Traditional and modern chairs take on a new dimension when upholstered in the hand-knit textiles of Melanie Porter. From tub chairs to wing chairs, Chippendales to Egg chairs, Melanie painstakingly strips them of their original upholstery and then covers each chair in her hand knit panels of cable knits, patchwork, cross-stitch, and crochet. Details like hand covered buttons, pom pom accents, union jacks, painted frames and color combinations best show off the textiles.

Melanie’s chairs are cozy and inviting one-of-a-kind functional art pieces. She even gives them human names, which only add to their appeal. Here’s a look at several of her unique chairs.

Nora chair:

Lottie chair:

Olivia chair:

Bob chair:

Will chair:

Pip and Pen chairs:

Albert chair:

George chair:

Gilbert chair:

Bertie chair:

Tabby chair:

In addition to the chairs, Melanie makes and sells hand-knit cushions using Italian Merino wools.

Percy (Union jack) Cushions in two colorways:

Daffy, Honeycomb and Quod cushions:

images courtesy of Furfin, Melanie Porter and Mydeco.

About Melanie Porter:

After 10 years working as a knitwear designer for a number of international fashion brands, Melanie has turned her expertise to furniture, creating one-off contemporary designs from chairs sourced from auctions and markets across the UK.

Melanie undertakes the entire process herself and everything, from the restoration and upholstering to the individual, crocheted buttons, is done by hand. The result of this incredibly labor-intensive process is a stunning and unique work of art, destined to be a future family heirloom.

Melanie’s products (she now makes Custom Fairy lights too) are available at various UK stores as well as in her own etsy store, Melanie Porter Design.

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/melanieporter

Melanie has also published 4 books on Knitting here