes if you do that you run the risk of going down an ever deepening hole as the details begin to mount up and you risk overwhelm and burnout falsely thinking or feeling there’s no one available to help.
This isn’t the truth at all. When you reach out you’ll be surprised and grateful to see who’s got your back and is willing to assist.
Anyways, Here’s said one of the little ones which which is on its way also to be delivered next week.
Whatever you’re up to I hope you still find some joy from the little things on your way to achieving your “big one”!
Fabric: @butefabrics #kerrycroy
Trimming: Antique on steel decorative nailing
#upholstery #Bespoke #antique #reupholstery #London #craftedwithlove
#TBT :Another deceptively simple job I completed last month was deconstructing a pair of headboard bolsters and rebuilding them 20cm taller for my clients master bedroom near whitechapel, East London, also stitching together New velvet covers which fit snuggly over the remade fillings. Producing a smooth “transition”from the remade woodensubframes to the dense foam fillings was tricky but I got there in the end. My thanks to @haynes.interiors for their custom and support.
#Bespoke #remade #headboard #Bolsters #atelierrayclarke #Upholstery
This ottoman stool completely deceived me. I thought reducing its overall length was going to be straightforward: Strip back to the frame Reduce the frame size (involving partially deconstructing it/cutting it back and then rebuilding the frame. But no.. it also involved cutting back the serpentine springs and hidden in the foam layers above was a pocket spring unit, which also had to be reduced in size before embedding it back within the composite foam cores surrounding it, before cutting, reshaping and restitching the original cover to fit the new shape, reducing the overall shape from 1 metre x 1 metre x 36cm to 60cm x 1 metre x 36cm.
Some jobs can totally send you sideways , thankfully I managed to complete it.
What sort of additional complexity have you come across in the middle of completing projects?
#Bespoke #resizing #Ottoman #stool #Reupholstery #London
Hope you have all enjoyed your weekend. I’m enjoying the green theme running through some of my diverse customers projects, having recently finished a large #MinottiTori #bench , recovered in @hollyhuntdesign #Jetset #mustique #leather with a seat pad recovered in @hollyhuntdesign #Mane #attraction #ponyskin in colour #oregano.
A second large rectangular bench has been recovered for my client in a gorgeous boucle called “Teddy”, again from @hollyhuntdesign.
Hoping you all are going to have a great week. I’ve got a few big projects to finally get done and dusted by the end of this week so I best get in gear.
Massive hugs and chat soon xx
Some of my customers have the most daring, eclectic, bold and vibrant tastes. Were it not for the fact this beast of a #Casamente #sofa was so super heavy to lift (and process on the bench) due to its south African hardwood Frame, I would have completely enjoyed this labour of love. The level of detailing involved was truly something of an experience in and of itself, to which end I give my heartfelt thanks to those lovely beings @nicolakilleentextiles for all their expertise and assistance in custom dying the outside arm panels, as well as the metres and metres of thick piping cord used to create the mattress stitching detail throughout the sofa, which by the way I deliberately stitched in a manor to make it look handmade.
I know the styling is not to everyone’s taste and that’s ok, I didn’t do it for you anyways
My heartfelt thanks to Vicky @the_upholstery_cabin for coming over to help me with the finishing touches.
now clad in an ensemble of #sustainable @linwood_fabric wool and #Tango Velvet in colour #pine. I am honoured to have been asked to work on such a rewarding commission.
#Atelierrayclarke #statement #Furniture #art #custom #bespoke #colourful #wool #velvet #Patchwork
#Tbt Earlier this month I created the frame, stretch and mounted this huge Wall hanging over a lightly padded base all for a local customer near Victoria Park, using flushmount fittings and a bit of know-how my customer and I finally managed to successfully install it in their living room space late yesterday evening.
Right, enough posting ..back on the big jobs. Geez there’s never enough hours in the day..Hoping you are having a great Thursday!Xx
#Wall #Hung #Bespoke #art #Modern #London #Upholstery #atelierrayclarke
Howdy people.
I`ve been shy of posting my work this past few weeks as in truth I’m working my way through a bottleneck of jobs and while I don`t wish to upset current customers and do my best to manage expectations I still needed to complete smaller jobs to keep cashflow/paying the bills while I overcome some snagging issues with the 2 big jobs Im soon to complete.
Among them I completely refurbished this dinky little backless chair/ kneeling stool thingy from #Stokkie, Covered in a smart and durable wool called #Kerrycroy from the David Irwin x Bute collaboration.
In terms of project management, what if any software or Ai do any of you full-time upholsterers use to manage your jobs? I`d be super grateful for any suggestions and/or advice in the comments.
Have a beautiful day all! Rxxx
#atelier #rayclarke #upholstery #bespoke #craft
#stokkie #stool #bute #fabrics #modern
Hope you’re enjoying your Sunday This Bank Holiday weekend.
For all those non-spotify listeners, You can catch our Podcast, available now on @applepodcasts. Hope you enjoy! We’ve got some awesome guests lined up for you so stay tuned!
Big Hugs 🤗 Ray & Vicky x
Hey lovely People of #Instagram & #Facebook .. I’ve been fairly quiet for a minute here on social media while I’m hard at it in the studio finishing some pretty big jobs while also enjoying sharing knowledge with my Friday morning leisure class students @shoreditchdesignrooms.
This is just letting you know that our (That’s @the_upholstery_cabin and @atelierrayclarke Collaboration’s first @sit_on_this_workshops Podcast episode is going live This Wednesday 1st May , available to listen on Spotify.
we’d love for you to tune in and leave us some comments and suggestions.
Have a great weekend - Big hugs Rxx
#SitonThis! #Podcast #atelierrayclarke #TheUpholsterycabin #Upholstery #Craft #Chat #collaboration
15 years ago (Facebook tells me) Those amazing people @Hybridlab created this stop motion animation with me. Where does the time go!?!
