Watch some of the basic techniques our expert upholsterers use to reupholster a Queen Anne Fireside Chair:

Artists and designers get inspiration from a lot of things – even plants. Take cactus for instance. The freakily real green cactus-sofa above was used for an AXN-ad with the tagline “Relax if you can.”

We have just launched this brand new ‘Luxury Cord Velour’ fabric, which is the softest fabric we’ve ever sold. The whole family will just love snuggling up together on this sumptuous chenille fabric.

Available now in a choice of 15 beautiful colours, there is everything from vibrant lilac, passionate purple, cool natural, capaccino coffee right the way through to ravishing mulberry and even masculine black .

You simply won’t be able to stop yourself from stroking and touching – the feel and handle really is just so soft. Here is a comment from one of our consultants:

I had my first order in this fabric today and could the customer leave it alone, would she eck! She kept stroking it on her lap as if it were a cat! At this rate we will need new books as they’ll become bald with all this stroking. I’m going to get a pair of trousers made in it if thats the effect it gets!!!

Best of all though is the outstanding washability. Most fabrics lose their life and body after a visit to the washing machine. The new luxury cord velour comes out looking brand new, fluffy soft and vibrant. With no shrinkage, this fully washable fabric is quick dry making it practically perfect for a busy home.

Right now, the cost of covering any chair is £159 while a sofa is either £289 or £339 depending on the sofa size. Save even more by covering any sofa plus two chairs at just £599.

You will be impressed and tempted to cover your sofa and chairs in this brand new luxury fabric from Plumbs. Find out what all the fuss is about by requesting a visit from a Plumbs local consultant. They’ll bring the fabric to your home!

Request a visit here…

How much oxygen did your furniture produce today? Wouldn’t you rather be sitting outside in the garden, than indoors on your couch? Now you too can have the best of both worlds, and sculpt lawn furniture from the lawn itself.

The time-honoured skills of upholstery have long since been a masculine domain, with the traditional crafts passed down over the years from master to apprentice. Routes into the industry for a woman embarking on a second career are few and it is only Katy’s sheer determination and genuine love of her craft that have enabled her to achieve what she has to date. With a glowing record behind her and a future specialising in antique restoration ahead, Katy has proven that a bit of grit makes all the difference when breaking into a new industry.

When speaking about her role, Katy’s enthusiasm is clear:

“I love working on all the furniture that comes through the workshop but I get a particular buzz from the older stuff and the antiques. It’s my chance to give it a second life and make it look as good as the day it was first produced. As an upholsterer the challenge is to unravel and convert the designer’s idea and make the piece look beautiful again, and I get a lot of satisfaction from that.”

And yet things could all have turned out very differently, as it was only by accident that Katy discovered her talent for upholstery. Faced with the prospect of finding a new career, with no formal qualifications and no experience other than as a chef, she stuck a pin in a City & Guilds course book and came up with upholstery. After doing some research on the subject, she undertook an access course at York College and was well and truly bitten by the bug.

Several years later and Katy has added a BA Hons in furniture restoration and conservation to her impressive record, as well as the first pure MA degree in upholstery to be awarded in the UK. She also spent time refining her specialised training at the Ecole Boulle, a highly respected Parisian school dedicated to the arts, where her skills have been honed to perfection.

“My life has turned around since I started to learn about upholstery, it’s really become a huge part of my world,” Katy says. “My partner is also a furniture maker and restorer, so our whole house revolves around a love of the craft. I just get such a sense of achievement when I see the finished piece that it makes all the effort it’s taken to get to this place in my career worthwhile.”

The skill, workmanship and passion that a Plumbs craftsman puts into reupholstering your treasured piece of furniture is next to none. Plumbs offers all the benefits of a well established national company, offering furniture repair and reupholstery services, combined with a personal level of service that can only be achieved on a local level.

Plumbs are giving away 5 free pairs of tickets to the Country Living Magazine Spring Fair, these tickets can be used any day expect Saturday. Additionally each winner will receive 2 tickets to the Gala Evening on Wednesday 24th March.

Find out more about the fair – CLICK HERE!

How to Enter:

There are a two ways to take part in our competition. You can either:

1. Sign-up to our monthly newsletter. Anyone signing up between the 26th February 2010 – 16th March 2010, will be automatically entered – Sign-up here…

2. Become a fan of our Facebook page. Anyone joining between the 26th February 2010 – 16th March 2010, will be automatically entered – Become a fan here…

3. Follow us on Twitter and re-tweet this message:

RT @Plumbsltd: Win one of 5 pairs of tickets to the Country Living Magazine Spring Fair. For details http://tinyurl.com/ydgzdyf #plumbstand

Everyone can be a winner. For everyone signing up to our newsletter we will issue them a promo code that can be used both online and phone booking to get £1 off.

A Few Rules:
Each Re-Tweet will receive 1 entry into the competition
Each Newsletter Sign-up will receive 1 entry into the competition
Each Facebook Fan will receive 1 entry into the competition
The competition winner(s) will be contacted personally
Prizes must be taken as stated and cannot be deferred
There will be no cash alternatives
Open to UK residents aged 18 or over
We do not accept any responsibility for late or lost entries
Competition closes @ 23:59 on 16th March 2010
The winner will be selected and announced on 19th March 2010

See The process of re-upholstering an occasional chair:

Come and see us and our loose cover & reupholstery products at the Country Living Magazine Spring Fair 2010. Located in the Business Design Centre, London from the 24th – 28th March.

Win one of 5 FREE pairs of tickets to the Country Living Magazine Spring Fair – Click Here…

Come and see us at stand E11 – you will get to see:

• LIVE – demonstrations of a chair being reupholstered by a master
  upholsterer. You are free to ask as any questions!

• Get the chance to see and feel the quaility of all our fabrics.

• Ask any one of our team of professionals about our Loose Cover and
  Reupholstery products.

Enjoy a fantastic day out at this year’s Country Living Magazine Spring Fair. The Business Design Centre in London’s Islington will be packed with fresh ideas for the home and garden. Discover – and sample – a whole host of delicious regional produce in the food hall and pamper yourself with gorgeous fashions and unique jewellery. Meet some of the UK’s most talented artisans and really celebrate spring in style.

Click here to find out more about the fair…

Last week, we got together about 250 Plumbs employees to take this aerial photo to commemorate our 50th year in business. It was a very cold day but luckily all the waving and many takes kept us all warm.

To celebrate our golden anniversary, we have created an exclusive new collection, honouring our 50 year heritage with a range of fabrics manufactured by British design houses.

Our collections include ‘Bijoux’, a new co-ordinated range of textured tweeds and crushed velvets following the very latest style trends for a combination of design and colour and ‘Timeless Classics’, an exciting new range which blends beautiful florals, plains, mini designs and stripes in co-ordinating room settings.

Autumn 2010 will see the release of a special ‘Prestige Collection’ showcasing the very best sellers from top British brand names such as Sandersons, Crowsons and Blendworth and ‘Venetian Palace’ – a top of the range, yet affordable, collection.

We have been producing and designing quality made-to-measure loose sofa covers and loose chair covers for half a century.
From the early days as a North West market stall, Plumbs have grown into the UK’s biggest supplier of loose covers and have diversified in recent years adding curtains and the highly skilled art of reupholstery to our range of services.

With 50 years under the belt and having covered 3 million suites to date, this family-run business have embraced five decades of home interior fashion from the vivid oranges of the 1960s, the elaborate and coordinated styles of the 1980s to the clean minimalist approach of the 1990s.

To see a selection of these new 2010 range of re-upholstery, loose covers and curtain fabrics – please click here…