{"id":2401,"date":"2020-02-01T05:50:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-01T05:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.vintiqueupholstery.com\/?p=2401"},"modified":"2023-12-20T13:56:33","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T13:56:33","slug":"birthdays-and-new-beginnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.vintiqueupholstery.com\/?p=2401","title":{"rendered":"Birthdays and new beginnings"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Vintique<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Sharon O\u2019Connor from Vintique Upholstery and I thought it was about time to say \u2018hi\u2019 with my very first blog!<\/h2>\n

Most people talk about fresh starts in January, but February is the big month for new beginnings at Vintique Upholstery. First off, it\u2019s my birthday. Second, I celebrate the anniversary of launching my business seven years ago. It\u2019s also the month I got my gorgeous rescue dog Ruby and it\u2019s my other treasured rescue pup Reilly\u2019s, 1st birthday too. No wonder then it seems the perfect time to embark on my first blog.<\/p>\n

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Picture Credits (above + header): Andy Newbold, copyright Surrey Life<\/b><\/i>\u00a0Magazine<\/b><\/i>.<\/h6>\n

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Welcome to my crazy, busy life\"Sharon<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve been considering writing a blog for a while, but you know what it\u2019s like\u2026 Life gets in the way. Actually though, it\u2019s exactly THAT life – sometimes crazy, always busy – I feel it\u2019s time to talk about. I\u2019m here to spread the joy of upholstery as a business and an everlasting craft, and to show that we don\u2019t need to accept boring furniture in our homes. But I also want to open up about the work and guts and grind that goes into running your own small business.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be a place where you\u2019ll find inspiration, tips and my personal insight into the art of upholstery. But it will also be a chance to bring you my musings on all things life and business.<\/p>\n

So, I\u2019ll be covering all the other things that go on day-to-day behind the scenes here at Vintique Upholstery. Because we all have a story to tell, which is what makes each and every one of our small businesses so unique. And I suppose the best place to start is\u2026 well, at the beginning.<\/p>\n

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Right back to the beginning<\/h2>\n

\"WornLots of people ask me if I\u2019ve always been an upholsterer and the answer is, \u2018nope\u2019.<\/p>\n

I lost my board role in fashion \u2013 an industry I\u2019d loved for 18 years – when the recession hit in 2008. A year of job-hunting followed and I had to give up my lovely, rented loft apartment in London and move down to a much smaller mid-Century maisonette in Teddington. I was on a mission to furnish the place on a budget and I managed to pick up a beautiful, old 1960s Guy Rogers day bed on eBay, which I decided to get re-upholstered.<\/p>\n

There was something about the whole process that sparked something in me. I loved choosing the fabric and seeing the quality and design of this piece being brought back to life. This is when a little idea started to grow in my head\u2026 \u2018What if I could I become an upholsterer and do this every day.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u2018What if I could I become an upholsterer and do this every day.\u2019<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Shortly afterwards, I enrolled on a course with the Association of Master Upholsterers in Kendal. Upholstery training is not cheap. In fact, it\u2019s eye-wateringly expensive. It meant making sacrifices, saying goodbye to most of the deposit I\u2019d saved for a London home and ditching the designer shoes and handbags. But \u2013 thankfully \u2013 by the end of the first week I was hooked. I\u2019d never felt so exhilarated, and to see a piece I\u2019d worked on transform in front of my eyes was such a thrill.<\/p>\n

I trained for four more years and saw a brighter future emerging. These days you\u2019ll find me taking on a whole variety of commissions from my workshop in Sunbury-on-Thames. I\u2019m also a resident upholstery expert on the BBC\u2019s Money for Nothing makeover show.<\/p>\n

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The joy of fixing things and putting them back together<\/h2>\n

\"ReupholsteredIn a strange way, I\u2019m so pleased that the recession happened. It opened me up to a beautiful craft and profession that I work in every day. I get to meet so many interesting people who bring me their furniture. Some are treasured pieces from their past, others are modern pieces from the present, and many have emotional or nostalgic connections. It\u2019s my honour to be trusted with items, some of which may have been in people\u2019s families for generations, others for maybe only a few years. I can\u2019t think of anything I\u2019d rather do than fix things, put them back together, modernise and refresh for a new space for families to enjoy for the next generation.<\/p>\n

So, as we kick off this February I\u2019m feeling grateful for finding this path in life. And maybe raising a glass of something to the prospect of many more exciting projects coming up in the future.<\/p>\n

You can subscribe to my blog below. I hope you\u2019ll tune in and join me on the journey. And if you\u2019d like to discuss a project you have in mind, do get in touch here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Share via –<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m Sharon O\u2019Connor from Vintique Upholstery and I thought it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vintique-upholstery-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBirthdays & New Beginnings | Vintique Upholstery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn more about furniture upholsterer Sharon O'Connor and her London-based upholstery company; Vintique Upholstery as she embarks on her very first blog.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/test.vintiqueupholstery.com\/?p=2401\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Birthdays & New Beginnings | Vintique Upholstery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn more about furniture upholsterer Sharon O'Connor and her London-based upholstery company; 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