Morris fabric for Loughton's Arts and Crafts houses
The houses on the forest edge were built plain and honest, with leaded casements and oak joinery. The cloth made for them is still made today, and our library holds Morris and Sanderson by the hundred.
Loughton, the forest and the cloth made for it
William Morris was born in Walthamstow in 1834 and spent his boyhood at Woodford Hall, on the edge of this forest. The forest stayed in his patterns: the birds, the willow, the plants drawn close. Loughton sits on that same edge, on the Central line, with many houses built from the 1880s to the 1910s in the Arts and Crafts manner.
Those houses were made for printed linen and woven wool, hung simply and scaled to the room. Our library holds the cloth that suits them. We carry 1,166 Morris & Co fabrics and 1,987 from Sanderson, counted in October, so the right print for a given window can be found and seen in the hand.
Simon Houlding Upholstery makes curtains for homes in and near Loughton from a workshop and showroom in Heybridge, near Maldon, established 1997. We are on the far side of the county from the forest edge, so the drive is about 53 minutes by the A414 and M11. Curtains and roman blinds are made by our own team, measured and fitted by our fitter, and we hold 162 five-star reviews across Google, Facebook, Yell and Houzz. Send a photo of the window and we will reply personally.
Using a large Morris print in a Loughton room
A big repeat is a pleasure when it is given room, and a muddle when it is crowded, so a few decisions come first.
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1
The scale of the repeat
read the pattern first
What to knowA large Morris repeat needs width to be read. Hung on a narrow window it shows only a fragment, and the drawing never resolves. Measure the flat run of cloth you will actually see, then match the repeat to it, so a whole motif reads rather than a slice.
What we doWe hold Morris and Sanderson in hundreds of designs, so a repeat can be matched to the window you have. Fabrics are chosen with you at the showroom, or samples sent to your home.
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2
Curtains or a blind
where the pattern lives best
What to knowA roman blind shows a print flat and whole when it is down, and uses less cloth than curtains, so a costlier Morris earns its way into a smaller window. Curtains move and fold, which breaks a large pattern, though a wave heading shows one off well on a wider run.
What we doWe make curtains and roman blinds in our own curtain room in Heybridge, lined and interlined as standard. Our fitter measures and fits, and Simon hangs and dresses the curtains.
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3
Pleating to the pattern
set the pleats to the repeat
What to knowOn a pinch pleat curtain the pleats can be placed to fall with the repeat, so a motif sits in the flat between folds rather than being swallowed in a pleat. It takes planning at the cutting bench and a little more cloth, but the pattern then reads as drawn.
What we doWe have made twin pleated curtains set to the repeat of the print, with the pleats placed to the pattern. The work is done by hand on the bench in Heybridge.
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4
A chair or sofa in a print
pattern close to hand
What to knowA printed linen or cotton suits a seat that is looked at as much as used, where the pattern sits close and the repeat is read across the back and arms. A large repeat wants a generous piece to carry it, or the drawing is cut awkwardly by the frame.
What we doWe take a piece back to the bare frame and rebuild it by hand, or build a new one on a solid beech frame to the size the room is. Your chosen cloth is cut, fitted and finished to the showroom standard.
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5
How much pattern one room takes
one strong print, then quiet
What to knowA strong Morris print at the window usually asks for calm around it: a plain wool or a woven texture on the seating, walls kept simple, the pattern given one place to speak. Two large repeats competing in a small room tire the eye and lose them both.
What we doDesign guidance comes with any commission, at no extra charge, from a library of more than 55,000 cloths from over 40 houses. We help you set one print against plainer cloth until the room agrees.
Dressing a leaded casement in Loughton
The Arts and Crafts houses of Loughton carry leaded casements with small panes, often opening outward on stays, set in deep reveals or in a row under a low beam. A casement that opens out needs its dressing clear of the handles and stays, so cloth is hung from a pole set above and beyond the reveal, not tight inside it.
A simple heading suits these windows: a gathered or pinch pleat on a pole, with no swags, as the house intended. Where lights run in a row under a beam, one curtain treatment across the whole run reads better than a fussy pair at each. Our fitter measures each reveal on its own, since few are square.
Morris, made up and fitted
A Morris feature panel
Through Mannequin Interiors, our partner company, plain plaster under an apex ceiling was rebuilt as a fabric-panelled wall with a William Morris feature panel, the pattern set as the room's one strong note.
A Morris roller blind
A roller blind in a Morris pattern, fitted with a cassette, so the print reads flat and whole when the blind is down.
Curtains pleated to pattern
Twin pleated curtains, pleated to the repeat of the print, with the pleats placed so each motif sits in the flat between folds rather than being lost in a pleat.
Waltham Abbey, at the western edge
Waltham Abbey is an abbey town to the west: the abbey church where King Harold is said to be buried, timber-framed buildings round the market square, the Lee Valley beside it. Old and public buildings ask for care with age and light, and for cloth chosen to suit the room rather than fight it.
We have done this work on historic buildings before. At Moot Hall in Maldon, which stands in Maldon and not in Waltham Abbey, we fitted UV protection blinds and made silk soft furnishings. At the cottage at Beeleigh Abbey, near Maldon, we made curtains, pelmets and blinds.
Around Loughton
Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell
These hold large later houses with generous rooms and wide windows. A bigger reception carries a larger print and a well-built sofa in proportion, and the windows take a fuller curtain, lined and interlined for drape.
Theydon Bois
The village sits round its green, with period houses close to the forest. Leaded casements and deep reveals are common here, and a simple heading on a pole suits them better than anything elaborate.
Epping
Epping is the market town at the top of the forest, with older fronts along the high street and newer houses around. We measure each window on its own, since the older ones are rarely square.
The drive from the workshop
Measured by car from Unit F, Stock Chase, Heybridge, on 12 October 2026, usually by the A414 and M11.
- Waltham Abbey: 36 miles, about 46 minutes
- Theydon Bois: 33 miles, about 48 minutes
- Epping: 33 miles, about 49 minutes
- Chigwell: 34 miles, about 52 minutes
- Loughton: 39 miles, about 53 minutes
- Buckhurst Hill: 36 miles, about 55 minutes
What it costs for a Loughton home
There is no fixed price list, because a single armchair and a run of leaded casements are quite different jobs. For upholstery, reckon on roughly the cost of buying new of a similar quality, which is why a sound frame is worth keeping and rebuilding.
Send a photo of the piece or the window, with a few words about the room, and you get a personal reply quoting the work on an average price fabric. Once you approve it, an appointment can be at the showroom in Heybridge or in your own home.
Places near Loughton
Harlow
34 miles, about 51 minutes from the workshop
A modernist new town of long, low windows and open-plan rooms.
Brentwood
22 miles, about 34 minutes from the workshop
Large houses and whole rooms, where furniture and curtains are made to the plan.
Greater London
29 miles, about 42 minutes from the workshop
Developments and whole houses, where the work is a room or a building rather than a single piece.
Send us the window
A photo of the casement or the room, and a few words on what you have in mind, is enough for a personal quote.
Questions, answered.
Simon Houlding Upholstery, in Heybridge near Maldon, established 1997. Curtains and roman blinds are made by our own team in the workshop, from the first measure to hanging and dressing. We are not based in Loughton and keep no showroom there, but we work for homes across the forest edge.
The workshop and showroom are at Unit F, Stock Chase, Heybridge, Maldon CM9 4AA, about 39 miles and about 53 minutes from the town by car, usually by the A414 and M11. That is the far side of the county from the forest edge.
Yes. Our library holds 1,166 Morris & Co fabrics, 1,987 from Sanderson and 219 from William Morris at Home, counted in October. Curtains are made, measured and hung by our own team, lined and interlined as standard, with the cloth chosen with you at the showroom or at home.
A simple heading hung clear of the glass. Casements that open outward on stays need the dressing to clear the handles, so curtains hang from a pole set above and beyond the reveal, with a gathered or pinch pleat heading and no swags. Where lights run under a beam, one treatment across the run reads best.
It can, with care. A large Morris repeat needs width to be read, so on a small window a roman blind that shows the print flat and whole often works better than curtains. Keep one strong print in the room and set plainer cloth around it, or two large repeats will tire the eye.
Yes. A printed linen or cotton suits a chair that is looked at as much as used. A large repeat wants a generous piece to carry it, so the drawing is not cut awkwardly by the frame. We rebuild a piece back to the bare frame, or build new on a solid beech frame, finished in your chosen cloth.
They can. Shutters are measured and fitted to any shape of window, hold privacy with a partial close and gather no dust. Leaded casements that open outward have handles and stays to clear, so whether a window can take them is settled when our fitter measures it.
Yes. We have made curtains, pelmets, blinds and soft furnishings for historic buildings, including Moot Hall in Maldon and the cottage at Beeleigh Abbey, both near Maldon and not in Waltham Abbey. Old rooms want care with age and light, and we fit UV protection where strong sun is a worry.