Restoring a 200-year-old oak corner cabinet
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Three things worth your next ten minutes
The open letter asking government to count the repair trade, how to protect a design you have made, and the measuring system already in your hand.
The Trade
Repair Day: the open letter asking government to count the trade that keeps furniture in use
On International Repair Day, We Are Repairs is sending the Prime Minister an open letter and a petition called Repair Matters. It asks for repair to be written into Net Zero strategy, measured, funded and protected by a stronger Right to Repair. Upholsterers and furniture restorers are named in it, and a survey of 109 upholsterers puts a number on the work they already do.
The Trade
Design protection in the age of AI: a Q and A with Dids Macdonald
The Chairman and Co-Founder of ACID (Anti Copying in Design) on what design protection covers, what AI has changed, and what a small workshop should do first when it finds a copy.
The Bench
The Bench: your hand is a ruler
In Chair Upholstery, Franco Marinelli sets down the hand measurements most upholsterers use without thinking: tack spacing, stuffing height, blind-stitch rows, bridle loops and the angle of the needle.
Issue 002
Issue 002 is out
Dids Macdonald OBE of ACID on protecting your designs in the age of AI, Cyncly on production software for small makers, a 200-year-old oak corner cabinet on The Bench, Franco Marinelli’s hand-measuring system, live jobs and the trade notes. Free, every fortnight.
The trade in numbers
Nearly half of the UK’s upholsterers are self-employed
About 12,800 people work as upholsterers in the UK and 36,100 as furniture makers. Four in ten upholsterers are 55 or older. What the official figures say about the trade.
Latest Stories
All articles
The Trade
Festival of Upholstery 2026: what the trade asked for, and what comes next
Chairperson Kirsty Lockwood on the sessions that sold out, the awards, what the big screens changed, what visitors want more of, and what comes next for the Festival.
The Trade
Apprentice joiner Luke Newton wins the Joiners and Ceilers Craft Competition 2026
A set of timber steps, built against the clock with hand tools, won the Worshipful Company's national competition for an Ipswich apprentice.
The Trade
What George Smith looks for when it hires a new upholsterer
Six questions on hiring, from the first job a new starter is given to what a 17-year-old should weigh up against university.
The Studio
Uncommon Ground: twelve wood makers to see at Oxo Gallery
The Society of Designer Craftsmen brings more than 60 members to the South Bank from 4 to 15 November. These are the furniture makers, turners and carvers in the show.
The Piece
A tambour whisky cabinet in Scottish elm
Paul Hodgkiss Designs on a six-bottle whisky cabinet for House of Hazelwood: why it has tambour doors, how the whiplash curves were drawn, and what it took at the bench to make them.
The Studio
From the lathe to the living room
Emily Rowley, a Turners Award maker at Cockpit Arts, on chairs, comfort and what comes next.
Worth another look
Every article
The Studio
Chippendale class of 2026: where three graduates are now
Aileen Crowley, David Wraith and Emiel Blockeel on what they made, the first months after the course, and what they would tell the next intake.
The Bench
Hawksmoor seating, refurbished without losing a cover
Craftwood UK Interiors on refurbishing Hawksmoor's leather banquettes and 80 chair seats overnight, from the original drawings, without losing a cover.
The Studio
Five francs, one chair and a changed life
How a family heirloom led Valérie Hayes into upholstery: a recliner bought in Saint-Nazaire in 1947, a restoration that never happened, and the AMUSF training that followed.
Every issue, four sections
The Bench
One technique, one tool or one material, explained by the person who uses it.
The PieceA single commission told properly: the brief, the material, the part that went wrong and what fixed it.
The StudioDesign and specification: collections, finishes, awards, books and the shows worth the trip.
The TradeThe business of a small workshop: material prices, supplier news, pay benchmarks and live jobs, every figure sourced.
More to read
The Studio
Chippendale class of 2026: where three graduates are now
Aileen Crowley, David Wraith and Emiel Blockeel on what they made, the first months after the course, and what they would tell the next intake.
The Bench
Hawksmoor seating, refurbished without losing a cover
Craftwood UK Interiors on refurbishing Hawksmoor's leather banquettes and 80 chair seats overnight, from the original drawings, without losing a cover.
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Live UK Vacancies
contract · Hull, Yorkshire and the North East, HU1Commercial Upholsterer - Self-Employed Contractor (Day Rate)
£220 – £220permanent · Yorkshire Dales (Settle area), North Yorkshire, BD24Senior Upholsterer
£36,400 – £42,640permanent · Letchworth Garden City, SG6 1RYJoinery Project Manager - Bespoke Commercial Fit-Out
£65,000 – £85,000About The Furniture Magazine
The UK furniture trade has been flying blind for too long. No benchmarks. No trade voice. No central resource.
The Furniture Magazine is published by The Talent Branch — the UK’s specialist recruitment agency for the upholstery and furniture industry, so every job listed here is a live vacancy it is recruiting for.