Good Morning! Today I’m very excited to be featuring Re:style Studio, a workshop and event space offering upholstery classes, decor seminars and DIY parties in the west end of Toronto at the Branding Factory.
The studio was founded by the lovely Andrea Ford, a stylist and market editor with a love of re-upholstering and re-styling furniture. As I have mentioned in previous posts, when I first started to learn how to upholster, finding classes/courses in the Toronto area wasn’t easy, and there weren’t any that were approaching upholstery in a fresh and modern way. So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Re:style Studio! Andrea launched the studio in December 2010, and VOILA, she has filled a huge void by offering modern upholstery and restyling classes, plus she now has a great space to do her own re-upholstery projects in! Needless to say this studio is right up my alley, and so when I contacted Andrea to find out more about how Re:style came to be, I was thrilled to hear she was looking for someone to help teach some of the upholstery classes and workshops. We are still sorting out details such as which courses I will be helping with, but I will definitely be spending more time over at Re:style in the coming month and I am pretty excited about that! Stay tuned!
As part of today’s post I asked Andrea to participate in a mini Q and A to get a little more insight into Re:style, and she kindly obliged….
Q: What do you like the best about upholstery?
A: It feels like forensic design. I love that I can strip a piece down and learn something new about construction with every layer. I also find stripping very cathartic and therapeutic. Rebuilding a piece gives me a chance to give it new life and restructure it. Transforming is my favourite part.
Q: What do you like the best about teaching upholstery?
A: The thing I love about teaching upholstery is how satisfied people are at the end of the courses to have either created a headboard or ottoman from scratch that looks like they bought it at a boutique, or totally transformed a piece of furniture by refinishing and reupholstering it.
Q: Do you have a favourite piece you have completed? And why is your fave?
A: The black and white settee is my favourite and has become a bit of a signature. I have a design degree in fashion so that settee is a perfect example of how I take my garment skills such as draping and apply it to the curves of the couch. I knew the stripes would be a challenge but also pay off on the look of the final product.
Now, I was lucky enough to visit the studio a few weeks ago, and let me tell you it is gorgeous. A sleek, modern, black and white space, perfect for both a crafty workshop or a cocktail party! Did I mention that the space can be rented for events? Trust me, this space is totally event worthy – here are some pics to give you an idea….
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What did I tell you? Great space. Now a little on the classes! Upholstery classes offered include the Head of the Bed DIY Headboard class, Put up you Feet DIY Ottoman class, the weekend BYOP Re-Upholstery Workshop (Bring your own Piece) and well as the Learn to Restyle class. Class sizes are small enough so that you can get the one-on-one help you need and you get to complete your projects in a great atmosphere. More detailed descriptions of these classes, as well as other offerings, can be found here and the fall schedule is up on the Re:style Studio website! Here are some pics showing finished projects and before and afters from the classes…..
All Photos via Andrea Ford and Re:style Studio
There are still spaces left for the BYOP Re-upholstery workshop this Saturday and Sunday (Sept 10 and 11), so if you have a piece that you want to transform into something fabulous in just 2 short days contact Re:style right away to get booked in! I will be at the studio this weekend during the BYOP workshop working on a new project, so I hope to see you there or in future classes!
I hope you have enjoyed today’s feature and many thanks to Andrea for taking the time to give us a little insight into Re:Style Studio! Have a great day!
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