Celia Birtwell fabric

I'm a big fan of Celia Birtwell's fabric designs. They are so quintessentially quirky and english, and I am just looking for the right chair to cover with some.
Celia was a Salford lass who studied textile design in Manchester, where she met the iconic fashion designer of the 60s, Ossie Clarke, whom she later married. Their's was a perfect marriage of style, which helped define the era.
Between them they dressed The Stones, The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix and Pink Floyd in the 60s and 70s.
She is known for her distinctive, bold, romantic and feminine designs. She went into designing fabric for the home in the 80s, and was known for her innovative and witty designs. Her fabrics feature heraldic images, including strange little birds and creatures.















These two are my particular favourites. I can picture them on a quirky rocking chair, like the one here, in a Victorian conservatory, with lots of ferns and old books. Anyone want to commission me?

Do you remember these chairs from school?
Well they are worth a lot of money nowadays, so if you ever see one in a junkshop, buy it!! A set of 4 will always go for a few hundred pounds on Ebay.
They are made by a company called "Ercol" named after their founder Lucian Ercolani, a young Italian man who started the business in High Wycombe in 1920.
Ercol comes in pale and dark wood, but the pale wooden furniture is becoming very trendy, and you will increasingly see it featuring in interiors magazines.


A couple of my customers have asked me to reupholster these pale wood Ercol chairs, and I am starting to see why people like them. They have a clean, scandinavian style and are supremely comfortable!






Below is a picture of the 3 seater, which is highly sought after. Originally it had 3 cushions along the back, but people prefer to be able to see the wood detail, and so do as the lady below has and just use small scatter cushions to make the back comfortable, and super stylish.