What started as a hobby soon became an upholstery business that Kate Bartlett is now totally passionate about.
Based in Caistor in Lincolnshire, she specialises in reupholstering chairs, settees, chaise longue and other furniture, particularly those with a history.
She explains, “Many old chairs have wonderful hidden stories behind them. Most of my commissions are for much-loved furniture that has been in families for many years and is now in need of restoration. One recent example is for a foster family that has seen lots of children live with them and their reading chair held lots of lovely memories. It is important for us to understand the strength of feeling towards the furniture so that we can provide the quality and style of upholstery that the family is looking for.”
Alongside her husband, Tim, Kate has been a student at the Ministry of Upholstery in Manchester. Kate learnt more about the art and skills of upholstery from the owner, Anthony Devine, while Tim did a fabric design course using the latest software and technology. As a result, they had the idea of complementing their business by creating a range of personalised items and also wall art products to sell alongside their upholstery work.
“As well as producing unique, personalised designs for the furniture, we had the idea of creating wall art that complements the design. Our customers were very interested in this idea and so we looked to add a digital printer to our business. Having spent a lot of time at the Ministry of Upholstery, which uses a range of Epson printers from YPS, it made a lot of sense for us to look at the new Epson desktop printer. We were given lots of advice by Anthony Devine and also Peter from YPS was very helpful.”
Kate decided to buy the 24” Epson SureColor F500 printer. “The Epson is very easy to use and produces spectacular quality image output. It is so exciting to see all the possibilities this printer offers.
We can turn even more creative ideas into reality in a way that our customers love. It’s early days with the printer, but we are looking forward to seeing how we can turn our ideas into a reality that will help our business grow,” she concludes.
We will check in on Kate again in a few months to see how she is getting on.