Our Collaboration with Urban Grain

We're super excited to be working with Urban Grain!!

Upholstery paired bespoke industrial design!

At the end of last year we met up with Urban Grain's owner & design director, Carla Muncaster.  In Loose Button's freezing workshop we managed to thrash out some amazing ideas that we could work together on - followed up with a much warmer meeting at Urban Grain (must get heating sorted!!).  We looked at combining the industrial and reclaimed specialities of Urban Grain with a more soft and comfortable angle from Loose Button with our upholstery and fabrics.

We'll initially create a complimentary range of seating, from stools and benches which fit the existing offering from Urban Grain.  Just like our custom-made seating customers will be able to select from a range of fabrics, patterns and colours to make their design truly unique.

Like Carla said "it's the obvious next step for both of us and we can't wait for our clients (old and new) to support us on this" - and she's right - Exciting times ahead!!

Further on we plan to work on our own designs of chairs and units - we'll keep you posted on that!

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For now we've kicked off with a set of bold & bright stool tops in 100% wools from Abraham Moon & Son's. - These sit on these Industrial stools, part of a set along with a Pedestal Table made up from Chestnut Stained Reclaimed Scaffolding Boards and Black Powder Coated Steel. 

The salvaged vintage industrial design works perfectly in any sophisticated, casual living spaces.

See the design and more details at Urban Grain's Etsy store here: 

Urban Grain - Etsy Store

These upholstered stools and table were commissioned and have now sold.   Like Loose Button, Urban Grain design and make everything to order and therefore the possibilities are literally endless... you can commission anything from either of us!
 

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If you'd like to discuss some ideas with us, please get in touch - we love helping you create individual and unique furniture!

hello@loosebutton.co.uk

Contact Us here

Made in Manchester - Our interview with Run & Fell

RUN&FELL are fellow Manchester based designers and Manufacturers creating unique ethical & organic t-shirts.  As part of their 'Made in Manchester' series, we were happy to have a chat about how Loose Button came about, what we do and what we stand for.

Read our story...

Made In Manchester Series - Part 8 - Loose Button

In our Made in Manchester series, we're connecting with visionaries who are cultivating their own innovative enterprises; artists and designers creating inventive new visuals; musicians driving the heartbeat of the city. Northern lad, Lee Smith, having worked abroad for nearly a decade, has returned to his roots, and started a business here. We visited his workshop to find out the story behind Loose Button.

"I used to live out in Switzerland, for about 9 years, doing training development, HR stuff. They made some changes, and kind of turned everything on its head. But I think all the while I was a bit like "Hmmm I want to do something different, I'm a bit tired of the office kinda stuff," I mean it was great, travelling and everything, but I just got a little bit tired of that corporate environment."

Self-confessed "Powerpoint monkey" Lee, gave up the stability of a high-powered executive corporate job in favour of returning to his roots (Lee grew up in Blackburn). "I think the turning on its head was the kick-starter to say "Right, you want to move out of Basel and move back to the UK, you want to do something creative, and do something with your hands and work for yourself"."

"Something just clicked and I started looking online for upholstery courses. I can't actually remember the exact moment but basically found Ministry of Upholstery based in Manchester. So I booked on there, did a little footstool and thought "Right, I like this"."

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Still living in Switzerland, Lee regularly flew over to spend time in Manchester learning different techniques at "The Ministry". "I started finding old things, and kept coming back every month, learning different techniques." The Ministry themselves grew and moved to bigger premises, housing a business incubator unit, providing the perfect opportunity for Lee to test the idea of launching his own enterprise, Loose Button. "That was perfect timing. I moved back to the UK then and stayed in there for a year, with mentoring and they'd get you support, but really you were trying to get on your own feet. I was able to gain confidence and build skills at the same time."

Twelve months in to his new life, Lee was able to find the ideal workshop space, down a hidden back street in the heart of West Didsbury, where he now creates his pieces. "After a year there I wanted to find my own space, and found this which is perfect. I moved in here last April, so I've been here just over a year. Before I moved I got connected with Dave (Draws). I saw his stuff and really liked it, and I could see it lending itself not only to the cushions, but we did some furniture, a footstool, and other bits, so we've been playing around with that. We've got about 12 or so designs together."

Printed doodle map re-upholstered vintage stools

Both Lee and Dave Draws, a Manchester-based illustrator, featured in one of our previous blog posts, sell their designs at the West Didsbury Makers Market, and have collaborated on a number of pieces of furniture and cushions. Dave's doodle map designs are printed onto fabric using a local digital print company, which Lee then uses to create cushions and pieces of upholstered furniture such as the vintage stools pictured.

"Predominantly I was doing re-upholstery, finding old stuff to make new," Lee explained how he loves the sustainability of re-upholstering old pieces of furniture, and giving new life to old designs. Classic old chairs and footstools are stripped back in Lee's workshop, and transformed with new foam suitable for modern regulations, and re-covered with fresh new fabrics. He's keen to avoid land-fill where possible, and even sends his off-cuts of fabrics to be re-purposed into rugs and blankets. "A downside of some of the old stuff is that you can't re-use the foams, as it's not fire safe, so that's always a challenge. But it's not a perfect world so you will have waste foam, but we get stuff recycled wherever we can, off-cuts of fabrics etc." The local Makers Market in West Didsbury is his "shop window" for the upholstery side of the business.

"There are sort of three prongs to the business really. The bar stuff has been an aside, I never planned to do that." Lee explained that as well as reclaiming retro furniture, he has taken on some corporate commissions to fit out local bars and restaurants such as the Northern Quarter pizza restaurant "Ply", "Brewski" in Chorlton, and the basement in "Refuge". Though he was thrilled to get these high-profile commissions as such a new start up, he described how there were different challenges involved in each venue, "You know, they've got to be durable, got to meet the regulations, got to be wipeable." 

The third "prong" to Loose Button, is taking custom orders for Lee's own designs. "Then I started doing my stuff. I started doing these benches and footstools and playing around with different fabrics, different styles, as a custom-made range, and that's where I'm at now, trying to push that side of it," he explained, pointing to various pieces stacked up in the workshop.

"I'm doing the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in October, which was great to get into. I'm working with a media company now, to try and get a bit more visibility outside of Manchester. I would love to have this custom made stuff become a brand in itself." Despite wanting to increase awareness of Loose Button across the UK, Lee wants to keep his business here, Made in Manchester, using local print firms and fabric suppliers where possible. He loves to source fabrics from the mills in Lancashire, who create beautiful upholstery fabrics using British wool.

"I pick fabrics because of the origins of them. I use a lot of wools, natural fibres. I like the naturals I this they work well for upholstery, they're nice to touch. some people don't like the sort of Harris Tweeds, they feel they're a bit rough, some of the other wools are softer. You've got to cater to all markets, if I don't stock the stuff, people can bring their own. Obviously there's a big Vegan movement and people don't want wools because of it being an animal by-product. I don't do a lot of synthetics, I don't like doing a lot of that because its all oil-based at the end of the day, but some people get irritated by the natural wools."

"It's been really good and it's starting to get to that tipping point and I think now I'm starting to think  "yes  this is starting to click into place". It's nice when I've done something myself and someone sees it. Each job I finish it's like "Yes this is great"."

Having loved art at school, and initially wanting to pursue a career in Graphic design after leaving school, before going into his corporate career instead, Lee attributes his ability to design and select colour choices for his fabrics, to his creative roots. "I think it comes from doing art at school, it comes back round to that it really does. I should have gone into technical illustration of Graphic Design. My sister did that so there must be something in the family genes I suppose." 

"I've kind of gone full circle basically. I'm trying to utilise what I probably should have just carried on doing, so it is a funny kind of turn around really." As well as returning to his artistic roots, and embracing his creative side, Lee has had to adjust to returning home to what he described as his "new country" after living abroad for nearly a decade. He described how different Manchester is now, having known it well before moving to Switzerland. He feels it's ideal for his business but said he almost felt like there was so much going on here he was constantly missing out on something. "It's great, it really is. And there's loads of things to tap into. There's a lot of focus on Manchester, which is fantastic. I like it, it's good for inspiration, theres' a lot of art, and you just get the vibe of the place, the whole Media City side of things, the Northern Quarter as well."  

Since leaving his old world behind, the executive well-paid job, the travel, and the stability, Lee described how even though he has the freedom now of working for himself,  some of the business practices he's used to have been ingrained in how he approaches Loose Button. "It's funny when you leave the corporate world. I hated all those mid-year reviews and corporate appraisals, but I do it. I did it in January, I bought a new notebook and wrote down what went well, what didn't go well, so the background that I've had has been good. It does help with that side of discipline really"

Not unlike the well-loved, vintage chairs he up-cycles, Lee has stripped back his own life really. He's discarded what he has grown tired of, and kept the important pieces. He's found what was there underneath all along, and is re-shaping his career and re-building a new life back in his old country. So yes, in his own words, absolutely full circle. 

If you'd like to have something re-upholstered, see our Upholstery Services page for more details.

11 Mid-Century Designers You Need In Your Life

The mid-century design adopts Scandinavian and American design influences to craft pieces that are stunningly modern, versatile and easy to incorporate into a mid-century modern home. From the awakening of the 20th Century, mid-century designs are bright, refreshing and have truly steered away from convention in the post-war era. To understand the best of mid-century design, here are eleven of the most significant mid-century designers that you need in your life.

1.     Eames

Charles and Ray Eames were married designers who broke the mould with mid-century design. Their furniture designs typified modern America. Their product exudes happiness and positivity, designed to have an encouraging effect on the home. From sweeping curves, contrasting colours and angular products, Eames designs are synonymous with mid-century furnishings.

2.     Florence Knoll

With a background in architecture, Florence Knoll designs mid-century pieces focussed on their functionality and practicality. Offering innovative solutions to stay organised, Knoll pieces focus on order and clean lines. In fact, Florence Knoll pieces were indeed the epitome of practical office style. Florence married the furniture manufacturer Hans Knoll and their partnership made was for many innovative designs.

3.     Hans Wegner

Known for well-crafted and stylish furniture. Wegner combined his two passions: carpentry and designing. Wegner pieces are crafted to offer durability, sturdiness and comfort which come from the tapered legs, curved and polished wood and rounded edges for a smooth and chic finish. Taking inspiration from the well-made furniture and tapered legs, our mid-century modern bench uses beech tapered legs and stylish fabrics to create an ultra-chic mid-century piece.

4.     Alvar Aalto

A popular Finnish designer, Aalto seamlessly blended Scandinavian and American style to create pieces that thoroughly screamed ‘modernism’. Combining natural effects with modern materials. Aalto’s mid-century designs focussed on metals, woods and glassware. Curves, sleek lines and a polished appearance are common across Aalto designs.

5.     Gio Ponti

Angular and industrial, Gio Ponti furniture designs are incredibly distinctive, and it is no surprise that Ponti is one of the most influential designers in Italian Modernism. His passion for modernism shines through every product, building and furniture piece he has designed. With a long career, you can find many original Ponti pieces as well as many other designers who have taken inspiration from his work.

6.     George Nakashima

Similar to Hans Wegner, George Nakashima was a renowned carpenter and master woodworker. Nakashima crafted mid-century pieces with care, attention and a full focus on wood in his designs. In fact, Nakashima was so passionate about using wood in furniture he believed wooden furniture could reveal the soul of the tree it came from.

7.     Sergio Rodrigues

Offering a unique and personal twist on mid-century design, Rodrigues incorporated style from his native Brazil to create compelling compositions that had character. Each furniture piece designed by Rodriguez evokes the spirit of Brazil while still focusing on modern design and comfort.

8.     Charlotte Perriand

Charlotte Perriand’s long career meant she experimented with many design trends, from naturalism to industrialism. However, Charlotte Perriand was one of the first to create a vision of early modernism. Her use of angles, clean finishes and crisp, clear purpose were influential and trend-setting.

9.     George Nelson

A long and varied career, Nelson was a prolific designer and journalist. His editorial work for Architectural Forum gave him vast knowledge about the world of design, architecture and post-war design. Nelson becomes the design director for Herman Miller where he created some of the most iconic mid-century pieces, such as the coconut chair.

10.  Milo Baughman

With a passion for design from a very early age, Milo Baughman focused on style and minimalism creating pieces that were innovative but still functional. One of Baughman’s objectives was to create furniture that is accessible to the public but still offers excellent design. Baughman utilised a range of material in his designs from steel, glass and chrome as well as upholstery fabrics and leather.

11.  Karl Springer

Karl Springer designs are known for the luxury appeal, glamour and meticulous attention to detail. Before crafting furniture Karl Springer began as a bookbinder, he then turned his attention to designing mid-century furniture with luxury leather and skin covers. With a passion for luxe and expensive material, Karl Springer furniture was opulent and incredibly popular among high society.

If you’ve been inspired by mid-century design, visit our shop at Loose Button where we strive to craft mid-century pieces with a new and innovative touch and a luxury stylish appeal. 

An Introduction To Contemporary Interior Design

For a sleek and stylish look, contemporary interior design is a great way to improve the interior of your home. Contemporary simply means ‘of the moment’, this means that contemporary design relates to furnishing and pieces that are in current style and are accessible now. With this in mind, it is easy to acquire pieces that are new to add to your home design and create a fashionable, comforting contemporary feel.

For any interior design approach, personal tastes play a major part, and for the contemporary look, it is easy to use elements to create the style you want. Not to be confused with modern design, contemporary design is fluid and ever-changing whereas modern design tends to focus on the trends that dominated the mid-1990s. The ever-evolving nature of contemporary style works really well for homes as it is easy to update the look slowly with the gradual acquisition of new pieces that keep the space bang on trend.

If you want to bring a contemporary nature to your home design, but don’t know where to start, then follow our easy steps to guide you in the right direction.

1.     Neutral colour palette

A contemporary colour palette is one that is dominated by neutral and natural tones. Whites, browns, cream and grey are all commonplace in contemporary interior design. It is this neutral colour scheme that helps to give your home interior a simple and clean finish which is what contemporary design is known for. If you prefer a bolder colour choice, consider painting a feature wall that accentuates the room.

2.     Versatile wood

Wood is a highly popular material in many interior design options because of its versatility and adaptability. Wood makes a great contemporary addition to a home, and what’s more, the range of colour choice, stains and finishing can give you the right look for your home.

To keep a contemporary theme, make sure you don’t clutter the space with wooden furniture which can create a traditional, country cottage look. Contemporary wooden features would include a real wood floor, floating shelves or fireplace beam or perhaps wooden picture frames or art pieces.

3.     Light and airy

To keep the focus on the clean lines and polished look your design needs the right lighting to emphasise the look and illuminate the key contemporary features. A stylish pendant lamp in the middle of the room may cast the right glow across the whole room, giving it a warm and cosy atmosphere. Alternatively, floor lamps are a great way to add a stylish design and highlight the features in the room that you want to draw attention to.

4.     Focal-point furnishings

While a contemporary style is clean, minimal and understated, a way to add personality and comfort which keeps the design warm and inviting is through a variety of textures. It is important to consider your furniture upholstery to give a contrast to the sharpness of contemporary design.

Find fabrics such a tweed, wool, crushed velvet and linen to break the refined lines and make your contemporary design homely. This Loose Button Cocktail Chair is an excellent choice as it offers clean, simple lines through the chair legs, contrasting textures and a bright colour pop that can be set against a neutral palette.

5.     Metal finishes

Stainless steel is an obvious contemporary finish to your kitchen, but other metals such as copper and chrome can also be incorporated to add a chic contemporary feel. It is important to use metal sparingly to ensure a contemporary finish rather than following the industrial trend. Consider metal accents such as lamps, ornaments and table with metal features and legs. Try and keep the trend and metal choice consistent in each room.

6.     Go natural

Another contemporary trend that is dominating the interior market at the moment is the use of natural materials. Whether that’s wooden walls, leather artwork or slate tables, there is a focus on bringing the outside inside with natural materials in a raw style. Rock, slate, teak and wood are all brilliant elements to incorporate into your home design for an earthy but contemporary finish.

Feeling inspired?

If you want to add contemporary touches to your home, then get in touch for more ideas on how to transform your home with chic, on trend designs and unique custom-made furniture.

6 DIY Upholstery Ideas To Restore Your Favourite Chair

We all grow attached to the things we have at home now and then. Be it a favourite rug, a special painting or perhaps some decorations that we hold dear to our hearts. One of the most depressing feelings, however, is when our favourite belongings start to suffer from wear and tear. Perhaps it was due to an accident, or maybe it’s due to neglect.

As we grow older, we get more and more attached to our chairs. We spend a lot more time in them watching television, reading books and sometimes even eating our dinner, which is why they can sometimes suffer from stains and damage that could be expensive to repair.

However, repairing your chair doesn’t need to be an expensive thing, and there are plenty of DIY upholstery ideas that you can utilise from the comfort of your own home to restore your favourite chair.

1. Reupholstering a chair from scratch

If you have a lot of time on your hands and the will to reupholster a chair from scratch, then it’s possible to do so with just a few tools. This can completely rejuvenate a chair and make it look spectacular, even if the chair is several decades old. It will, however, look completely different and it might lose some of its charm, so this isn’t a good idea if your attachment is to the designs of the chair itself.

You’re going to need to remove all of the staples from the upholstery first so the fabric comes loose enough for you to completely remove. This is a gentle process, so don’t try to tear it off. Pry off each staple with a flathead screwdriver and keep the staples safe out of harm’s way in a small bowl or box and throw them out. Keep an eye on how the fabric is woven and stapled down, preferably taking pictures as you go along so that when it comes to reupholstering it, you can mimic the same design and shape of the fabrics that you removed.

2. Give your armchair a good clean

If you spend some time eating near your favourite chair, then no doubt it’s suffered some cosmetic damage. This is where a deep clean can come in handy to remove stubborn stains, grime, dirt and all manner of noticeable mess. Although it’s recommended to clean these stains as early as possible, there are times when you might miss a drop of tea or some crumbs that eventually caked onto the back of your seat. Remove the cushions, vacuum up all the dust and bits and pieces, then assess the damage. Cleaning with steam is preferable so that the chemicals don’t rub off the design or fade the fabric.

Cocktail Chairs

Beautiful custom-made chair in Heathered Tweed Wool from Bute Fabrics. 

Check It Out

3. Refresh it with a new design

Visit a local upholstery store and purchase yourself some new fabrics to line your cushions with. Since the cushion you sit on suffers the most wear and tear, it’s a good idea to replace it now and then. You can use clashing colours to create a wonderful retro look, or you can try to match the same colour and design. There are plenty of upholstery ideas available on the web if you’re itching for inspiration.

4. Replace the cushion itself

If the fabric design is something you absolutely adore, then perhaps replacing the cushion could be what you need to give your chair a much-needed refresh. Carefully remove the fabric from the cushion so that it doesn’t rip or tear, and purchase a cushion that can fit into your favourite chair. This is difficult if you have something with a peculiar design, so be sure to contact the manufacturer or custom-make a cushion that is similar to the original one.

5. Swap the legs

If your favourite chair’s legs have worn out, then it could be a good idea to give them a modern or rustic replacement. Armchair legs have to hold the weight of the chair and you, so if you’ve been using the chair for a while and you have moved it around from house to house, then it might suffer some damage over time. They’re usually quite easy to replace, but it involves tipping the chair over in order to remove the legs, so ask someone for help if you’re not physically able to do so. There are plenty of designs available for your upholstery ideas , so don’t hesitate to pick something extraordinary or beautiful.

6. Personalising your favourite chair

If you want to make it yours, then why not sew a special or unique pattern into the upholstery? You could add your name, you could weave some patterns, or you could just fix up some cosmetic damage that you noticed. This takes a bit of skill, but it’s a wonderful way to invest time and money into your favourite chair.

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If you decide you don't have time to dedicate to your upholstery ideas and would like some help with yours, check out our upholstery service in Manchester.