Upholstery and silk curtains for Braintree, the cloth town
Braintree wove silk for coronations, and silk still has its place at home: on the right window, properly lined. We make curtains, blinds, shutters and upholstery at our Heybridge workshop near Maldon.
Braintree, where the looms wove silk
Braintree earned its name in cloth. The Courtauld family ran silk mills at Bocking, Braintree and Halstead through the nineteenth century, known across the trade for their mourning crape. Before silk the district wove woollen cloth, and that older craft sits behind everything the town made later.
In 1895 Warner & Sons brought their silk weaving to New Mills, and wove there for royal occasions, coronations among them. The Warner Textile Archive is kept in the town still. That history runs straight into the work: a fine silk at a Braintree window ties a room back to the looms that made the place.
Simon Houlding Upholstery makes reupholstery, handmade curtains, roman blinds and shutters for homes across Braintree, built at our workshop in Heybridge, near Maldon. By car the town centre is about 13 miles and about 26 minutes, usually through Witham and up the B1018. The business has run since 1997 and carries 162 five-star reviews across Google, Facebook, Yell and Houzz, rated 5.0 on each one. Read the reviews before you decide. We are not based in Braintree and keep no premises there.
Where to use silk in a Braintree home
Silk drapes and takes dye like no other cloth, and the town that wove it knows its worth. It also has limits.
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Curtains
where silk rewards the time
What silk does hereSilk hangs with a weight and a sheen that no copy quite matches, and it holds colour beautifully once dyed. At a window it wants lining and interlining as standard, both for the drape and to shield it, since sunlight weakens and fades the fibre over time. Keep it out of a window that bakes.
Instead, or alongsideIn a room the sun hits hard all day, a silk blend or a convincing look-alike holds up better. You keep much of the fall and the lustre without watching the cloth fade along the leading edge.
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Pelmets and blinds
silk at its most forgiving
What silk does hereA pelmet or a roman blind uses less cloth than a full curtain, which is how a costlier silk earns its way into a room. Fixed and framed at the top of the window, a silk pelmet shows its sheen and takes little wear. A roman blind in silk, lined, draws the eye to the pattern.
Instead, or alongsideWhere a blind is raised and lowered many times a day, a silk blend or a sturdier weave takes the handling better, with the silk kept for the pelmet above it.
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3
Cushions and headboards
silk where hands rarely fall
What silk does hereA silk cushion or a silk headboard brings the cloth close without the daily punishment a seat takes. The sheen reads well against plainer upholstery, and in a bedroom out of strong sun the colour stays true for years. Remember that silk marks with water, so keep it clear of splashes.
Instead, or alongsideFor a cushion that will be leaned on hard or thrown about, a velvet or a silk blend keeps the look and takes the wear a plain silk would show.
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A chair or sofa
where plain silk is too fine
What silk does herePlain silk is too delicate for a seat in daily use. It abrades, it marks with water, and the sheen that makes it lovely shows every scuff. On a frame that is sat in every evening it will tire fast and disappoint, however good the cloth underneath the cover.
Instead, or alongsideReach instead for a velvet, which has real depth and takes wear, or a silk blend made for seating. Either gives the richness a Braintree room asks for on a seat that is used every day.
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A room with strong sun
where silk needs protecting
What silk does hereDirect sun is silk's undoing: it weakens and fades the fibre, and a south-facing window will shorten the life of a plain silk curtain. If the room is yours and the cloth is silk, it must be lined and interlined and kept from the full glare, with a sheer or UV blind behind to take the sting.
Instead, or alongsideWhere the light is relentless, a look-alike or a performance weave is the sensible choice. Save the true silk for a pelmet, a cushion or a room that sits out of the sun.
The silk we used at the Moot Hall
In the restoration of the historic Moot Hall, which stands in Maldon and not in Braintree, we worked with a silk used for upholstery, pelmets and soft furnishings. To help preserve the interior we installed UV protection roller blinds, the same thinking that keeps silk from fading at home. It was a privilege to handle a cloth like that in a building of that age. You can see the Moot Hall project in full.
The cloths behind a Braintree room
Silk
The town's own cloth. It drapes and takes dye like nothing else, suits pelmets, cushions, headboards and curtains in rooms out of strong sun, and wants lining and interlining to last.
Velvet
Depth and a soft sheen for a reception or a club chair. It carries much of silk's richness and stands up to the wear a seat in daily use gets.
Linen
A plainer, harder-wearing cloth for day-to-day seating and relaxed curtains. It reads honest against period joinery and copes with a busy family room better than a fine silk would.
The fabric finder
More than 55,000 cloths from over 40 houses, narrowed by colour, material, use and house. Filter by use to find a weave that suits a sunlit Braintree window before anything is cut.
Braintree houses, and what each asks for
Bradford Street, Bocking
The medieval and Tudor timber-framed houses of Bradford Street carry low beams, short drops and reveals rarely square. A roman blind made to the exact width often sits better than a full curtain, and each window wants measuring on its own.
The mill-era terraces
The brick terraces built in the mill years have tall front windows close to the street. Curtains lined and interlined hang well against the older joinery, and where a room needs privacy shutters or a roman blind hold it without shutting out the light.
Great Notley and newer estates
Great Notley, a garden village begun in the 1990s, and the newer estates bring wide bi-fold doors and regular openings. A perfect fit blind is fitted inside the frame, and shutters tame the glare on a bright plain-walled room.
What we make for a Braintree home
A tired sofa or a set of dining chairs can go back to the bare frame and be rebuilt by hand, layer by layer. The frame in an older piece is often better than anything sold new, so we strip it and rebuild it with hand-tied springs, fibre and horsehair. Where a room needs a piece shop furniture cannot match, a bespoke commission is built on solid beech to the size the room actually is.
At the window, our curtains are made, measured and hung by our own team, lined and interlined as standard for drape and warmth. Roman blinds are made in the same curtain room, and shutters are measured and fitted to any shape of window, a quiet choice that gathers none of the dust curtains do.
“When it came to dressing our 300-year-old home, Simon Houlding didn't just deliver; they soared to First Class heights. Curtains so perfect they might as well have a passport to luxury, and our antique French sofa reupholstered to look straight out of a Parisian chateau.”
How far the workshop is from Braintree
Measured by car from Unit F, Stock Chase, Heybridge on 12 October 2026, nearest first, usually through Witham and up the B1018.
- Cressing: 11 miles, about 20 minutes
- Great Notley: 16 miles, about 23 minutes
- Black Notley: 16 miles, about 25 minutes
- Braintree town centre: 13 miles, about 26 minutes
- Bocking: 15 miles, about 28 minutes
- Rayne: 19 miles, about 29 minutes
- Halstead: 18 miles, about 30 minutes
What it costs for a Braintree home
A reupholstered piece costs roughly what a new one of the same quality would. Nothing is priced from a list: the cloth, the frame and the hours all vary too much. A photo and a few lines get you a personal quote, based on a fabric of average price.
After a quote is approved, an appointment can be at the Heybridge showroom or in your own home. The only piece with a set figure is the leather club chair, at around £5,000 including VAT whether built new or given a full restoration, depending on the work it needs.
Places near Braintree
Witham
6 miles, about 12 minutes from the workshop
Silver End and its Crittall steel windows ask for dressing hung clear of the glass.
Colchester
19 miles, about 29 minutes from the workshop
An old cloth town of houses read by their age, each window its own measure.
Chelmsford
12 miles, about 22 minutes from the workshop
New houses arrive with bare windows, so we dress them room by room.
Silk or not, start with a photo
Show us the window or the chair and say what you have in mind. We will tell you which cloth suits it.
Questions, answered.
Simon Houlding Upholstery, in Heybridge near Maldon, about 26 minutes from the town centre. Established 1997, it holds 162 five-star reviews at a perfect 5.0 on every platform, and Simon sees every piece through. Curtains and roman blinds are made by our own team, and upholstery is built on site. We are not based in Braintree itself.
The workshop and showroom are at Stock Chase, Heybridge, Maldon CM9 4AA, about 13 miles and about 26 minutes from the town centre by car, usually through Witham and up the B1018. Cressing is about 20 minutes and Great Notley about 23. We keep no premises in Braintree.
Yes. Sunlight weakens and fades silk over time, so silk curtains should be lined and interlined and kept from direct sun. In a bright room a sheer or UV protection blind behind the main curtains cuts the worst of it. Where the light is relentless, a silk blend or a look-alike holds its colour far longer.
Plain silk is too fine for a seat in daily use. It abrades, it marks with water, and the sheen shows every scuff. For a sofa, a velvet or a silk blend made for seating keeps the richness and takes the wear. Save plain silk for cushions, headboards, pelmets or curtains in a room out of strong sun.
Interlining is a soft layer set between the face fabric and the lining. It adds body, warmth and a fuller drape, and it shields the cloth. Silk benefits from it in both ways: the extra weight improves the fall, and the layer helps guard the fibre. We line and interline curtains as standard, silk included.
Carefully, and ask us first. Silk marks with water, so a splash or a damp cloth can leave a ring that is hard to shift. Before you attempt any cleaning, speak to us about the specific cloth and how it was made up, so nothing is done that damages the silk or the lining behind it.
Where beams are low and the drop is short, a full curtain often crowds the room. A roman blind made to the exact width tends to sit better, shows a pattern well and leaves the sill clear. Reveals in these old houses are rarely square, so our fitter measures each window on its own before any cloth is cut.
Yes. Shutters are measured and fitted to any shape of window by our own fitter, which suits the regular openings and plain walls of the garden village. They tame glare in a bright room, hold privacy with a partial close, and gather none of the dust curtains do. Great Notley is about 23 minutes from the workshop.