At BJ Upholstery, we specialise in breathing new life into your furniture. Whether you’re looking to restore, reupholster, redesign, or create a brand-new footstool from scratch, we have done it.
From any size to any shape and any design, our bespoke craftsmanship ensures you get a footstool that perfectly matches your style and needs.
Browse our collection of past footstool projects for inspiration, some we made and some we reupholstered. Whether you have a favourite piece in need of reupholstery or an idea for something completely unique, we’re here to help.
Located in Darlington, we proudly serve customers across the UK, offering top-quality upholstery and reupholstery services with expert attention to detail.
Introducing a beautiful bespoke heart-shaped footstool, crafted with a Union Jack design on top. This isn’t just a printed pattern—each color and section of the Union Jack has been carefully cut and stitched to perfection, as requested by our customer. We offer custom-made footstools in any size, shape, color, or fabric.
Whether you’re looking for a statement piece or something unique for your space, Jo Griffiths is ready to discuss your vision, while Joe Wood and Barry will design and handcraft your ideal footstool. We offer a nationwide service and can deliver anywhere in the UK, as well as internationally. Reach out to us today to start designing your dream footstool.
At BJ Upholstery we specialise in creating bespoke, made-to-order sofas that are tailored to your unique style and needs. Read more about our service.
Customised Design
Personal Consultation: We start with a one-on-one consultation to understand your preferences, space requirements, and design inspirations.
Exclusive Fabrics & Materials: Choose from a wide range of high-quality fabrics, leathers, and materials to create a sofa that complements your home decor.
Unique Styles: From classic to contemporary, we design sofas in various styles to suit your taste. We can create a sofa from a sketch or copy an existing piece.
Craftsmanship
Handcrafted Excellence: Each sofa is meticulously handcrafted by our skilled artisans, ensuring exceptional quality and durability.
Attention to Detail: We pay attention to every detail, from the stitching to the finish, to ensure your sofa is perfect. Some sofas can come with storage under the platform.
Comfort & Functionality
Custom Dimensions: Whether you need a compact sofa for a cozy corner or a spacious sectional for your living room, we tailor the dimensions to fit your space.
Ergonomic Design: Our sofas are designed with comfort in mind, providing optimal support and relaxation.
Functional Features: Incorporate features like storage compartments or modular designs to enhance functionality.
Quality Assurance
Premium Materials: We use only the finest materials to ensure longevity and comfort. From frame to padding to fabrics, all are a high quality to last a long time.
Rigorous Testing: Each sofa undergoes rigorous testing to meet our high standards of quality and durability.
Seamless Process
Design to Delivery: From initial design to final delivery, we manage the entire process, ensuring a seamless and stress-free experience.
Installation Services: We will deliver and install your sofa, ensuring it fits perfectly in your space.
Customer Satisfaction
Personalised Service: We pride ourselves on providing personalised service and building lasting relationships with our clients.
Satisfaction Guarantee: We stand by our products and offer the total satisfaction guarantee to ensure you are delighted with your purchase.
Transform your living space with a bespoke made-to-order sofa from BJU Darlington. Contact us today to start designing your dream sofa!
We restore and reupholster quality, important, historic, antique, and retro soft furnishings. Sherborne – Duresta – Vale Bridgecraft – Parker knoll – Ercol – Cintique – George Smith – Wesley-Barrell – Tetrad Furniture – Delcore – Heals designer sofa – Jane Churchill – Multiyork – commercial too.
Exceptional repair, alteration, restoration, manufacture, and reupholstery services. Our experts are available nationwide to cater to your needs. Whether you require reupholstery, repairs, alterations, or a complete restoration, we have you covered. Our skilled craftsmen pay attention to every detail to ensure that your furniture is impeccably crafted and restored to its former glory – maybe better
Reupholstering Your Howard & Sons Chairs with BJ Upholstery of Darlington
Nestled in the heart of Darlington lies a hidden gem of craftsmanship, where tradition meets expertise. BJ Upholstery of Darlington is an excellence in the realm of furniture restoration and upholstery mastery. Specialising in the rejuvenation of Howard & Sons chairs, straight from the heritage of London, BJ Upholstery is more than just a workshop; it’s a sanctuary for your cherished pieces of furniture.
Craftsmanship Beyond Compare
At BJ Upholstery, craftsmanship is a passion that flows through every stitch, every detail, and every restoration project. With a legacy spanning three decades, Barry Griffiths honed his skills to perfection, blending traditional techniques with modern innovation to traditionally restore your beloved Howard & Sons chairs.
Specialists in Reupholstery
Your Howard & Sons chairs deserve nothing but the best, and that’s precisely what BJ Upholstery offers. As specialists in reupholstery, we understand the tradition of these iconic chairs, ensuring that each fabric choice, each stitch, and each layer of padding is meticulously crafted to restore your chairs to their original glory.
Upholstery Expertise Unmatched
When it comes to upholstery, expertise is paramount, and BJ Upholstery is a family business with a keen eye for detail. From selecting the finest fabrics I’m following traditional techniques using modern methods as required. Whether it’s a simple refresh or a complete restoration, trust BJ Upholstery to complete the job perfectly.
Restoration Wizards
Preserving the heritage of your Howard & Sons chairs is our utmost priority. With a deep respect for the history and craftsmanship embedded within each piece, our restoration processes employ gentle yet effective methods to breathe new life into your chairs while retaining their original charm. From repairing structural integrity to bespoke additions and trims, BJ Upholstery takes pride in preserving the essence of these timeless treasures.
Experience the BJ Upholstery Difference
When it comes to entrusting your Howard & Sons chairs to experts, look no further than BJ Upholstery of Darlington. With a dedication to excellence and preserving heritage, we invite you to experience the unparalleled craftsmanship and personalised service that define us. Let BJ Upholstery restore and reupholster your cherished furniture and create new memories for generations to come.
Please reach out to us to discuss your specific requirements or to book an appointment with Barry and Jo Griffiths and the team at BJ Upholstery | 01325 483817
We are often asked about the areas we cover for furniture collection. In general, we provide a national service, but our collections are primarily in Darlington, North Yorkshire, and up to Newcastle. However, we have also had customers ship furniture to us from Portugal, Ireland, and France, so location isn’t a problem as long as you can get the furniture to us. We offer free, expert advice on reupholstery and restoration jobs, and we can guide you on how to ship your furniture to us. It’s simpler than you might think. Feel free to contact Jo Griffiths at BJ Upholstery to discuss your requirements.
This video showcases our exquisite bespoke modular sectional sofa set, meticulously crafted to tailor-fit any space. Seating Configurations: Our versatile design offers configurations including a loveseat, chaise, three-seater sofa, and the flexibility to configure any number of seats into a corner sofa or an L-shape. Each section ingeniously incorporates a storage box, minimising wasted space. Additionally, you can personalise your design with any configuration and our optional slot-in arm feature. Ideal for apartments, offices, living rooms, and bedrooms seeking both style and space optimisation, our sectional sofa set offers unparalleled versatility. Available in a wide range of fabrics, with optional integrated lighting and numerous customisation options, it seamlessly integrates into any interior aesthetic. Thanks to its modular design, delivery to any location is easy, allowing a better seating option in larger spaces and the trickiest spaces.
We are pleased to offer a complimentary consultation and personalised advice to help you create your ideal modular sofa set. To schedule a telephone appointment, please reach out to Jo Griffiths.
Back in the 1980s, loose covers became really popular. The idea was appealing, the sofa body was plainly upholstered in a base cloth, a calico for example and the cover pulled on with fixings at the back by ties or velcro. Some sofas came with two sets of loose covers so you could switch seasonally or fancied a change. You could order new loose covers too and we have made many replacement loose covers over the years. The downsides are that when washed the covers tended to shrink which made re-fitting a bit of a battle, once fitted they tend to lose the tailored look and looked a little miss-shapen and untidy. Avoid washing if you can, if you do, re-fit when damp.
Can we make new loose covers for a sofa?
Yes, we can make loose covers for any sofa or chair. We tailor make the covers to fit the furniture bespoke tested against each panel. We do not replicate using the original covers as a template. We can make loose covers for a sofa or chair that previously did not have loose covers and we can fully upholster a sofa or chair traditionally too rather than staying with loose covers.
Is there another loose cover option?
Yes, fully reupholster the furniture and add full-size arm caps and removable cushion cases. This option allows you to remove and wash the main fabric areas with the benefit of the fitted upholstered look.
Photos of loose covers we have made are shown below.
We are so busy we are making an offer to customers who can wait until early next year for their furniture to be restored or reupholstered. You can save up to £500 on fabric when you book a reupholstery or restoration job. Go To The Offers Page
How to achieve up to a £500 saving
Ask us to quote you for your next job including fabric purchase from us and take a 10% discount from the RRP price of the fabric. A saving of up to £500.
This offer is for jobs booked in before 31st August 2020 to be collected in January 2021. Fabric can be selected at any time so you can take your time choosing the perfect fabric once the job is booked. We will post out as many samples you need. Read more about this offer.
About Our Fabrics
All our fabrics are of first quality, meet current legislation and come with a guarantee. We are stockist of some of the most versatile quality fabrics available in the UK and we have worked with most for over 20 / 30 years., for example, Chatsworth Fabrics, Linwood Fabric, Porter and Stone and Ross Fabrics.
The Orange Peel Chair was designed to capture the organic beauty of a falling orange peel. Its unique, curved design makes it a true statement piece, can look great in any home, and it’s surprisingly comfortable, it tilts back.
We’ve had the pleasure of restoring and reupholstering several iconic Orange Peel Chairs from across the UK. Reupholstering this chair presents a unique challenge due to its unconventional design and curved cushion, but our master craftsman, Barry, expertly handles these with his care and precision. We recently completed one in suple Scottish hide, and the customer said it looked even better than new. Another example is below that was originally in vinyl and re reupholstered it in a velvet.
Designer chairs like this, especially when restored, can be worth some thousands of pounds. They not only retain their high value but also serve as a wonderful conversation piece and a comfortable chair that will last a lifetime.
Below are a couple of examples—one in velvet and one in Scottish hide, both orange in colour.
For this project, we replaced the original vinyl with the customer’s chosen velvet fabric, giving the chair a softer, more luxurious look and feel. The result is a beautiful blend of form and function—a true work of art that’s also a comfortable seat.
We received the chair and I have to say you did a wonderful job. It’s better than the photos. My husband was shocked at how good the chair looks. Thank you.
We offer national delivery for all completed reupholstered items. Before shipping, we photograph each item, carefully wrap and pack them, and prepare them for dispatch. You can choose your preferred delivery company, or we can recommend one we use regularly. If you’d like, we can send you a link to book the collection directly.
How about a bespoke contemporary chair made just for you, just the way you like it. Made to order to your exacting requirements. The Deep T chair can be made static with a choice of legs or – like this one – it can swivel, ideal for a corner to allow the chair to slightly turn for conversations or serious watching TV and set in a wider area like a large window to allow full view or change of light.
We make these chairs to order in any fabric from our catalogue or supply your own fabric. This piece was ordered with thick bolster cushions. You can specify shapes and styles of the cushion shape and filling consistency.
The styling is contemporary so it will fit with a traditional home or a modern home.
Contact us for fabric samples and the price list. Or just to chat through your requirements. We can deliver nationwide.
Our customer wanted to present the football shirts he had collected over the 30 years working with world-class footballers. Rather than frame the shirts or keep them in boxes in the loft, his idea was to upholster a chair using the gifted and signed shirts. We now refer to this bespoke upholstered chair as the Football Shirt Chair.
We provided a traditional Parker Knoll-style chair, changed the legs, restored the internals and followed his exact instructions as to where each shirt should show. The chair was to tell a story of his professional life.
It will sit in Grant’s office at his new home in the Scottish highlands next to the picture window that looks onto a mountain. It will be a great talking point and a reflection piece of art for the proud owner.
Grant kindly outlined the story behind the Football Shirt Chair below:
I can’t tell you how delighted I am with the work you were able to do with the ‘football chair’ we designed. It will have a special place in our new home on the Isle of Arran when we move in the summer.
I have spent the last 32 years working in elite professional football & worked for The Football Association, Glasgow Rangers FC, Middlesbrough FC & Manchester City FC. I am a physiotherapist by profession & have worked for a number of years as a performance lead in professional football. I have collected many shirts from players, who are just ordinary people but special performers, who I have worked with over this time & I wanted to create a piece of ‘artwork’ that depicted my journey & the impact in a positive way they have had on me. I now deliver leadership talks on my journey globally & I will reference the chair from what I learned on my journey & the lessons I learned from working with some great people. It also allows me time to look at it & reflect on key decisions moving forward inspired by the people I have worked with.
Grant Downie OBE Consultant in medical & performance solutions www.grantdownie.co.uk
Buy quality furniture and it will last a lifetime, actually better value than buying new. We reupholstered this fine Wesley and Barrell chair which was purchased over 20 years ago – maybe more. Wesley-Barrell, a British company since 1895 makes traditional and contemporary furniture. Restored and reupholstered furniture is returned to our customers in ‘as new’ condition, to last another 20 years – now that is good value!
We reupholster all high-end soft furnishings. Exceptionally crafted furniture repairs, alterations, restoration and reupholstery completed – nationwide service – contact us for details. Free Estimates | Reupholstery Experts.
We reupholster quite a lot of these lovely high back Kingston chairs.
Reupholstered Kingston High Back Dining Chairs.
Lovely coordinated set of Kingston chairs.
The Kingston Chair High Back Dining Chair features clean contours and a scrolled back. The Kingston is an elegant design that is suited to most homes. The quality of this style of chair varies by manufacturer, indeed low price copies of the original can be found online. The better levels of quality are worth reupholstering. We strip to the frame, check and repair, re-web and spring, re-foam/pad and upholster as required.
More reupholstered Kingston chairs
This example has an oak frame and polished legs.
This is an original Kingston High Back dining chair – circa 1930s. The set was lovingly restored in our workshop.
Great to work on an original.
A loose cover set made for six Kingston chairs
Our customer designed the large pleated skirt that hides the legs to produce a very stylish looking chair. The fabric chosen was a ‘Linen Look’ Aqua Clean fabric that can be cleaned with just water. I want some just like this!
Kingston Chair reupholstery review on Google.Before and After Kingston Chair Reupholstery.
B J Upholstery is proud to be a partner stockist of Linwood Fabrics. Linwood Fabrics are available by the meter or can be ordered for a reupholstery project.
View the full Linwood Fabrics range at our shop
Superior reupholstery and restoration of upholstered furniture. Celebrating 30 years reupholstering soft furniture, antique, modern, retro and historic upholstered, all types of furniture professionally reupholstered.
We custom-make and fit loose covers to the soft frame of your sofa or chair. This approach ensures a perfect fit, as replicating from the old loose covers tends not to fit correctly due to years of distortion or shrinkage, and the soft frame may have altered or changed over time. By tailoring the covers to fit and hang correctly on your furniture, we ensure the best possible outcome.
Look out for us on ‘Put your Money Where Your Mouth Is’
3rd May 2014.
Jo from BJ Upholstery with David Harper.
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