interview :: florrie + bill

December is “Greatest Hits” month, where I’m sharing some of my favourite posts from the past year – this interview with Florrie + Bill founder Amy Cawson has been one of the most popular posts this year…

Amy Cawson came across a tatty vintage sofa at her local YMCA. When she replaced the worn-out leather seats with fabric ones, gave the whole thing a little TLC and found someone to buy it, she says she also found her calling. Realising there was a market for her take on restored vintage and retro chairs, she established Florrie + Bill in early 2012, naming her new enterprise after her grandparents, Florence and William, and her memories of their home, with its retro radiogram, string pictures and teak furniture. I caught up with Amy to find out more…

What’s the most important thing to know about you?

I’m not an upholsterer, and I’m not trained in furniture or interior design – I suppose you could say I am self-taught. My professional background is in office administration, and I ran my own Virtual Assistant business, Girl Friday, for six years.

How did you get into furniture restoration?

Mainly through the influence of my husband, who is a designer in the upholstered furniture industry. Seeing how creative and varied his role was really inspired me. In my spare time, I started to restore old chairs with the help of a local upholsterer. After selling them through eBay I realised there was a market for my products. Having a baby in 2012 made me decide I wanted a career change, and so in 2013 I swapped paperwork for chairs. I’m slightly obsessed with interiors, fabrics and retro furniture, so it seemed like a winning combination and I’m really glad I made the switch.

Your latest collection uses fabric designed by up-and-coming surface pattern designers – what drove that decision?

After running my admin services business, I understood the importance of collaborating – especially with other small business owners at start up stage. I really believe there is strength in numbers. There are so many talented textile and pattern designers within the UK, and I have always wanted to showcase their fabrics on my chairs in some way.

The collaboration with Flock happened when Director Jenny Wingfield approached me after seeing my restored chairs on Twitter. She thought it would be great if I could use some of their fabrics on my projects. Flock’s ethos of helping their designers keep their name to their work and paying them a royalty for every metre of fabric sold really appealed to me. It strengthens the fact we can and should support each another as we grow.

What appealed to you specifically about each of the patterns you’ve chosen?

When I first saw the Flock fabrics, I immediately fell in love with the bold use of colour. It is a really well thought out collection of designs, with each pattern working as well individually, as it does grouped with one another.

Rachel Parker’s Northmore fabrics have an intense, colourful explosion of random geometric designs that is so different to anything else I had seen.

Lucy Rainbow’s Aldgate East design appealed to me as it evokes a clean, midcentury style in an elegant pattern repeat.

Cerys Ackland’s Circuit is just mesmerising. It’s a computer circuit board design, printed onto velvet. As a design concept you wouldn’t think it could ever work, but it’s just so effortlessly beautiful and captivating.

I had already been working on launching a cocktail chair collection before Jenny approached me – but with a view to using plain wool fabrics. When I saw Flock’s collection I just knew that the geometric patterns would work so well with the classic shape of the 1950s cocktail chairs.

Describe a really good day and a really bad day in the life of Florrie + Bill.

A really good day is managing to tick all the things off my to-do list, putting together fabrics and job sheets for my chairs, and receiving an order – or two, all while getting to spend some time with my son. If I manage to get some housework done and get tea ready before 5pm – then that’s a bonus!

A bad day is when a fabric or style of upholstery doesn’t work on a frame as planned and then I have to go back to the drawing board. Also, forgetting to hang out the washing if I have too many emails to deal with!

Talk me through your design and making process?

When I purchase my chairs, I immediately see a particular type of fabric and colour I want to use to bring the chair back to life. To me, and this might sound strange, but each chair has got a personality and a story. I’m basically putting on new clothes for its new lease of life, so it’s my duty to get it right.

The design process is mainly done in my head. I’m not from a technical background, so I don’t create by sketching or measuring and prototyping, as my husband would. I use a selection of carefully considered fabric swatch samples, and look at current colour and texture trends to get ideas when deciding on the right look for a chair.

I strip all the chairs myself at home, which I enjoy immensely. It’s a messy and sometimes difficult task, but it’s great to remove the old fabric and find a beautifully constructed hardwood frame underneath.

From there, the frames and fabrics go over to the workshop. I work with highly skilled Long Eaton based upholsterers, and together we discuss the restoration details. Each chair has its own specification sheet, which I complete, and we go though this to ensure that the chair is restored to a high standard. It covers things such as interior fillings, button detailing, fabrics and pattern matching and whether the frames need any repairs or polishing.

What’s your favourite part of the process?

Definitely seeing the chairs when they have been restored and reupholstered. I have been know to have a few tears in my eyes when I see a restored chair for the first time. It’s the end result of bringing that idea to fruition; that’s what drives me.

What are you most proud of?

Getting my business off the ground with very little financial backing, and also being a full time mum! I have built my business up steadily over the past 3 years and at times I have nearly given up because I couldn’t see myself getting to where I needed to be.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to do what you do?

Firstly, don’t worry if you don’t have any qualifications or experience within the industry. If you have a genuine love and passion for restoring furniture, then make a plan to do it.

Go and talk to industry experts, upholsterers, textile designers, your friends and family. Visit trade fairs and exhibitions and research the marketplace, but find your own niche. If you feel you need, or want more skills to progress, then consider taking an upholstery course, a business skills course, and attend website and social media events.

You will find yourself doing everything from moving chairs from A to B, sourcing fabrics, finding and negotiating with suppliers to help source stock, to marketing and selling your products so be prepared to wear many hats. And don’t be afraid of working late nights and unsociable hours to pull projects off.

It takes a lot of determination to succeed, and there will be knock-backs so you need to be thick skinned. At the start you will possibly need another way to subsidise your income, as you’ll be spending more money than you earn for a good few months.

I am a great believer in ‘if you can see it, you can achieve it’. Always set yourself goals, however small they may be, and take the steps needed to reach them. Once you achieve one goal – set the next one. And don’t forget to reward yourself in some little way when you achieve each one.

And finally, what’s your favourite colour?

Mustard yellow… I have to be careful not to overuse it on all my chairs!

Further reading for the especially geeky:

• interview :: kate shaw, cordello home
• interview :: pattern foundry
• interview :: hokolo
• interview :: head & haft