Upholstery, curtains, blinds and shutters for Southend-on-Sea
Reupholstery, handmade curtains, roman blinds and shutters for homes across Southend-on-Sea, made on site at our Heybridge workshop near Maldon, about 24 miles and 40 minutes from the city centre.
Simon Houlding Upholstery works for homes across Southend-on-Sea from a workshop in Heybridge, near Maldon, about 24 miles and 40 minutes from the city centre by the A414, A130 and A127. The workshop has run since 1997 and holds 162 five-star reviews across Google, Facebook, Yell and Houzz. Reupholstery, bespoke pieces, curtains, blinds and shutters are all made by our own team.
We are not based in Southend and we keep no showroom there. The showroom and the five workshop units are at Stock Chase, Heybridge, where every piece is built. For a Southend job, an appointment can be at the showroom or in your own home, and our own fitter measures and fits curtains, blinds and shutters. You can read our reviews before you decide.
Southend homes range from Victorian bay-fronted terraces in Westcliff and Leigh to inter-war houses in Thorpe Bay and seafront flats facing the estuary. Each asks something different of upholstery and of curtains, blinds and shutters.
How far the workshop is from Southend-on-Sea
Measured by car from Unit F, Stock Chase, Heybridge, Maldon CM9 4AA on 12 October 2026, by the usual A414, A130 and A127 route.
Southend city centre
24 miles, about 40 minutes
Leigh-on-Sea
22 miles, about 36 minutes
Westcliff-on-Sea
24 miles, about 40 minutes
Thorpe Bay
26 miles, about 42 minutes
Shoeburyness
28 miles, about 46 minutes
Rochford
22 miles, about 38 minutes
What we make for Southend-on-Sea homes
Three trades, one workshop, one standard.
Reupholstery
A tired sofa or a set of dining chairs taken back to the frame and rebuilt by hand. Many Southend terraces hold older frames worth keeping, so we strip them to the wood, hand tie the springs and use fibre and horsehair for another twenty years of use.
Bespoke commissions
A new piece built to your dimensions, which helps in a Leigh Old Town cottage or a narrow Westcliff reception where a shop sofa will not fit. Add a two-seater or an armchair to match a suite you already love, built on solid beech with sprung seating.
Made to measure curtains
Curtains made, measured and hung by us for Southend windows, lined and interlined as standard for drape and warmth. Wave, pinch pleat or eyelet, suited to the tall sash windows of period houses or the wide openings of a seafront flat.
Roman and other blinds
Roman blinds made on site in our curtain room, checked by two makers before a single cut, ideal for a bay window in Chalkwell where curtains would crowd the sill. We also fit roller, venetian and UV protection blinds for south-facing Southend rooms.
Plantation shutters
Shutters measured and fitted to any shape of window, which suits the bays and sash windows common across Southend. They tame glare in a south-facing room, hold privacy with a partial close on streets near the pavement, and gather none of the dust curtains do.
Outdoor living
Weatherproof upholstery and outdoor curtains for a Southend garden, terrace or roof deck, and for a boat down by the estuary. UV and weather resistant fabrics in striking prints or a calm palette, with cushion platforms set at the right height for comfort.
Southend homes, and what they ask for
The bay windows of Westcliff and Leigh
The Victorian and Edwardian terraces of Westcliff and Leigh-on-Sea are full of bay windows, and a bay is never one flat run of glass. A curtain track shaped to follow the angles keeps the drape even across the bay and lets the curtains stack back clear of the light. Our fitter measures each face of the bay and fits the track, so the heading sits true around the turns.
Where a bay sits close to the pavement, as many do in Leigh and Westcliff, roman blinds or shutters hold privacy without losing the window. A roman blind made to the exact width shows a pattern well and uses less cloth than curtains. Shutters fitted to the shape of the bay give you a partial close for daytime privacy with light still coming in.
Seafront flats and the sun
Flats along the front at Westcliff, Chalkwell and Thorpe Bay take strong southern light off the estuary, and that light fades fabric. Glare bounces off the water on a bright day and heat builds behind the glass. A UV protection or sheer blind behind the main curtains cuts the worst of it and protects both the curtains and the upholstery in the room.
Fabric choice matters more in these rooms than anywhere. We steer toward cloths that hold their colour and weave in constant light, and we can pair a sheer for daytime with a heavier curtain or blackout interlining for the evening. For a wide picture window facing the water, a roller blind keeps the view while taking the sting out of the sun.
Period houses in the conservation areas
The Clifftown conservation area, above the seafront by the pier, has mid-Victorian terraces with tall sash windows and their original proportions, and Leigh Old Town has older, lower cottages by the water. The taller rooms suit curtains that are lined and interlined for a full drape, hung high to make the most of the ceiling height. A pinch pleat or wave heading sits well against period joinery and lets the window keep its shape.
Older houses often carry older furniture, and older frames are usually the best to keep. We strip a piece to the wood and rebuild it with hand-tied springs, fibre and horsehair, which keeps it true to its age. A chair passed down a family can be restored without losing its character, so it fits the room it has always lived in.
The inter-war houses of Thorpe Bay and Chalkwell
The 1920s and 1930s houses of Thorpe Bay and Chalkwell tend to have larger rooms and generous windows, sometimes with a square or splayed bay rather than a curved one. These take a fuller curtain well, and the extra wall space lets a wave or triple pleat heading stack back without crowding the glass. We set tracks to carry the weight of a lined and interlined pair.
Bigger reception rooms also suit a larger piece of furniture, which is where a bespoke sofa or a pair of club chairs earns its place, built to the dimensions the room actually is. For wide openings onto a garden, a perfect fit blind or a Blindscreen unit on bi-folds gives shade and a fly screen on the same track, which works through a Southend summer.
How a Southend job runs
Four stages, from the first photograph to the finished piece.
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1
Send a photo
Send a photo of your piece or your window and a few words about the room. We send a personal reply, and for reupholstery we quote using an average price fabric so you have a real figure to work from.
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2
An appointment that suits
Once you approve the quote, we arrange an appointment either at the Heybridge showroom or in your Southend home. For curtains, blinds and shutters, our fitter carries out an in-depth measure before any work begins.
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3
Choose the cloth
We go through fabrics with you, from the library of more than 55,000 cloths, at no extra charge. You can build a board using the fabric finder first, so the choice is clear before anything is cut.
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4
Made and fitted
Everything is made on site at Heybridge, every stage overseen by Simon. Curtains, blinds and shutters are measured and fitted by our own team, with Simon delivering, hanging and dressing the curtains himself.
Choosing fabric for a Southend home
Our fabric library holds more than 55,000 cloths from over 40 houses, and you can narrow it by colour, material, use and house with the fabric finder before you commit. For a Southend room you can filter by use, which matters where sun, salt air or a busy family all pull in different directions. Design guidance comes with every commission, at no extra charge, until the room agrees.
By material, a velvet gives depth in a period reception, while linen and wool wear well day to day. A boucle suits a soft modern chair, and a sheer handles daytime privacy and glare in a south-facing seafront room. For strong light we steer toward cloths that hold their colour.
What reupholstery costs in Southend
The cost of reupholstery is comparable to buying new of a similar quality. We do not price blind, because a sofa, a wing chair and a set of dining chairs are all different jobs. Send us a photo and a brief overview, and we will reply with a personal quote using an average price fabric, so you have a real figure for your own piece.
Once you approve the quote, we arrange an appointment either at the showroom or in your Southend home. Leather club chairs are the one piece we price up front: a new one is around £5,000 including VAT, and a full restoration of an old one is also around £5,000 including VAT, depending on the work it needs.
Why use a workshop about 40 minutes away
Everything made on site
One workshop in Heybridge, with everything made across five units and nothing subcontracted. Every stage is overseen by Simon himself, so a Southend piece is built and finished by the same hands from frame to cloth.
Trusted since 1997
The workshop has run since 1997 and holds 162 five-star reviews across Google, Facebook, Yell and Houzz, at a perfect 5.0 on every platform. That record is worth the drive from Southend.
Proven at any scale
Work for Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, Wembley Park and Moot Hall in Maldon, alongside a fabric library of more than 55,000 cloths. The capacity and the choice behind every Southend commission.
Around Southend-on-Sea
We work with homes across Southend and the places around it, with an appointment at the showroom or in your home.
- Leigh-on-Sea
- Westcliff-on-Sea
- Chalkwell
- Thorpe Bay
- Shoeburyness
- Southchurch
- Prittlewell
- Eastwood
- Rochford
- Hadleigh
- Rayleigh
- Benfleet
Places near Southend-on-Sea
Rayleigh
17 miles, about 27 minutes from the workshop
Bungalows and chalets whose awkward windows are dressed one by one.
Canvey Island
23 miles, about 38 minutes from the workshop
An island below the sea wall, where the salt air is hard on soft furnishings.
Basildon
23 miles, about 33 minutes from the workshop
Mid-century furniture that is often well built and worth the work.
Tell us about your Southend piece
Send a photo and a few words about the room or the window. We will come back to you properly, with a real quote.
Questions, answered.
Simon Houlding Upholstery in Heybridge, near Maldon, established 1997. We are the most reviewed upholsterer in the area, with 162 five-star reviews and every stage overseen by Simon himself. We cover Southend and the surrounding towns, with an appointment at our showroom or in your home.
The workshop is at Stock Chase, Heybridge, Maldon CM9 4AA, about 24 miles and 40 minutes from Southend city centre by car, using the A414, A130 and A127. Leigh-on-Sea is about 36 minutes and Thorpe Bay about 42 minutes. We are not based in Southend itself.
Yes. For curtains, blinds and shutters our own fitter carries out an in-depth measure in your Southend home before any work begins. For reupholstery, once you approve the quote we arrange an appointment either at the showroom or in your home. We may ask for rough measurements and a photo first, to quote.
The cost is comparable to buying new of a similar quality. Every sofa is different, so send us a photo and a brief overview and we will reply with a personal quote using an average price fabric. Once approved, we arrange an appointment at the showroom or in your Southend home.
Usually yes, if it has served you well. Older frames tend to be the best quality, and most new furniture is not built the same way. We strip a piece to the wood and rebuild it by hand with hand-tied springs, fibre and horsehair, often for another twenty years of use. It is also the lower-carbon choice.
Yes. A track shaped to the angles of the bay lets the curtains hang even across it and stack back clear of the glass, and our fitter measures and fits it. Curtains are lined and interlined as standard for drape and warmth. Where a bay sits close to the pavement, a roman blind or shutters may hold privacy better.
For south-facing rooms over the estuary we steer toward cloths that hold their colour and weave in constant light, and you can filter the library by use with the fabric finder. A UV protection or sheer blind behind the main curtains cuts the worst of the fading and protects both curtains and upholstery.
Both work, and it depends on the room. Shutters fitted to the shape of the bay give a partial close for daytime privacy with light still coming in, tame glare and gather no dust. A roman blind made to the exact width shows a pattern well and uses less cloth. We will advise once we see the windows.
Yes. The showroom is built into the workshop at Stock Chase, Heybridge, Maldon CM9 4AA, open 8am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, with weekends by appointment. It is about 40 minutes from Southend, and worth the trip to see the fabrics and the finish in person before you commit.