Private commissions
If you have a tired old piece of furniture that you’re particulary attached to and it needs a new lease of life, please get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.
shona.kitson@gmail.com 07738 008776
Used furniture, re-imagined to a former glory
Hello, I’m Shona
I have a cottage industry reimagining old pieces of furniture.
Former Glory allows me to live a lifestyle that promotes sustainability, one that embraces the reuse, repair and recycle mantra and utilises my love of design, crafting and creativity. More than that, I’ve found a way to use the many skills that I’ve collected over the years like upholstery, weaving, sewing and woodcraft.
I gave up a long standing career in the design industry a few years ago with a view to finding a less ‘corporate’ way to live, one that would give me a better work-life balance. Well now I’ve found it.
During lockdown I started seeing discarded furniture outside people’s homes on the streets of Bristol and I kept taking it to do up for myself, untill I had too much and that was when Former Glory was born.
Most of my work is now private commissions. I can either source a piece of pre-owned furniture and reimagine it for you….. or more often people come to me with an heirloom or a pre-loved item that has sentimental value that they don’t want to throw away.
The creative process
When I’m designing my own home interiors I have a vision for the room and I’ll choose furniture and create furnishings according to a visual plan. If you invite me into your home, I’ll make sure to present you with designs that are in keeping with your style.
It’s actually quite freeing to allow the furniture to speak for itself and to tell it’s own story. My faviourite part of the process is researching the history of the piece, what decade it’s from, what colour palettes were used in that era and what was going on at that time. I try to reflect the furnitures history and at the same time re-imagine a new story for the piece so that it becomes relevant in todays very different world. And, of course it must also reflect you, your home and your lifestyle.
All my furniture is styled individually and for those who are looking for statement pieces, I hope you like my designs.
You can read about how the Occassional Monkey Chair (opposite) came to be in my blog.
Sustainable and eco-friendly
In a throw away society the benefits of upcycling/redesigning furniture are many. Not only does it keep beautiful pieces out of landfill, it also allows us to change these items to fit in with our current lifestyles. Vintage furniture that’s been around for decades is usually craftsman made and better than what you can find on the high street today. By giving them a new lease of life we’re doing a bit to save the planet for our future generations.
The materials I use all have eco friendly credentials. For instance, I favour Linen because the manufacturing process is kinder than other fabrics. I use Little Greene and Farrow & Ball paints because they are two of only a few eco friendly paints on the market and also because of the hard wearing durable finish and simply gorgeous colours.
Disclaimer: Each item is uniquely hand painted and pre-owned and may have a few age related marks or minor brush strokes.
