Wow. When I started this site back in 2017, I thought it would be a good outlet for my teaching instincts after leaving the profession and moving on to pastures new. As is unsurprising for someone with ADHD, so much energy was lovingly poured into the project before new shiny things caught my eye.
Who could have foretold that the following years would see me complete 3 years of learning before the whole world shut down. I bought my first house complete with huge garage to turn into a workshop, completed a variety of commissions over the years and got to grips with some truly tricky projects – rocking chairs are hard! I even acquired an upholstery dog – he attended classes when he was puppy and ate various important tools and materials as he grew up. Eventually my own house ran out of room for new pieces and my work rate slowed.
While the world locked down my personal life turned upside down in multiple ways. I met the man who would become my husband, saw my incredible mother unfairly and incomprehensibly worn away by lymphoma and learned, like everyone else, to live in a world post pandemic. Eventually I moved house again, got married just in time for my wonderful mum to witness it, and most recently had a baby. Perhaps a new upholsterer in the making. That he will never meet his maternal grandmother will forever feel wickedly unfair.
Time marches on and as I now sit in stolen quiet moments on my maternity leave, my mind wanders back to upholstery. Many of my outstanding projects still sit in my old cottage, soon to be sold, and therefore need dealing with. I currently plan to keep my favourites and donate the rest to the students of the college where I learned my skills. I am so touched every time I receive messages and comments on here. That my ideas are still useful to others while my mind has been occupied elsewhere feels wonderful.
My idea with the site is to keep it a little more updated than once every 7 years (!), and focus more on answering questions I get through my contact form and in the comments. Fire away!