DIY Living Room

A great sofa upholsterer in London. My collaboration with Sharp & Simpson and Linwood Fabrics.

A great sofa upholsterer in London.  My collaboration with Sharp & Simpson and Linwood Fabrics.

How have you been? I’ve been so busy redecorating my home these last few weeks.

One of the rooms that needed a revamp, was my workspace on the top floor of my Victorian house.

I have since repainted that room, and acquired a new desk and sofa too.

My workspace reveal will be in different posts, starting with my new sofa and art gallery wall today.

There are two sofas in my study, one of which is this blue vintage sofa (above). It was starting to look a bit tired and worn, so I decided to get it reupholstered. sofa upholstererTa-dah! Here it is. what do you think?

I’ve been searching for a good London upholsterer for a while, but haven’t had much luck, until now.

Imagine how happy I was when I stumbled upon Sharp & Simpson’s Instagram account, where I saw the wonderful way in which they transformed old sofas into bespoke new pieces.

I got in touch with Micaela Sharp, one half of Sharp & Simpson, and we decided to collaborate together on my sofa transformation.Sharp & Simpson co-owned by Micaela sharp and Steve Simpson, is an upholstery company servicing all of London and Kent.

Micaela met Steve at the upholstery course where he was teaching. Steve has been an upholsterer for over 35 years and knows all there is to know about the trade.

Micaela offers a fresh new approach to upholstery which has proved popular. Sharp & Simpson were featured on BBC 1 recently in Flipping Profit, where they shared their passion for saving and up-cycling unwanted furniture.Here’s a little bit of the process:

They stripped down the sofa which revealed a broken frame, but luckily managed to fix it.

They replaced the back strut with new wood, and then stripped and sanded the legs before waxing.

The sofa was finally webbed, covered in hessian, and then new foam was added.  The old cover was used as templates for the new lush blossom pink Tango Velvet cover by Linwood.  Flamingo Pink contrast piping was made, and the cover was sewn together.I also chose the same Flamingo colour for the sofa’s buttons.Tango Velvet is a collection of plush Italian velvets by Linwood, in contemporary colours with the added practicality of a stain resistant finish.

Since discovering Linwood, via Micaela, I’ve been stalking their marvellous creations on Instagram.

Linwood are indeed designers of beautiful fabrics and wallpapers, from classic to contemporary. They really do combine beauty, quality and practicality in all their designs.upholsterer in London for sofasI was initially going to paint a colourful backdrop, but decided last minute to keep it white.

I’ve added a gallery wall held up with Command wall strips, to provide some contrast to the sofa. The strips are great because it means my prints can be hung without the need for nails in the walls.

Talking about artwork, I have two new art prints on my wall.

I do love a good slogan print. The pink ‘Te Amo’ and ‘real Queens fix each other’s crowns’ prints are by the wonderfully talented Emily of Doodle Moo. Did you spot that sparkly droplet garland below the art prints?

It was a special gift to me by Coral Atkinson, the lovely owner of Velveteen Babies. Isn’t it just the cutest?I’ve styled my sofa with a variety of cushions, including one made by Sharp & Simpson in the same Flamingo velvet and blossom pink Linwood Tango fabric.

I am so grateful to Sharp & Simpson and Linwood Fabrics for rescuing my sofa and breathing new life back into it.

The whole designing process and delivery of the final product was so effortless and perfect. I am so happy with how everything has turned out.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the post.  I will be back soon to reveal other parts of this room. Can’t wait to show you. Have a gorgeous week all.

( All photography and styling are by Geraldine Tan, editor of Little Big Bell. )

6 Comments

  1. It looks wonderful. What a cheerful and uplifting space! x

  2. ohhh Swoon! Well, it really could only have been pink Geraldine ! Gorgeous. One of my bucket list things to achieve before I die, it to learn how to upholster. I see so many tired but beautiful shaped chairs at bootsales, that I would love to get to work on.

  3. Such a sweet combination of colours!! So very you Geraldine xx

  4. Love the transformation. The sofa is much more you now. What a lovely space to work in. x

  5. The new look is fantastic – love the piping and contrasting buttons! I have a little sofa that needs reupholstering at the moment and while I had a great upholsterer when I lived in Manchester, I’m not on the hunt for a new one in Shropshire! Fingers crossed I can find one as good as yours 🙂

  6. Geraldine I love it. It looks so cool with the red piping. Such a great and cost effective way to give new life to your sofa.

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