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View Full Version : Taking the bull by the horns!


Tak3-a-S3at
23rd January 2006, 13:35
Hi there,
We are a married Couple who hail from Zimbabwe and are determined to turn our 'shattered' lives into something worthwhile once again, having lost everything we have spent a lifetime building up.

This little venture originally started as a hobby and has grown steadily over the past six months .

Marion, is the "Boss" and does most of the hard physical restoration work which she finds it very therapeutic. How she find the time and energy is beyond me. If she's not running around buying materials or surfing eBay for more 'old and tatty' items, she's doing 'housework' and holds down a full time 'bookkeeping' Job too.

She started by buying bits of furniture at 'Car Boots' and 'did them up' mainly for our own use until I put my foot down - 'One couldn't move in our house without falling over tables and chairs!' .

Having mastered the Art through trial and error and many books on the subject, she has become quite professional which is reflected in the finished articles we now sell on eBay (phew...Thank God).

Marion says "I do not select our furniture for renovation because it conforms to any standard or period but solely because of the poor condition it is in. Likewise my aim when doing the renovation is to make the piece usable and presentable again. I do not use dyes to stain the wood but prefer to leave it in it's natural state after stripping. This is my hobby and I am NOT a professional restorer.

I, Kevin, hold the important (so I'm told) title of "Gofer" - 'go for this and go for that!' I am also in-charge of Sales and Marketing as well as the Packaging department.

We have both learnt how to upholster and taking it in turns on various projects.

We feel that we are contributing to the Environment by saving beautifully crafted furniture, once loved and cherished, but now destined for the 'Tip' because they are a little 'tied'. Given a new life through nourishment of the lovely old woods and a new coat, they transform to their former glory, if not better and will probably live for another 100 years.

We have had great fun travelling around hunting for those 'special' chairs - Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, County Durham , Lancashire and Scotland. There are some treasures out there just waiting to be found. Our venture, despite being hard work, is certainly getting us out and about when we have a spare moment.

Now that we have formed a Company, the challenge is without end.

clairemackaness
23rd January 2006, 13:43
Welcome to the forums, your web site is lovely and the chairs are beautiful.

I too enjoy restoring furniture, but I tend to paint it bright colous and stick fairies etc on it for childrens bedrooms. Somewhat different but I might get stuck on something at some point and need your help!

Jayne
23rd January 2006, 13:55
Hi,

Welcome to the forum :D

I don't paint fairies on chairs :lol:

Jayne

Faith28
23rd January 2006, 13:58
Hi Kevin,

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for sharing your story with us.


BTW I have an antique pine cabinet I'm trying to get rid of. I was going to put it up on ebay. My mother in law bought it originally for £350 she tells me. Unfortunately I don't know much about these things but if you want it let me know. We're based in Ilford, Essex if you want to collect.

Good luck with your venture

Eiman

creospace
23rd January 2006, 14:06
I have to say that online photo book /album is one of the coolest things i've seen on a site for a long time. Well worth the wait for it to load.

Can I make a suggestion though, spend a little time/money on getting your site up to the same high standards.

Welcome here

Gary

JustOneUK
23rd January 2006, 14:33
welcome, looks like you have a nice little niche to be getting on with, good luck with your business.

Ady
23rd January 2006, 17:34
Hi there,

Nice idea....anything that recycles is good in my book.

Your website is looking good as well but i see some bits thats maybe you could look at... I have noticed your page names are just numbers e.g. 2.html, 3.html, 4.html maybe rename these – previous_sales.html, furnature_makeover.html etc, also the page titles are very short and not very descriptive. Search engines use title of pages, the file name, META description/keywords(not so much now-a-days), and the actual content or the page(most important!), so text content on the page matters, also alt tags on links and images can help.

Hope you don’t mind me pointing this stuff out….but I like to help  but I’m no expert…not yet….hehe

Good luck with it….I wish you all the best ;)

creacom
23rd January 2006, 17:40
Hi Marion and Kevin

Welcome to the forums.

Ive had a look at your site and love the work in your portfolio. I have a few pieces that are over 50 years old and passed down to me. Maybe you can give me some tips on how to care for them. That could be a good section on your site for viewers come to think of it ! :wink:

Best of luck

Jacqui

fastfences
23rd January 2006, 17:53
Hi Marion and Kevin and welcome. Great introduction too. So welcoming reading of a couple from Zimbabwe performing a real business instead of emailing us with news of an ailing Grandfather who wants to deposit 850,000$US into our accounts :wink: :wink:
Cheers, Nigel

mumper
23rd January 2006, 17:53
Hello Marion and Kevin, a warm welcome to the forums.

Tak3-a-S3at
25th January 2006, 05:40
Thanks to you all for the kind friendly welcome to the forum. I unfortunately still have to keep working at my other Job, which is permanent night shift (12hr shifts), therefore will only have a few hours each day to dedicate to the new business, and that my new found Pals, means I will have less time for chatting. So please bear with me, I do not wish to project the image of being a snob. I am far from that. Good, honest Human relations are important to me. Kev

fastfences
25th January 2006, 17:11
Hi Kev, I did the permanent night shift whilst getting my biz up and running. Hard going, but it'll be worth it in the end!
Cheers, Nigel