When you first embark on renovating furniture on a traditional upholstery course, much of the time, is spent regulating ! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term (trust me, I had no idea), it's pretty much back combing a hairy coconut for hours on end. You do it in order to get an even and regular springy cushion of coir that then allows you to build a good firm seat or back for your chair. But by the time I'd completed the various dining and bedroom chairs that make up part 1 of the course I was surely ready for something different.
It was presented in the form of a pine box, that required covering inside and out with wadding and fabric ! What's more the lid was to be deep buttoned using rubberised hair (imagine shaving several hairy coconuts until you have a lovely pile several inches deep and mixing it with rubbery PVA and laying your mixture in a huge Swiss role tin until it sets). Again, none of this had I experienced before, but oh the joy of seeing a 1990's orange pine box disappear and in it's place a practical but beautiful chest; complete with applique letters to the exterior ticking and the inside covered in hundreds of little blue dachshunds. Instead of buttons I'd decided on pompoms in contrasting blue wool. The wonder of this box just kept giving - I had had a completely free reign for fabric colour, design and embellishment. The little grey cells started ticking and that was when I decided that the best job in the world would be be to design and make children's toy boxes; padded for softness, designed for fun and to bring joy and excitement each time you saw it. No nasty black plastic interiors or staples on show. Hand sewn finishes, hand painted hinges. A proper 'stay', so little fingers don't get caught.
The first box was, it's fair to say, more about the dachshunds - the fabric came first and then the idea for it to be a storage ottoman for 'outdoor stuff'. Instead of losing gloves and hats etc each winter, when they get shoved in a cupboard, why not a special place ? Sitting on a padded seat whilst you pull your walking boots on - what could be better ?
Lilly's toy box has the most delightful King of the Jungle fabric - and not wanting to waste a scrap, I found gold thread and appliqued the inside of the lid with the scraps that had been left over and made a couple of little bags for the interior.
The most recent one is in the studio, nearly finished but waiting for the double piping to complete the interior. Wait and see. This one was inspired by the thought that not everyone has either a designated playroom or wants all the toys away in a bedroom. However, if you had storage that blended well into your lounge or family room but with a special 'something' that would appeal to little ones, wouldn't that be rather special ?
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