The personal touch
When New Plymouth mum Kristina Weston needed to do something for herself, she chose upholstery, even though she didn’t know the English word for it, she tells Kylie Klein-Nixon.
At Red Couch, NewPlymouth’s KristinaWeston creates bold and funky furniture fromtired old cast-offs. Originally fromLithuania, Weston taught herself to upholster furniture fromscratchwhen she moved toNewZealand. Nowshe turns family heirlooms, op-shop finds and Trade Me bargains into contemporary statement pieces.
KRISTINAWESTON:
NewZealand has beenmy home for about 10 years now. November 2009 wemoved. My husband is fromNewPlymouth andwemet in Lithuaniawhen hewas travelling after his rugby career.
Whenwe had our second son, we decided that I’d be a stay-at-homemum. I really enjoyed thisnewrole. So, for about ayear, I was just doingwhat newmums do.
But being froma backgroundwhere parentsworkwhile their children go to kindy and preschool, NewZealandwas really a very different experience forme. I was allowedtobe at home andbeamum, whichwas incredible. But I just started craving doing something formyself.
I got into furniture painting, discovered chalk paint. I started just doing it out of our home, for a hobby.
Once wemoved into amuch bigger house, it really neededmore furniture, so I started going to hospice shops and secondhand shops, seeing all this amazing furniture made years ago – solidwood, beautiful shapes and retro style, but the cushionswere in a desperate state.
At that point I didn’t knowtheword ‘‘upholstery’’, so I started looking up ‘‘howto recover a chair’’. Iwas basically Googling.
I’mself taught. I started with a little project, a little foot stool, thena little chair. NowI do full-on transformations, giving itmy special touch, a splash of colour.
People bringme their oldest treasures, whether it’s passed on fromgrandparents, or something they’ve found at hospice shops or on TradeMe.
It’s quite a sustainable thing, keeping furniture out of landfill, giving it a newlease on life. I really encourage people to look in their homes and seewhat they’ve got there already that you could just add newfabric to, to bring itup todate.
Furniture is notmade today as it used to bemade years ago. Some newstuff is not evenmeant to be reupholstered at all. It’s just thatwith trendswe get sucked into this cycle of new, new, new, instead of sitting back and actually figuring out what your style is, what you actually like and love.
At home, my furniture, whether it’s brought back fromthe dump or the secondhand shop, I just give itmy own personal touch.