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In Her Spare Time, New Zealand Stylist Chloe Hill Breathes New Life Into Old Furniture
23/05/23
Author: Divya Venkataraman
DOCUMENTED BY: CHLOE HILL
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New Zealand has an unreasonably high percentage of fashionable people per capita. This much, I’ve always suspected, but stumbling across Chloe Hill’s work—the Pōneke-based creative styles, models, and consults, among other things—was the conclusive proof.
Documented By: Chloe Hill
New Zealand has an unreasonably high percentage of fashionable people per capita. This much, I’ve always suspected, but stumbling across Chloe Hill’s work—the Pōneke-based creative styles, models, and consults, among other things—was the conclusive proof.
After living in different places—out of a suitcase in European cities; in a one-bedroom flat in Sydney—Chloe’s move back to Aotearoa-New Zealand bestowed upon her the physical and creative freedom to take up a new hobby: furniture upholstering.
For the last two years, she has made a habit of trawling for old, well-worn pieces on the internet or around town and refurbishing them with new, unique fabric finds. Her work so far ranges from vivid, fuschia velvet couches to quaint wooden chairs.
At RIISE, we’re interested in uncovering more about what fashionable people around us like, and like to do, so we had to find out more.
Read on for the full story.
Documented By: Chloe Hill
RIISE: Hi Chloe! Lovely to chat with you. Talk to us about your love of furniture upholstery. How did it start?
CH: I started upholstering furniture a couple of years ago (when I first moved back to New Zealand) after I got a quote from an upholstery company which was over six times the amount I had paid for my secondhand couch. I looked up some YouTube tutorials and realised it was much easier than I thought—though extremely time-consuming and easy to make mistakes, so that exorbitant upholstery invoice was justified!
RIISE: Have you always been handy? Or into DIY?
CH: My mum taught herself to sew when she was a teenager. Throughout my life, she was always making and repairing things, renovating the house and so on, so that DIY attitude was instilled in me from a very young age. She is wonderful at sticking to a pattern, though, whereas I’m more of a freestyle kind of person.
RIISE: Where do you find the furniture you upholster and the fabrics you use to do it? Are they thrifted or bought?
CH: I find all the furniture I upholster second-hand, from op shops and online marketplaces (like Trademe, which is New Zealand’s equivalent of Gumtree). I have lots of saved searches on eBay for upholstery fabric brands, so I've managed to find a few beautiful metres on there and on Etsy. I also love checking the bins outside design stores for fabric offcuts—these are handy for smaller upholstery jobs. For bigger projects, like my couch, I’ve had to go for affordable fabric from Spotlight and other affordable online fabric stores. It’s surprising how many metres of fabric an armchair uses up!
Documented By: Chloe Hill
RIISE: Are you a ‘hobby person’ normally, or is this new territory for you? Have you had many hobbies in the past?
CH: It was harder to have hobbies like this in my previous (transient) life living out of a suitcase, and prior to that, living in a tiny one bed apartment in Sydney. But I guess my job as a stylist lends itself to projects and customising outfits, so I got a lot of fulfilment out of that. And I still do!
RIISE: What’s the project you’ve worked on that you’ve loved the most, so far?
CH: These dining chairs I found on Trademe, and painted and upholstered in a cute fabric I found on eBay. I put off doing them for so long, but when I finally started, it only took a couple of hours. Sometimes I procrastinate projects for literally years thinking they're going to be harder than they actually are.
RIISE: A lesson for us all! What do you hope to work on next?
CH: Hopefully in the next few years I might be able to buy a house so I can start to paint walls and actually renovate more than just furniture.
Documented By: Chloe Hill
RIISE: Has it been tempting to turn something like this into a ‘side hustle’, so to speak? To monetise it instead of keeping it as a creative outlet?
CH: No! I'm not enough of a perfectionist, I'm more of a ‘do things quickly’ kind of person. I don't have the patience to make sure things are up to the standard they would need to be to sell. Also, I have such particular tastes, I would hate to have to make things according to whether or not they have mass appeal.RIISE: Do you have any tips for a prospective hobby upholsterer?
CH: Watch lots of Youtube videos! I love @sailrite's Youtube channel. My sister and I have been known to have a glass of wine and watch DIY tutorials on a Friday night.
RIISE: Sounds like the perfect evening. Thank you, Chloe.SHARE THIS STORY
Documented By: Chloe Hill
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