MY STORY
Hello, I'm Simon.
Artistically restoring furniture that is no longer loved has become my passion.
Not only does it give me the feel good factor that I have saved another piece of unwanted furniture from landfill, but transforming it into a desirable object that someone now wants is truly satisfying.
How I got into furniture restoration maybe a familiar story to others who experienced the fallout of Covid.
A frustrated creative working in tech & media licensing all my life until Covid came along and I found myself out of work & without the appetite to go back to the corporate world.
My partner Louisa and I were living in SW London and with lockdown driving us spare, we decided to up sticks with our 11 year old Doberman & head to the North Norfolk Coast. A place we had visited every year for many years and a place we loved so much.
As our own furniture felt out of place in our new coastal & rural surroundings I picked up a brush & started to paint. Initially giving everything a quick makeover with Chalk Paints I found myself regressing 35 years to my days at College where I studied Art History & Fine Art. I reopened my study books and fell back in love with the Italian Renaissance, the true masters of the arts who came out of Italy and in particular Florence, in the 15th century.
What started as a bit of a home DIY project then became an obsession. I travelled to Tuscany to study with real artisans of woodwork & painting. Studying & mastering not only the techniques on how to restore but also using age old ingredients to mix real paints and glues used by artists for hundreds of years.
Now, I take no longer loved wooden furniture and turn them into finishes that interpret the passage of time. To create statement pieces that transform the atmosphere within a room. Taking my inspiration & influences for colour from Italian, French & Gustavian painted furniture of the 18th & 19th centuries, I love to work on palettes that add character to both traditional and contemporary spaces.
If you are interested to find out how I could help transform one of your own pieces of furniture or perhaps a door, a panel or even an entire kitchen, please get in touch for a no obligation chat and discuss some ideas.
If time is limited and you need something now, I also have restored pieces ready for delivery that are either on the website or, if I haven't got around to photographing, can be found at my workshop near Fakenham, Norfolk.