STUART COOTE

Upholsterer
Chagford

Follow the sounds of chamber music that waft around the backstreets of Chagford and you'll be led to the Georgian coachhouse where Stuart devotes himself to upholstering antique and modern furniture the traditional way. 

His is a wonderfully riotous workshop, where walls are hung with half-broken chairs, furniture springs and enormous rolls of webbing, and floors are scattered with off-cuts of damasks and fine silks, piles of lambswool and hessian bags overflowing with horse hair and shredded coconut husks.

In business for more than 25 years, Stuart's first love is antique furniture, but he turns his hand to modern furniture too, including modern Milanese and mid 20th century pieces. 

"There's something about furniture with a real history. I love hanging out with the ghosts of the past, imagining who sat in that chair, or played chess in it," says Stuart. 

"There are always oddities when you strip furniture down. People who have worked on a piece leave their signature, and these can date back 150 years. I always add my name to it before I put a piece of furniture back together.

"Sometimes there are coins dating from the year it was upholstered. I once found a copy of the Daily Mail reporting on the Boar War, which was in 1902. That wasn't left there by accident. I was the only person who had seen it since then."

VISIT STUART
Phone: 01647 432379

FREE DROP-IN
Open during normal shop hours, but best to call ahead.