North Street Showroom Refurbishment

Here at South West Upholstery, we have been operating out of the North Street showroom and workshop for three years now.

If you have visited our showroom in Clifton Village, you will have been greeted with the warmth of wood features; the colours of South West Upholstery; upcycled scaffold boards; and generally more the feeling of a living room than a shop.

This is what we are about; offering a bespoke service in a relaxed, comfortable environment.

We wanted to reflect these values at our North Street showroom, so over the Christmas period we closed for refurbishment. Here at #TeamSWU we hope the new look is inspiring and even more welcoming than before.

Changes made at North Street
Goodbye suspended ceiling

Ryan wanted the suspended ceiling gone as it made the showroom seem too office-like. This was a huge task in itself, with ceiling tiles and metal suspension strips to come down. They were certainly a few dusty days!

Industrial features

Large, metal lights (an eBay bargain!) with exposed wiring display the industrial style we set out to achieve. The existing alcove was filled with brick slips for a feature, exposed brick wall. Have you used them before? They’re bricks sliced in half for show rather than practical application. We also boxed in an old staircase with wood strips; the same type used for the feature wall in Clifton.

Farrow & Ball paint

Our friends at Farrow & Ball (Clifton), who currently have a couple of our bespoke Bobbie Burns pieces on display, paid a visit to assist choosing the colours for the showroom. Together we decided on Down Pipe 26 for the wood panelling and door frames, and the lighter Purbeck Stone 275 for the walls and ceiling. Outside we freshened up the paint using Stone Blue 86. Overall we think it gives a fabulous finish with gorgeous contrasts.

Window features

Another update was our window display. Gone are the dated curtains; instead we re-purposed scaffold poles across both front windows to drape feature fabric over to showcase some of our marvellous supplier’s fabrics. We currently have the animal-tastic Linwood Fierce Creatures and slick Warwick Stark Titanium on display.

Upcycled scaffold boards

A lot of our shop was furnished using scaffold boards, such as the feature wall and foam display stand. A particularly exciting and interesting use of scaffold boards and poles is our table, from Dear Old Thing just around the corner. We love it! It is practical as well as stylish; offering a place to flick through books or take a seat and enjoy a cuppa.

Visit our North Street showroom

Come and see it for yourself! Pop in to say hi, or bring a photo of the furniture you may be looking to upholster; or even browse our sample books to find fabric (or leather!) for your own use. Find us at 196 North Street, BS3 1JF. Find out more about reaching us here.