Upholsterer Aramand Verdier

In the somewhat under-the-radar world of upholsterers, there’s an extremely wide base of craftsmen and women with varying levels of skills and know-how.  It can range from the very basic DIY-er, all the way up to the master of all Masterful Upholsterers.  In Upholstery Club’s ongoing quest to seek and magnify upholsterers of all kinds, we’ll meet the masters who are light years ahead of most of us, as if operating in a different dimension, as well as novices who are picking up upholstery tools for the first time. We appreciate the entire spectrum of upholsterers, recognizing the rigorous training and ‘upholding’ of centuries old skills, as well as loving the spirit of those newbies who have a spark of curiosity and thus must give it a try.

Today, we’re featuring one of today’s masters.

So, what makes a master upholsterer a Furniture Rock Star?

They have trained for years, five to seven years or longer, perfecting their craft. They are creators of  true masterpieces, although to the untrained eye one may never be aware of their exceptional skills. One such master french upholsterer is Armand Verdier who operates his high end upholstery business out of a small shop in Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, about an hour and a half Northwest of London. In May I happily hopped on a train from London and rode up to the lush, green village of Cheddington to chat with Armand.  Here’s what I wasn’t expecting:

1. He’s so young

2. He has a terrific sense of humor

3. His little shop is the picture perfect ‘small shop’ like are featured on ApartmentTherapy.com.

4. He makes the most delicious cup of French Roast coffee

I suspected he was brilliant, but he proved to be even more than that.

The beginning of a traditionally upholstered iron back chair.

We first introduced Armand when we discovered his traditional upholstery of what is known as a Victorian Iron Back Chair. We posted photos over on the Upholstery Club Facebook page that completely WOWED our Facebook readers. Everyone longed for more, so he gave us more. Here in Part 1, you’ll see just a bit of  what goes into creating a hand webbed, padded, stitched and sculpted chair base. Using hessian, springs, burlap, and wire, you can see how he meticulously begins to sculpt the base with coir and horsehair and continues on with very fine French hand stitching. This is rare, masterful work.

The chair back is formed by meticulous hand stitching.

It’s clear why traditionally upholstered furniture has given way to less labor intense methods, but there’s no modern upholstery that equates to the skill, talent, and expertise that goes into sculpting a chair by hand with centuries old materials.

Stay Tuned for Part 2.