Bespoke Vintage G Plan 6250 Swivel Chair in Full Leather

A couple of months ago, a gentleman contacted me about purchasing a vintage G Plan 6250 swivel chair in a bespoke cover. He was a friend of the new owners of the grey G Plan chair I restored a while ago. He told me that he thought the chair was so comfortable and beautiful, that he too wanted to purchase ‘the’ chair – also as a surprise for his wife’s 40th birthday. What a lucky lady!

I already had the chair in stock awaiting to be recovered, so that worked out as perfect timing!

As this chair was for a present, I made up a gift card with a picture of the chair on, so that husband could present it to his wife on her birthday. I was also sent a picture of the room where the chair was going, along with a photo of their curtains. I picked out the neutral tones, and made some leather swatches up reflecting those colours so that they could choose the leather.

 

As you can imagine the present went down really well with the wife! After some thought it was decided that the chair was to be covered in full leather, in a parchment colour, which picked out the colour in the curtain design. They wanted to keep it plain so it would sit well with any future redecoration projects.

As ever, after transformation this chair looked stunning. The leather colour looked great on this style of chair, and seemed to enhance the curves of the wings and buttoning beautifully.

The new owners were really happy with their new chair and it looked lovely in its new home.

If you would like to own a vintage G Plan 6250 swivel chair and choose your own fabric or leather, then please get in touch. We can source a chair for you and help with the design of your bespoke chair. We now also SHIP WORLDWIDE!

Bespoke Reupholstery Project for a set of Retro Benchair Dining Chairs

I was recently lucky enough to be asked to restore 6 original retro 1980’s Benchair dining chairs for a local client. These particular Benchair dining chairs were originally made in Frome, Somerset, UK in 1989.

They were originally covered in a dark orange vinyl, with the teak coloured legs in a great used condition. I especially love the design of the legs on these Benchairs, and with a rather roomy seat and backrest, they offer superb comfort.

Each chair was fully stripped of the old vinyl, foam, and hessian. The frame was polished, but not touched up as the original patina was to be kept. Each chair was then re-webbed with the addition of new foam on the seats.

The chairs were then reupholstered in a hardwearing sand beige coloured leather, and teamed with a complimentary Andrew Martin ‘Concourse’ fabric to the back of each chair. ‘Concourse’ is a cotton print depicting American subway signs.

These chairs looked completely different when the project was completed. They are individual, and a real statement set. The new owner was so happy with their new chairs, and they looked really stunning in their new home –  a newly converted factory with exposed brickwork and huge windows. The mix of the leather and fabric worked well with the industrial vibe of the new house.

Each chair was stamped with the Florrie+Bill logo and the ‘restored in 2014’ mark. The Benchair dining chairs in their new home.

I currently have 4 more of these Benchairs in stock available for bespoke recover.

Custom Vintage G Plan 6250 Swivel Chair + Ottoman in Red Leather

Over the last few weeks I have been working on another vintage G Plan 6250 swivel chair and footstool. The enquiry came to me via my Etsy store. The customer had seen the black chair we did earlier in the year and requested the same chair in a deep red leather.

At the time I didn’t have a G Plan chair in stock, but luckily I was able to source one in good condition within a week. I prepared some red leather samples in varying shades and sent these out to the customer. Upon receiving the samples, the customer decided to use a mid-tone red leather, called Bordeaux.

When I received the G Plan chair into stock it was covered in the original brown dralon and also had the original G Plan label attached to the seat platform. The chair was in average condition for its age with the base in good condition, but the castors, although functional, were showing slight signs of wear.

Once the frame was stripped, it went off to the workshop to begin its transformation. When the chosen leather was delivered, there was a problem with the quality of one of the hides. There were a couple of holes in one of the pieces (which isn’t unusual as natural scars are cut out of the hides) but as we were cutting such large pieces, this hide was not suitable. I had to return this hide and a new one was promptly sent back out. This delayed the project a little but couldn’t be helped.

The chair frame required new webbing, wadding, and a new foam seat cushion. Once the chair was reupholstered in the soft red leather, it looked out of this world! The colour suited the style of the chair and complimented the dark show wood perfectly.

A few weeks into the initial order I had the opportunity to buy another of the matching 6251 footstools. I contacted my customer to see if she would also like to purchase this and have it covered in the same red leather. She decided she would love to have the matching stool, so this was secured and delivered to me.

When I took delivery of the footstool I realised that the wooden base was a lighter colour than the base of the chair. So, off it went to Neil my local french polisher to darken it down! Neil came to the conclusion that the base had originally been lightened in the past. When he took the chrome support off, there were remnants of old masking tape, and the original dark colour varnish was underneath!

I was really pleased with this project and my customer was a real pleasure to deal with from start to finish.

My customer was also delighted with the result once it was delivered and unpacked. She sent me this kind message:

”We are OVERJOYED with our beautiful new chair and footstool. It is absolutely wonderful to sit in something that is so very comfortable and it fits into its new home absolutely perfectly”. – C.W + family, Surrey

If you think this project is pretty cool and want your own G Plan swivel chair to relax in, then I’ve recently had another 6250 swivel chair and footstool come into stock which is now available to pre-order. Please contact me to discuss further!

Busy behind the scenes… and another vintage G Plan Footstool!

Apologies for the lack of blog updates over the past couple of weeks. I’ve been super busy working on custom chair orders, which is great, but as most of them are ‘secrets’ until they are actually finished I can’t update you with progress as I go along. Booooo!

I can, however, now show you something that was collected last week. Last month I had the opportunity to restore another (yes, another) vintage G Plan 6251 footstool to match a 6250 swivel chair I did at the end of last year. A nice man purchased this chair for his wife as a present for her 40th birthday (how lovely!). He loved the chair so much he then decided to order a matching footstool to compliment her chair.

I sourced a suitable vintage G Plan footstool and recovered it in a vintage effect grey leather and the Tamasyn Gambell ‘Textured Stripe’ geometric linen to match the chair. It looked amazing when finished. I am hoping to get a photo of the two together! I heard they also ordered the matching Tamasyn Gambell lampshade too!

What’s in the box….?

Restored Parker Knoll PK 747 Chairs

These adorable vintage Parker Knoll chairs date back to the 1950’s and have been fully restored to bring them into the 21st Century. Originally two separate purchases, they now make a matching pair.

One chair was covered in the original Parker Knoll turquiose blue vinyl, and the other was covered in an olive green fabric which was scratched to bits – by the owners cat!

The original varnish on the legs was badly worn and not a very desirable colour. I sent them to my local french polisher who hand restored and polished them back to the natural beech wood.

They were then newly upholstered in Villa Nova’s Geneva Vintage in ‘Squirrel’ grey. This is a stonewash effect cotton-linen. I decided to add two bright yellow contrasting buttons to each chair, which adds a little fun. 

This dainty duo would look delightful in your bedroom, nursery, hallway or dressing room. I think they would look rather smart in a room for twins! They are available to purchase on the website here.

Mr. Frank Fox cushion + Little Remix blanket available from Ferm Living.

Restored Parker Knoll PK 988 Chairs

I bought a pair of 1960’s Parker Knoll PK 988 chairs last year. These chairs have a lovely mid-century clean and simple design. I thought they would be perfect for recovering in a vivid yellow Bute Fabrics Wool with the chosen fabric looking striking against the original dark varnish. However I soon realised that the original varnish was beyond repair. Mini disaster! All the arms were peeling and the varnish flaking off the legs. I decided they had to be stripped back to the original beech colour and french polished, otherwise there was no point in reupholstering them.

After stripping off the old fabric, they went to Neil Collumbell, French Polisher of Melbourne Hall Furniture Restorers in Melbourne, Derbyshire. When the frames had been refinished I knew immediately that I wanted to put a lighter colour fabric on them to compliment the new, soft wood tone. I chose Villa Nova’s Geneva Vintage in ‘Hemp’ stone grey. This is a stonewash effect cotton-linen in a neutral colour that would fit into most interiors.

During the reupholstering process I decided to add in four buttons to the back of each chair to bring them up to date. I thought they looked too plain without them. With the addition of new seat foams, these chairs are now very supportive comfortable lounge chairs.

I hope you agree that they were worth salvaging in the end! The chairs are currently for sale on my website here.

Parker Knoll Rocking Chair PK 973-4 Restoration

This beautiful rocking chair is an original 1960’s Parker Knoll. Now, I must admit when I first purchased it, it didn’t look too grand. The original dark varnish had chipped off, and the original upholstery was tatty.

After stripping off all the fabric, I realised that the frame was far too battered to even get away with looking ‘vintage’. Hmmm. So I took it to the lovely Neil Collumbell, French Polisher of Melbourne Hall Furniture Restorers in Melbourne, Derbyshire. Neil advised that it was best to take the beech wood back to the natural colour, apply a light stain and reapply french polish wax – all by hand. This was to help maintain the vintage patina and charm. So, I set Neil to work.

The finished results of the french polishing was beyond my expectations. I didn’t actually think it was the same chair! The frame turned out a gorgeous honey colour, which was soft and smooth to the touch. Very exciting. (I could get addicted to this french polishing).

The rocking chair was then newly upholstered by my amazing upholsterer in Villa Nova’s Geneva Vintage in ‘Delta’ soft blue. This is a stonewash effect cotton-linen and compliments the wood tone perfectly. I decided that to bring this chair up to date, that three buttons should be added to the back. I kept these in the same colour as I didn’t want the upholstery to overpower the frame.

Overall, this project actually brought a tear to my eye. I had seen this ‘ugly’ little duckling of a rocking chair transform into this now beautiful little swan. I know that sounds really corny, but hey, its the only way I can describe it! I hope you agree! You can find the rocking chair for sale over at www.florrieandbill.com.

Ercol Windsor Chair & Footstool – Nursery Chair

This little beauty is another of our projects for our own home. This chair is now in our new nursery… imminently awaiting the arrival of our baby (due sometime this week).

The chair is from the 1980’s so it’s not as vintage as the other Ercol Windsor chairs we have refurbished.  The original pink dralon cushion covers were a little drab – so they had to go! The pirelli webbing was still in good condition so we decided not to replace that.

We polished up the dark wood frame as it was also in good condition, with only slight wear to the arms and legs.

We recovered the cushions and footstool in a vibrant and soft tangerine linen, using a top stitch to give the overall project a slightly more contemporary look.

The chair is amazingly comfortable – especially when used with the footstool. Another lovingly restored piece which will be enjoyed by our little one for many years to come!

We hope you like!

The Original Chair Covers

2 Seater Sofa Project: The After Photos!

As promised, here are the pictures of our 2 seater sofa revamp!

Long gone are the dirty green covers and Queen Anne style feet!

We reupholstered the whole sofa in a light cream linen-look polyester fabric (washable at 30 degrees as we have a baby on the way!), and added 3 buttons to the back to add interest. We added a bandage arm detail to the wings and only piped the outside edges to help bring this sofa up-to-date!

We completed the look with some bespoke, turned wooden feet, finished in a distressed black varnish. We think the transformation is rather marvellous!

It’s really comfortable and fits superbly in our bay window.

We hope you like the project!

Before!!!

Project of the Week 1! Ercol Windsor Armchairs

We have finished restoring a lovely pair of Ercol ‘Windsor’ Lounge Chairs – Model No. 203. These chairs are original 1960’s. These chairs have been widely regarded as the best armchair Ercol have ever produced. The frame is made entirely from a solid Elm with spindled back and curving, upswept arms.

We have recovered these chairs in a vibrant yellow fabric (Foxtrot Rib Sulphur), with added button details to the backs. We have also added yellow and grey striped down filled scatter cushions.

We finished off these chairs by adding new Ercol foam interiors to both back and seat cushions, and have rewebbed the seat platforms with new Pirelli webbing.

The frames do show some minor marks but we feel this adds to the vintage character of the chairs. Overall the chairs are in great condition for their age!

All our chairs are reupholstered to comply with current fire regulations.

To purchase please see our Etsy Listing here >> NOW SOLD