No two councils across the UK have the same policy for removing bulky waste and unwanted furniture.

Extreme differences between policies were highlighted within the research, which found some council policies charging as much as £20 for the removal of a single item, compared with other boroughs which offered free removal for up to five items.

The research is part of our bid get the nation to consider reupholstering and repairing furniture instead of simply discarding it.

Birmingham, Bradford, Leicester, Lincoln, Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford, Preston and Wakefield offer the free removal of unwanted furniture, but with varying restrictions on the number of items and in some cases, type of waste.

Worcester and Cambridge were revealed as the most expensive, charging £16.10 and £20 respectively for the removal of just one single item.

The cost to remove a fridge freezer also varied dramatically between councils, with Canterbury charging the most at £25 while others offered the service for free.

Discounts for those on income support, housing benefits and pension credits were offered by some councils and not by others and in some cases, the time of year affected a council’s policy. In Chester, collection is free during the months of March and April but for the rest of the year there is a charge of £15 per collection.

Chris Plumb at Plumbs said: “According to latest government figures, the UK sends more than half its waste to landfill – that’s a huge 62 million tonnes a year in England alone. By reupholstering furniture, consumers are taking direct and effective action to help reduce our landfill problem.”

“The collection and subsequent reuse or recycling of furniture by councils is key to reducing landfill, yet our research shows that there is no consistency across UK councils with some waste policies coming out more favourable than others.”

We have created a new collection of fabrics called the ‘Bijoux Collection’. It is a co-ordinated range of four differently styled fabrics, featuring textured tweeds and crushed velvets, which are colour co-ordinated together to offer mixed furniture groupings following current trends.

The new range of fabrics have been manufactured using the very latest technology with the highest quality raw materials to offer beautiful, timeless fabrics.

The four fabrics are:

Bijoux Weave –a richly textured tweed effect combining similar tones
Bijoux Slub – a smooth textured random slub effect for perfect simplicity
Bijoux Velvet – a sumptuous crushed velvet with the very latest design trends
Bijoux Hopsack – s simply styled contemporary tweed with tonal shades

Colourways include: Grey, Mulberry, Pearl, Coca, Chocolate, Teak, Charcoal, Mist, Duck Egg, Pear and Cherry

Chris Plumb of Plumbs said, “Our new collection offers some stunning fabrics with lots of different colourways. Use them to transform a sofa or chair with loose covers or reupholstery to brighten up your room for the summer.”

We have recently put a brand new delivery van on the road, even though we are really excited about this, we imagine you are probably not!

So, to get you a little more excited. The first 5 people to send us a photo of themselves with one of our delivery vans will receive a lovely surprise. NO EMPLOYEES PLEASE

If you are lucky enough to snap a photo with our new van, you’ll get an extra special surprise.

Please post your photos on our Facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/Plumbs.Home

Just so you know, our delivery vans go all over the UK so watch out wherever you are!

Here is what our other vans look like:

Congratulations to our very own Chris Plumb, on completing, what can only be descried as a gruelling and painful bike ride.

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!

In conjuction with the BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2010 on 16th – 20th June, we are giving a lucky winner the opportunity the chance to have a one-seater chair REUPHOLSTERED LIVE AT THE SHOW.

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.

I thought I’d share some new photography we have done that show’s off our very popular Deco Antique fabric in a natural colourway.  The sofa is an antique style Chesterfield that has been reupholstered. As you can see this sofa looks as good as the day it was first made.

If your sofa is starting to look worn and weary, the cushions are saggy, and the fabric is wearing thin you are faced with a choice, throw it away or buy new?

As more homeowners invest in green living and recycling old furniture becomes more popular, reupholstery is an environmentally pleasing way to give old worn out furniture a brand new look.

Buying a new suite does not necessarily mean better. Imported foreign-made suites means your money goes towards a massive amount of raw materials from across the globe including tropical hardwoods, production energy and transport costs. Chances are however that the suite you’ve already got is better made than the new one.

Economic and social trends often have an effect on interior designs and trends. We believe 2010 will see a shift back to preservation and exploration of the past.

This year bold floral and spring blossom will be reflected heavily in fabrics used in reupholstery. Soft greens will be the choice colour and teamed with pale pinks, make a winning combination for a spring palette.

Here at Plumbs we recommend going for a bold floral print or a coastal theme when choosing fabrics for reupholstery.

Spring blossom in soft jade is bang on trend this season, use to reupholster an old sofa or a tub chair and combine it with plain walls to make a daring floral statement in your living room. For something a little less daring try an ocean blue fabric paired with creams and yellows to bring a splash of summer into your living room.

The reupholstering process itself is an intricate and delicate procedure and we pride ourselves on the craftsmanship involved. Sofa and chairs with button effects look particularly pleasant. The art of deep-buttoning gives the item an indulgent, voluptuous look made fashionable in the Victorian era.

Here at Plumbs our advice is to think before you throw, furniture can easily be given a brand new look by reupholstery.

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

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.

Reported today – http://www.cabinet-maker.co.uk/news/view/id/1327

Plumbs backs sofa scrappage scheme

Furniture re-upholstery specialist Plumbs is backing the sofa scrappage scheme, which encourages consumers to trade in their non-compliant products for new British-manufactured sofas and chairs.

The scheme, launched by The Association of British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM), aims to reduce the number of sofas in UK homes which are made from highly flammable material, pre-dating 1988 safety regulations.