Ragged, unstable and a bit smelly, sat out in the empty lot behind the Salvation Army store, tons of old furniture wastes away, losing hope. Lucy Mortimer finds the fittest of the lot and gives them a good scrub up before sending them to good homes.
She set up Galapagos Designs to make it as easy and satisfying for people to buy second-hand as it is to buy new. Lucy scours vintage shops for iconic midcentury furniture and gives it a modern makeover. Inspired by the rare species of the Galapagos Islands, she creates unique designs by stripping away old fabrics and finishes and replacing them with fresh, bold, high-quality natural fabrics from British designers like Korla, Bute and Ella Doran.
It’s not just about lending a hand to homeless furniture. Lucy aims to produce a “fresh-as-a-daisy, iconic chair that hasn’t used new timber, electricity, or fuel when it’s shipped across the seas.” If that’s how furniture is evolving, we can’t wait to see the cookie-cutter high street stuff go the way of the dodo bird.
Photo credits: David Adam Kess and Christina Bull
