Retirement Show: Manchester Central (G-mex) 11-12 March 2011

The hugely-successful Retirement Show is the unique forum for all who are retired, semi-retired or who just aspire to retire. At each Retirement Show visitors can find out how to make the most of their retirement (or simply have a great day out!).

All you have to do is be one of the first 50 people to enter the FaceBook promotion and share it on your profile wall with your friends.

Click Here…

This chair appeared on the Plumbs Reupholstery unit this morning to be reupholstered. It has been supposedly reupholstered before….or has it?

1. The new cover has simply been stapled on top of the old.
2. As a result the new cover has worn through on the side of the arm as there is no supporting padding
3. The customer was almost certainly of the impression that she was having her chair reupholstered.

Just a word of caution for anyone looking into reupholstery. There are lots of companies out there both large and small, who claim to be reupholsterers. Check exactly what work is actually being done before you make a decision. Stapling a cover on top of what is already there is not reupholstery. It is bad practice and gives the reupholstery craft a bad name.

What we offer:

Plumbs offer a comprehensive reupholstery service of the highest standard backed up by a comprehensive three year quality guarantee.

There are many processes involved in traditional re-upholstery techniques from the basics of pin stuffing to the complex, such as deep buttoning.

As different styles of furniture require different techniques we cannot always guarantee what will be used on your furniture. The first technique, which is performed on every piece we re-upholster, is ‘taking down’ and inspecting the frame.

During this processes we can identify what needs to be done to restore your furniture to its former glory. Re-springing, for example, is not always necessary depending on the condition of the springs. On the other hand, we may need to repair parts of the frame such as loose joints.

We can guarantee that whatever needs repairing, will be expertly carried out. The full reupholstery process carried out by Plumbs is described here:

http://www.plumbsreupholstery.co.uk/reupholstery/index.php

A Plumbs Tale

Once upon a time on a dark wintry night a fairy princess in the guise of Plumbs consultant Jan Bone came to sprinkle some fairy dust on a tired old suite. She worked her magic with samples of every colour and finally with a flourish produced the cardinal rouge velvet. Yes please! Cried the owner and off Jan went in her four wheeled vehicle.

Soon prince Alan arrived with his trusty tape measure and then he too disappeared sending measurements across the land.

Many a long month went by as plasterers and painters prepared the room ready for the arrival of the red velvet and Plumbs were asked to wait” just a little while longer” so that everything could be right for the occasion. And then the day arrived, and so did Jan Bone carrying her wondrous boxes of covers.

With a flick and a pull the old suite was transformed into something magical – a suite to be proud of – a blaze of colour and just as comfortable as it had always been. And the moral of the story? ” always judge a suite by it’s Plumbs cover”

Mrs. Bevan – Portsmouth

To enter the competition, we asked entrants to submit an image of a chair they would like reupholstered, with the winning chair receiving up to £1000 worth of reupholstery, with a choice of fabric from 30 different options and full reupholstery live at the show earlier this month.

Mrs Pritchard said: “Winning this competition was a complete surprise and I’m absolutely delighted with the result. My chair has been completely transformed and it was a fantastic experience to watch the incredible skill of the Plumbs reupholsterer at work.”

Before and After Images:

From all at Plumbs, we hope Anne gets many years of joy from her restored chair.

Although “bike ride” doesn’t seem to do it justice, the long slog of cycling from Lands End to John O’Groates took Chris and his cycling partner Andrew Broomby just about 10 days to complete.

Well done from everyone at Plumbs. We’ve got a very soft cushioned chair waiting for you!

This fantastic prize is worth up to £1,000. Your chair would be collected from your home, reupholstered live at the BBC Gardeners’ World show, in your choice of fabric (from a selection of our top 30 fabrics) and then re-delivered back to your home.

To be in with a chance of winning this amazing prize and seeing your chair transformed live at the show, upload a picture of the one seater chair you would like re-upholstered on the BBC Gardeners’ World show:

Enter here….

Closing date for entries is May 21st 2010. Two runners up will receive tickets to BBC Gardeners’ World Live.

Is recycling old furniture set to become more popular?

But this goes for any product around the home from, especially ones made from materials that can be recycled such as; glass and metal etc. These will play a big part in this year’s renovations.

One such product is a work surface created using pure natural quartz and recycled metallic chips. As well as being kind to the environment it is a durable solid surface offering excellent resistance to acids, abrasion and wear. The surface comes in four polished colour tones: white, black and two shades of grey. The worktops are also able to be created to support the stylish continental trend of slimline work surfaces.

For further information please contact: Chiltern Marble Group

One settee was down to the wood in places and the frame was rickety. My bed settee is such an unusual shape I hardly dared hope that it would look good. However, they both look amazing! They are better than new, and I’ve had so many compliments regarding them.

Not only does the fabric look great and feel luxurious, but the replacement seat cushion and upholstering have made them far more supportive and comfortable than before.

Mrs J.E. Jones – Liverpool

So before you begin planning a restoration, building a new home or just up-dating your current decor. Remember when it comes to lighting you can never have too many light sources.

Decor that is well designed and thought-out will utilise all three types of lighting:
• General Lighting – this illuminates an entire space.
• Task Lighting – bright lights used to focus lights on a particular area for tasks such as reading, writing or cooking.
• Accent Lighting – used to spotlight decorative objects and create mood.

Walk into many thousands of homes across the UK and you will find one light fitting in the centre of the room and not much else. Just by the addition of extra lighting a room can feel warmer and more inviting, with strategically place spotlights you can direct the light to various areas to help with certain tasks.

The ability to transform a room just by adding different types of lighting is amazing. Up-lights, which are canned lights that sit on the floor, are wonderful items to use in corners, especially with large plants. They shine the light up onto the walls and ceiling creating a warm glow to an otherwise dark corner. Small rooms will seem larger with the installation of recessed ceiling can lights or wall washers, which will shine the light down onto the peripheral walls. Hallways and entranceways are sometimes dark; brighten them by adding canned light, track lights or picture lights.

If you need to get some inspiration or just simple ideas why not Visit high-end restaurants, hotels or bars and you’ll see the incredible difference lighting can make – and duplicating those effects can be simpler and less expensive than you think. The reward is a lighting atmosphere in your rooms that will be warm, unique and very inviting.