Author: Ray Clarke

BBC1 Money for Nothing Project 1: My monkey madness transformed this mid-century modern armchair

Hopefully if you’ve been practising upholstery and soft furnishings and successfully completing lots of good work for a fair amount of time eventually you will come across a project which not only lights your fire but opens up all kinds of possibilities that you previously either hadn’t considered or hadn’t had the chance to do.

In January this year , I was given just that sort of opportunity; to not only provide upholstery, but given (almost) free reign to explore (and hopefully exceed) any limits of my creative expression.

Enter Friel-Kean Films, producers of the BBC TV SHOW “Money For Nothing” , ever growing its audience base, it is becoming one of the most popular shows on the BBC.

For those who have not seen it click on the link Here :

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The premise of the show is simple:

Presenter, upcycler, entrepreneur and furniture and antiques enthusiast Sarah Moore goes up and down this green and pleasant land saving industrial and household waste thrown away at refuse and recycling centres by the general public, who don’t see the potential and value in the things that they throw away, like some sort of frenzied furniture Womble” (older readers may get the reference).

Then in each episode Sarah gives items she’s found to featured artisans and craftspeople, paying them to transform the items into hopefully beautiful, desirable, functional, saleable finished pieces.

Sarah then takes the items and resells them , hopefully at a profit, with which she then visits the previous owners of theitems, handing them cash to surprised and sometimes bemused faces, at the end of each successful project, hopefully demonstrating that in the right hands, It is quite possible to turn trash into cash.

I was recommended to the producers of the show by Amy Cawson of ” Florrie & Bill” fame , and by the irrepressible Jay Blades, of Jay & Co

(Thanks for that you lovely people!)

 Sarah arrived at my studio with 3 different projects. one of which I had to turn away due to the timescales involved. The first project I was itching to have a crack at was this Mid-20th century modern armchair I surmised from the materials used and its construction. Despite no clear manufacturers stamp I felt it had a lot of character.

Antique winged armchair MFN BBCTV

AfterThe Monkey ChairThroughout the 10 years+ I have practised upholstery and soft furnishings, I always harboured the ambition to design and produce my own furnishing fabrics.
This particular project gave me the impetus to finally bring (and update) my previous experiences in printed textile design back into my current creative expression through upholstery and soft furnishings.

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It was a magical day when I finally received my first digitally printed roll of fabric. I have been very fortunate to have been able to get access to and usefurnishing fabrics from some of the greatest companies in Europe and from around the world.

Nothing beats being able to produce your own designs, and then getting the ability to apply your fabric or design to a piece or pieces of furniture,

which, although the chair didn’t sell in time for the 1st airing of that episode, literally sold the very next day after it aired, to a lovely family who saw the show and my work, not only buying the chair but also a set of bespoke scatter cushions to compliment.

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This experience continues to inspire me to not only come up with more designs but educates me in the process of marketing and selling the fabric,which for me is a continuous learning process.

Monkey Chair by Ray Clarke for BBC Money for Nothing

 

 

Back of Monkey chair

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Like all shows, there have been some critics. Feedback I’ve read on social media about some of the items made on and for the show have focussed on the prices mentioned as not being a true reflection of the type of work involved, or comments on the look and quality of finish of some items. To those critics I say, it’s a TV show which in my experience has been mostly, and I hope continues to be, extremely positive.

Just doing this type of work gets great exposure. Plus the number and types of enquiries it generates, even though at times it may feel overwhelming (you have to fit it into what you’ve got currently on and around the workbench), well, that’s priceless.

If you are an upholsterer or designer-maker who loves what they do, when an opportunity like this comes to you, well, you’ve got to go for it!!

My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone I roped into helping me complete this particular project: Anna Frisch, Joanna Maeva,  all the production team at Friel Kean Films, The Cloth Shop, my upholstery warehousemen/suppliers, Wendy Shorter, Louise at Shoreditch Design Rooms, my dearest Louise Jinks, Nina, Jan Etoile and all my dear friends who consoled, counselled and fed me tea, biscuits, words of encouragement and support along the way.

BBC Money for Nothing project series 2 episode 14: Leather & Linen Love

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The second of the 2 projects I completed for the 2nd BBC1 Television series of  “Money For Nothing“, was a 2-seater “department store” sofa, which was saved from the rubbish tip (and potential landfill) by presenter Sarah Moore.

What started out as a concept recover working with an idea Sarah had in mind , ended up becoming (almost) a complete rip-down to the frame,repair, refurbishments , reupholstery & new concept cover.

The amount of cardboard and cheap materials used in its construction brought out the sort of language not fit for public ears , and thankfully was edited out/ “left on the cutting room floor”.

Even though I had an image in my minds eye of the overall look Sarah & I wanted to achieve it took a while for me to “get into” the overall concept.

However , I persevered  and after “ripping down” removing every last piece of “rubbish” cardboard, replacing the fillings in the arms with good quality webbing, hessians, rubberised hair and new foams forming the arms. Coming up with the hand stitched leather and linen “elbow patch” arm panels  and the ” raw “finished edges  and leather piping and the use of a complimentary simulated suede super fabric to bring together the leather and linen elements, the rest of the sofas overall look “came into focus” fairly quickly.

Introducing nice little touches like the leather & linen scrolls on the sides of the back , and more patches finishing off the front borders’ at the corners above the rubbed down stained & beeswaxed  legs, and replacing the worn out polyester fibre filled seat cushions with

high-grade, shaped ,quality foam (wrapped)cores , while at the same time making sure every element of the cover conformed to strict UK health safety & fire regulations through the use of a Flame retardent barrier cloth behind the top cover brought a rustic, raw, country feel with a superb level of comfort that thankfully, a couple were so enamoured with once they had seen and sat on it, had purchased it at Sarah’s Barnyard sale and at a “blinking good price” for the quality and labour which went into it which maybe should of sold for much more but hey, I’m just grateful that it sold at a profit which was returned to the surprised and delighted previous owner.

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Before:

Knoll-style 2-seater chair BBCTV MFN

After:

 

Leather&Linen sofa By Ray Clarke For Money for Nothing

 

My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone I roped into helping me complete this particular project: Anna Frisch, Joanna Maeva, All the production team at Friel Kean Films, The Cloth Shop, my upholstery warehousemen/suppliers, Wendy Shorter, Louise at Shoreditch Design Rooms, My Dearest Louise Jinks, Nina, Jan Etoile and all my dear friends who consoled, counselled and fed me tea, biscuits, words of encouragement and support along the way.

 

 

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Visions in Svenskt Tenn & Zoffany for Nicola Holden Designs..

May & June were spent refurbishing and recovering a 2-seater Henderson Russell Balzac-style sofa, which involved replacing a broken front beam (and refitting the serpentine spring suspension system), with a piece of reclaimed oak, found at a local recycled timber merchants just down the road from my studio, along with an armchair, in Zoffany’s Romany Grey , a vanity stool in clients own fabric (unknown) and a set of 4 Mid-20th Century modern dining room chairs in Svenskt Tenn “Celotocaulis” , designed by Josef frank in the 1920’s, and a late 20th century rocking chair in Svenskt Tenn “Elefant“, designed by Estrid Ericsson. All for a lovely home in Ealing, west London on behalf of Nicola Holden Designs.
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Henderson Russel Balszac-Style Chair

 

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Vanity Stool Nicola holden

 

Rocking chair Nicola Holden

 

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Working Wonders for Woh& Co

Earlier this year I was commissioned to recover three different styles of chairs in House of Hackney‘s best selling

Palmeral fabric for super talented Mexican designer Valentina Gonzalez Wohlers 

Valentina came to my studio just with her signature V’s Rocker , a vintage Verco office chair ,which Valentina found in pieces dumped on the street near her studio,

and a Lloyd-Loom  style conservatory chair

It took a while for me to come up with all three pieces ( I had a lot on!) but I think

they all came out beautifully . It was a pleasure to see them, and Valentina on show and in use at her new studio at the Bow Arts open studio event in June.

Woh&CO-Rocking-Chair-in-House-of-House-of-Hackney-Palmeral-

Verco-Office-chair-in-HOH-Palmeral-

Woh&Co-Lloyd-Loom-Style-Chair

Yet another Afro-technicolour bundle of (etsy) joy …

This completely bespoke made-from-scratch ottoman stool went out to an etsy enthusiast covered in a selection of african wax block patchwork scraps donated with many thanks from YouMeWe blended with a selection of luxurious european furnishing fabrics , which has now found a home in Ipswich. If you’d like to own any of these pieces to brighten up your home or workspace, check out my etsy page ( https://www.etsy.com/shop/RayClarkeUpholstery) or send me an email with your preferences

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From Tangerine to Aquamarine Wingback Dreams…

Fresh-off-the-bench-Finished-Cathy-Green-Chair

Before (below): 

This reproduction Edwardian-style wingback had seen better days: The right hand facing wing had begun to “flap” around, the seat cushion contained Feathers which had totally degraded and it’s arms has seen better days

Wingback-Chair-before-Cathy-Green

I had brought a selection of my finest velvet ranges to my clients home, where I presented them to choose from I looked over their chair to check its condition. Once a fabric had been agreed  (An FR version of a Kobe “Real” velvet, after some discussions between myself and my client, it was decided to go for some special decorative nails as opposed to the original piping detail,  to provide a different finishing detail to the front arm scrolls. I also instead of using the fillings from the original seat cushion decided to discard and make up a completely new foam & feather combination bespoke seat cushion.

The original arm fillings were removed and also discarded having lost their density and “return”, giving me the opportunity to fit hessian in front of the jumbo elastic webbing. Replacing the old crumbly fillings with upgraded rubberised hair and foams .

 

 

 

 

 

 

After:Fresh-off-the-bench-Finished-Cathy-Green-Chair

 

 I couldn’t get this piece ready in time for xmas, for which I was extremely apologetic. However just before new year this piece was collected and my clients reaction said it looked fab and  “Soooo comfortable”. A dream realised in aquamarine. Many thanks to Richard & Cathy Green for your patience and custom.

 

 

 

Tangerine Dream Nursing Chair Rescue

Jo-and-Myfanwys-ChairBefore ( see below):

In November 2015 this reproduction nursing chair arrived at my studio in a hopeless state: A pet-scratched, threadbare cover basically keeping the frame in some sort of shape, despite having nearly every single dowel joint snapped. Completely eroded foams . A battered sheet of fibreboard formed what was left of the seat.

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To save this piece I had to completely remove and junk all the old covers and fillings (as well as the fibreboard seat)and dismantle and clean what was left of the frame before reassembly using new dowells, gluing and screwing the frame back into shape.

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 After reconstructing the frame I decided to upgrade the seat from the rubbish fibreboard and foam originally fitted, applying lashed serpentine springs and hessian to form the base suspension before fitting a first stuffing layer of rubberised hair and a second layer of the appropriate grade foam . for the back I used elasticated webbing and applied the same fillings as the seat.

Finally making sure the final top cover, a deep rich tangerine velvet from Kobe’s  “Real” range, was made compliant through the use of a flame retardant barrier cloth bonded to the cover before fitting and hand- stitching to the frame.

After:

I decided not to go with the original buttoning pattern as my customer’s wanted to use a different colour for the velvet button details. (perhaps, like the original , if the buttons were made using the same colour as the fabric then I would of gone with the same buttoning formation). Finally cleaning/polishing up the legs with a little beeswax.
This tangerine dream did much to brighten its owners faces when it was unveiled at my studio upon collection.
Many thanks to Myfanwy Taylor and Joanna Maeva for their custom x

Jo-and-Myfanwys-Chair

Cardboard Challenge

Before:

I think this reproduction Edwardian-style armchair was originally from a certain well-known high street retailer. I found an old label stitched inside the seat’s cushion cover.

 I thought it had seen better days though I guess those days must have been even shorter then these suddenly dark and chilly ones we have had recently.

So I started ripping it down, you should of seen my face once I saw how the chair was manufactured!..Is there no end to how low some furniture manufacturer’s and suppliers will go (just to make a profit?) When I saw what was lurking underneath this piece I make no exaggeration when I call this a “cardboard copy”

Peter-Jefferies-chair-Before

After:

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Out went all the nasty cardboard and crumbly foam fillings!

Refurbishing the arms, using English jute webbing and hessian wrapped in new rubberised hair and fresh new foams covered in polyester skin wadding.

The refurbished seat base used the same serpentine spring suspension system which were in decent nick, though this time I lashed the springs so they moved in unison and distributed the weight more evenly, prolonging their life.

The top cover (customer supplied) was from Osbourne & Little; a patterned floral weave called “Chandra”. Using a flame retardent barrier cloth to make the chair as fully compliant with the current health safety and fire regulations.

Finally finishing off the chair with old speckled gold decorative nails, choosing a hessian as a base cloth, sourcing some absolutely beautiful front legs with antique brass castors to replace the original old broken ones which had split and were missing their castors.

A much more distinguished, respectable (as well as upgraded) armchair arrived last night to a pleased customers home.

Atelier Ray Clarke Ltd T/A Ray Clarke Upholstery & Design Company registration number :12018355