2019-08-01_Homes_&_Antiques 2

STYLE.NOW.

Therestoreranddesignerreectsonhis

journeyintotheworldoffurniture,and how

much he has learned along the way...

LEARNING CURVE

U

ntilnineor 10 yearsago,

I’dneverreallyhadmuch

todowithfurniture.I

boughtit whenI needed

it,andI knewwhatI liked.Butas

fordesign,restorationoranyof

theskillsI havenow– nothing.

ThatallstartedtochangewhenI

was 39 or40,whenI wasworking

withdisadvantagedyoungpeople

throughmycharity,Street

Dreams.Weranlotsofprojectsto

givetheseguysanoutlet,while

alsogivingthemvaluableskills.

Oneoftheprojectswedidwasto

x upandsellonoldlaptops that

came to us from BT.

Oneday,alongwithsome

computers,weweregivena desk

thatwedecidedtodecorate.It

tookfourorveevenings– allthe

whileI wasteachingmyself,as

muchasthekids,whattodo.We

foundtheprocessveryrewarding.

I hadthebugandI wantedto

knowmore.Which,inthetownI

calledhomethen,wasn’thard...

HighWycombehasa rich

traditionoffurnituremakingthat

I hadbeentotallyunawareof.

AsI educatedmyselfaboutits

history,I learnedthatI was

basedinthesametownasErcol,

G-Plan and Parker Knoll! I

thoughtit wouldbea goodidea

formeandsomeofmyyoung

peopletolearntheseheritage

skills,soI putsomefeelersout.

Wewereinundatedwithoers

fromlocalpeoplewhowantedto

passtheirtraditionalskillsdown.

There were people fromtheWI

andHelp

theAged

[nowAge

UK]right

throughto

master

restorers,

including

somewho

regularly

workon

furniture

intheRoyalCollection.They

taughtus(boththeyoungpeople

andmysel) howtore-cane,

upholster,Frenchpolish,wood

turnandmore.AllthingsI had

knownnothingaboutpreviously.

Soon,wewerepickingup

vintageErcolchairsfor£3.50and

perfectingourskillsonthem.As

a lotofthecharitablefunding

begantodryup,ourfurniture

workcouldcontinuebecausewe

couldselltheendresultonfora

bitofrevenue.Andso,eventually,

it becameallaboutfurniture.

Thelearningcurvewas– and

stillis– justincredible.AndI

wanttolearnevenmorefromthe

mastercraspeopleoutthere

whoI admiresomuch.There’sa

chapwhodoesjapanningwho

I’mkeentolearnfromandthere’s

someoneinOxfordwhodoesan

advancedFrenchpolishing

course;I can’twaittodothat.

ThroughwhatI’velearned,I’ve

cometoseeBritishfurniturethe

samewaya footballfanmight

cheerfortheirteam.Everynew

skillI pickupandstoryI hearthe

morepassionateI become.AndI

knowthere’sstillsomuchmore

out there for me to discover.

Jay Blades

‘Wewereinundated

withoersfrom

localpeoplewho

wantedtopass

theirtraditional

skills down...’

August 2019 Homes & Antiques 31

Jesse Wild

TheModern

Restorer

N E W

COLUMNIST