Behind the tools

Polly Waite is a classically trained and qualified upholsterer and furniture restorer. She is a member of the Association of Master Upholsterers and Soft Furnishing and has been working professionally in the industry for over 12 years. Polly comes from a background in design and a family history in antiques. Since training she has been using her trained eye to turn tired old chairs into one of o kind, coveted pieces. There have been many creative and challenging commissions over the years; from double decker buses, hand made cloud sofas for a festival and countless treasured antique restoration projects. Nothing has been too big, small or strange to be taken on with passion and skill..

When Polly isn’t busy sharing her skill, passion and knowledge with others, she’s putting her creativity and skills into practice. You can normally find her in her studio creating beautiful, one of a kind chairs. She truly believes that chairs are not just a functional piece of furniture but something that we have an attachment too. When questioned on this she said “We all have our favorite chair, that place we curl up in at the end of long day, our favorite reading spot, where we read to our children or grandchildren and where we daydream of things to come.  So you see a chairs is much more than a chair and I feel they should be designed with this in mind. This is why I put so much thought, love and time into everything I make.” It is this passion and skill that has made her a trusted member of The House Of Upcycling and a mentor to future upcycle designers and upholsters.

More recently Polly Waite was asked to be one of the specialist restorers on Channel 4’s new show, Mend It For Money. You can now see her on tv helping to keep beautiful and rare furniture alive and loved. www.channel4.com/programmes/mend-it-for-money.com