Nothing unusual in this order you might say. The pictures however tell the whole story of what well made loose covers are all about. Taking a well constructed but tired piece of furniture and breathing in new life.

Below shows a view of a piece of furniture that most of us never see. In this case proper steel springs, hardwood frame and quality fillings mean that this is a piec of furniture made to last.

The end result ready to be wrapped and delivered. There is probably 30 hours of skilled labour and around 40 metres of fabric gone into this 3 piece suite.

As it’s now been 7 days since the start of spring and with the natural world bouncing back to life, now is the time to use some of this special energy to influence the decor of your home. Many of you will be aware of the influences seasons have on cat walk fashion but many of us don’t, for many reasons, reflect them in our home.

The main reason for this can be cost, however just as there are small changes you can do to give your appearance a touch of sparkle, like a new handbag or the new must have shoes without having to update you whole wardrobe. There are some DIY tricks you can use to pull off the same effect in your home.

Change that Colour

As the gloomy shades of winter melt into balmier, sunlit tones, a palette of soft greens, pinks and purples will reflect the hues of nature, while the brighter days mean you can go for coolers shades of blue and white.

Use those Accessories

Linda Hindle, a Director here at Plumbs and Granddaughter of the founder Thomas Plumbs, says “To really lift a room, try using sunny yellows and golds as they are really good for boosting your sprits. And remember you don’t have to re-paint the whole room to inject some colour, instead go for bold accessories such as curtains, cushions and throws, to get the look”

Make use of the natural sunlight

Make the most of the lengthening days by putting away heavy fabric curtains and opting instead for light draped gauzes in soft, shimmery colours.

Bring the natural world into your home

Spring is all about the re-emergence of nature, so why not let it show in your decor. Floral cushions and accessories are perfect for this time of year and are a great way to add that spring-time freshness. Look for bold geometric patters in stricking two-tone shades for a modern twist on a traditional look. Not only is this trend great for your home, it’s everywhere on the catwalk this season.

Old and New can work

In the name of spring, give some poor piece of well made furniture a new lease of life, if you look in most second hand shops or online and offline auctions there are many pretty pieces of furniture that could use a bit of TLC. You’d be surprised at what a bit of paint, varnish and some new fabric can do. Our craftsmen at here at Plumbs can repair, restore and re-upholster these pieces to their former vintage glory and and the same time bring them up to date using fresh new fabrics.

Brighten up your living room

Don’t put up with tired looking furniture in dark, winter fabrics but switch instead to bright cottons and linens for a much more airy feel. And by using made to measure loose covers on you sofas, chair or suites you can instantly transform your room.

Get rid of the clutter

Unnecessary junk is really draining on your energy and not very feng shui, so either get rid of it or store it somewhere out of sight. Linda, says: “I find that a pretty floor length table cloth is a useful way of hiding stuff underneath, it makes a feature out of necessity and you can change the cloth to create different effects.

So sweep out you fireplace, get rid of the winter ashes or candle displays and fill the spaces instead with big bright spring flower arrangements for that sweet smelling and finishing spring touch.

Sofa Covers and Re-upholstery are a good way of renewing furniture while curtains also have an eco theme as they help to conserve heat. So to keep the eco theme going we are trying to reduce the number of brochures we send out.

However lots of customers ring us up every day asking for a brochure. We feel this necessary as most people just want to see some ideas before deciding if they want to take the purchasing decision any further.

So we felt the answer was an e-brochure, this allows us to show off our roomsets and products while keeping the environmental impact to a minimum.

So today is the launch is our brand new e-brochure. Please click here to either download or view the brochure online.

I recently found this great story about a very worth while charitable organisation being commended for their efforts, not only to help people in need but to help protect the environment by recycling furniture.

“The Furniture Recycling Project” in Gloucester won the “Reuse Project of the Year” award by the Furniture Re-use Network (http://www.frn.org.uk/), particularly impressing the judging panel with it’s work during and after the 2007 floods that blighted many parts of the South West. The project was able to supply more than 5,000 households with essential second-hand furniture.

The award is intended to highlight how furniture projects continually support their local communities through improving the places where people live. This is about highlighting complimentary goals of providing a furniture reuse service for the unemployed people who also gain from volunteering and training at projects.

Richard Featherstone, who founded the Furniture Recycling Network (FRN) 18 years ago and initiated the awards, said: “These awards are to celebrate reuse tackling poverty and unemployment while preventing good furniture going to landfill. There is a link between social benefits and waste management which have not yet been fully explored but I predict this will be visible on the Government’s agenda before very long.”

Plumbs firmly believe that furniture should never go to waste by being dumped in landfill, everyone has the option of either re-using their furniture by covering / reupholstering or by donating it to charity so that someone possibly less fortunate than yourself can feel the benefit of something that would otherwise go to landfill.

Every week there are around 100 reupholstery orders passing through our workrooms. Every one gets the same attention however some really do stand out as being interesting or unusual.

This is a great example. Double drop arm sofas like this really are worth preserving as the mechanisms and frames are very well built.

These pieces are particularly versatile as they create a fabulous day bed or even emergency sleepover for unexpected guests.

The pictures say it all. The original furniture has been stripped down right to the frame and all internal elements checked and replaced where necessary. The end result with the new fabric applied is just stunning. This could so easily have gone into landfill but now it’s good for another generation to enjoy.

What better time to launch a new product than Easter, the start of spring and the time for new life.

Now is just the time to brighten up the conservatory. To help things along Plumbs have launched a range of made-to-measure covers for conservatory furniture.

If your conservatory furniture is suffering from fading or the effects of sunlight, why not take a look at www.plumbsconservatoryfurniturecovers.co.uk – our brand new web site.

Grand Designs Live London is being held over NINE days at ExCel from 3 – 11 May 2008.

Grand Designs Live is the UK’s no. 1 consumer show for design and innovation. Based on the hugely successful Channel 4 TV series – presented by design guru Kevin McCloud – Grand Designs Live will inspire you with the latest design ideas for your home. Packed full of new show features, more celebrity experts and great advice. Shop from over 450 exhibitors and get access to six shows 

Open Daily between 10am and 6pm from the 3rd to the 11th May 2008, including Bank Holiday Monday.

We are not too sure how long you will be able to claim this FREE ticket for so be quick!

You can claim the FREE weekday ticket buy clicking here – then quoting the refererrence code “FREECOSTA”

Hurry while it lasts…

I read a great article here about how using Feng Shui in your bedroom can give you a better nights sleep. I’ve got to say, I am very sceptical when it comes to anything like this but I found some of the tips to be mainly common sense. I have however tried a few and something must’ve worked because my wife and I had the best nights sleep ever.

So if you find it difficult falling or staying asleep, waking up in the morning feeling uneasy or irritated then you might as well give some of these tips a try as you have nothing to lose. I think the most obvious tip and the one to have the most effect is this one:

“Cover windows with curtains so that you can have a cocoon-like feeling at night, and they’ll keep the sunlight out in the morning. Being exposed to sunlight first thing in the morning is said to influence your serotonin levels and affect you for the rest of the day. Once you’re ready to wake up, you can easily pull the curtains open and flood your room with natural light.”

Happy Sleeping

We recently received a letter from a very kind gentleman who had made a mistake when placing his order for made-to-measure curtains for his bay window. This was because he did not take into account that each curtain is cut to half the width of the measurement we are given so the curtains will open in the middle. Unfortunately when placing his order he only gave us the width of one of the side windows. This resulted in the smaller curtains only being half the desired length.

Sometimes it can be quite confusing when measuring for difficult windows such as bay windows, which is why we offer a free measuring and fitting service. However the gentleman very kindly gave us the suggestion that we should up-date the measuring guide on our website or add a section to explain the measurements for these more difficult windows. We are doing exactly what he suggested and within the near future we will have a series of measuring guides, from the simple to more intricate window types.

In the mean-time if you need any help or advice on how to measure for curtains, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Alternatively you can request a home visit from one of our consultants who will measure and fit for free.

According to a new study by Petplan on of the UK’s leading pet insurance companies, found a large percentage of dog and cat owners based their purchasing decisions on the suitability for their pets. The obvious one is holidays where 68% of dog owners and 47% of cat owners said that this was the most important area in which to take their pet into consideration, however many also include home furnishings such as sofas.

Pet hair can be real pain when is comes to your soft furnishings but as we explained in this recent post Threats to your Sofa, there are ways to protect your sofa from your pets hair, claws and any other dirty or smelly messes we all know pets can make.