Upholstery and curtains for Thurrock homes and businesses
From the estate houses of Chafford Hundred and Grays to the older rooms of Orsett, and the seating and curtains the borough's businesses need, the work is made in one Essex workshop and brought to you.
about 42 minutes by car
reupholstery, curtains, blinds and shutters
contract seating and curtains
162 at five stars, 5.0 everywhere
Simon Houlding Upholstery covers Thurrock for both homes and businesses: reupholstery, bespoke furniture, handmade curtains, roman blinds and shutters. The workshop is not in the borough. It sits at Stock Chase, Heybridge, near Maldon, about 31 miles and about 42 minutes from Grays by car. Everything is made on site, with an appointment at the showroom or in your own home. The work holds 162 five-star reviews across four platforms, at a perfect 5.0 on each.
At home across Thurrock
A house round here might be a new-build on an estate, a brick terrace near the station, a village house with low beams, or a flat looking out over the river.
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1
An estate house in Chafford Hundred
built from the late 1980s
The houseThe houses raised beside Lakeside from the late 1980s carry regular openings, tidy reveals and often a run of patio or bi-fold doors onto a small garden. Fitted wardrobes tend to sit close to the bedroom window, leaving little wall for a curtain to stack onto.
What we makeA wave heading on a ceiling-fitted track stacks tight and clears the wardrobe doors. Roman blinds are made to the exact reveal, and a perfect fit blind sits inside each door frame with no bulk.
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2
A terrace in Grays
brick fronts near the river
The houseThe older terraces of Grays have tall front windows close to the street, with a main room that reads from the pavement as well as from the sofa. Rooms are often narrow, so a shop sofa can leave a space looking bare or refuse to turn the door.
What we makeA new piece is built on a solid beech frame with sprung seating, to the size the room actually is. A tired sofa can instead go back to the bare frame and be rebuilt by hand, then covered in cloth you choose.
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3
A village house in Orsett
old fronts, low reveals
The houseOrsett is an old village, and its period houses carry low beams, short drops and reveals rarely square. A full curtain often crowds a beamed room, and ready-made blinds seldom fit a window that has moved with age.
What we makeRoman blinds are made to the width the window truly is, lined and interlined. Older houses here often hold inherited chairs and sofas, which are usually the best frames to strip back and rebuild.
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4
A flat by the river
strong estuary light
The houseA flat facing the Thames takes wide glass and strong light off the water through much of the day, which is hard on colour and fades cloth over time. Privacy matters where the building looks out onto a shared walkway or the river path.
What we makeA sheer softens the room while holding daylight, and a roman blind adds a layer at the glass. Curtains are lined and interlined for drape, and a cloth is chosen to cope with the light.
At work across Thurrock
The borough is a place of work as much as houses: shops, hotels, offices, the port at Tilbury and the river, and much of our contract work is seating and curtains for rooms like these.
Restaurant and pub seating
Banquette and bench seating takes heavy daily wear and has to meet the fire rules a public room is held to. We take on hospitality and restaurant seating, in cloth that survives spills and close sitting without tiring in a season.
An office or reception
A reception or workspace wants seating and curtains that suit a working floor and go in with the least disruption to the people using it. A sheer or a lined curtain can make a quiet backdrop behind a desk.
What makes it possible
The capacity comes from five units, so projects most local firms turn away are made to one standard. Fire-retardancy for a public building is handled as part of the work, and every quote carries a clear lead time.
Wool, and the Woolmarket at Horndon-on-the-Hill
East of Grays lie Stanford-le-Hope, where Joseph Conrad once lived, Corringham, and the hilltop village of Horndon-on-the-Hill. Horndon still has its timber Woolmarket, from the days when Essex wool was traded there. Wool was once this district's trade, and it remains one of the best cloths for a chair or a window.
Wool is resilient and springs back, so it resists creasing and wears well on a seat. It is naturally slow to burn, takes dye deeply, and holds a matt, warm surface. It is warm at a window too. Some coarse wools feel scratchy, so it is worth feeling a sample first.
What we make for Thurrock
Reupholstery
A tired sofa, armchair or set of dining chairs taken back to the bare frame and rebuilt by hand, with hand-tied springs, fibre and horsehair, for another twenty years of use.
Curtains
Wave, pinch pleat and eyelet, made in our Heybridge curtain room, lined and interlined as standard. Our fitter measures and fits the track, and Simon hangs and dresses each pair.
Blinds
Roman blinds made on site, the fabric checked by two makers before a single cut, plus roller, venetian, vertical and electric blinds, all measured and fitted by our own team.
Commercial and contract
Seating and curtains for shops, hotels, restaurants and offices, built by our own upholsterers and curtain makers with fire-retardancy and lead times handled.
How far the workshop is from Thurrock
Measured by car from Unit F, Stock Chase, Heybridge on 12 October 2026, usually along the A130 and the A13, nearest first.
- Corringham: 24 miles, about 35 minutes
- Stanford-le-Hope: 25 miles, about 35 minutes
- Horndon-on-the-Hill: 26 miles, about 35 minutes
- Orsett: 27 miles, about 37 minutes
- Tilbury: 31 miles, about 40 minutes
- Grays: 31 miles, about 42 minutes
- Chafford Hundred: 32 miles, about 42 minutes
- South Ockendon: 32 miles, about 44 minutes
- Purfleet: 34 miles, about 46 minutes
What it costs for a Thurrock home
Reupholstery comes in at about the price of a new piece of similar quality, which is why a sound old frame is worth the work and a poor one rarely is. For curtains, blinds and shutters there is no fixed list, because a single roman blind and a run of bay windows are quite different jobs.
Send a photo and a few words, with rough measurements if you have them, and you will have a personal reply quoting the work on an average price fabric. Once you approve it, an appointment can be at the Heybridge showroom or in your own home, where we go through the fabric library with you.
Places near Thurrock
Basildon
23 miles, about 33 minutes from the workshop
Mid-century furniture that is often well built and worth the work.
Brentwood
22 miles, about 34 minutes from the workshop
Large houses and whole rooms, where furniture and curtains are made to the plan.
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.
Tell us about the piece or the window
Send a photo and a few words about the room, with rough measurements if you have them, and we will reply personally with a quote.
Questions, answered.
Simon Houlding Upholstery, trading since 1997, based at Heybridge near Maldon and covering the whole of Thurrock. The work is design-led and the most reviewed in the area, with every stage overseen by Simon. Send a photo of your piece for a personal quote, with an appointment at the showroom or in your Grays home.
The workshop and showroom are at Unit F, Stock Chase, Heybridge, Maldon CM9 4AA, not in the borough. It is about 31 miles and about 42 minutes from Grays by car, usually along the A130 and the A13. Corringham and Stanford-le-Hope are nearer, at about 35 minutes.
Yes. The estate houses near Lakeside tend to have regular openings and fitted wardrobes close to the window. A roman blind made to the exact reveal takes up no wall, and a perfect fit blind sits inside a bi-fold or patio door frame with no bulk. Our own fitter measures before anything is ordered.
Yes. Fire-retardancy compliance is handled as part of the work, and the cloth is chosen to stand up to heavy daily wear. We take on hospitality and restaurant projects that many local workshops cannot, with a clear lead time on the quote. Tell us the scope and the volume.
Yes. Fire-retardancy and compliance for a public or shared building are handled as part of contract work. Fabric is chosen to meet the rules your room is held to, from the library we hold or from your own material. Every quote carries a clear lead time.
Yes. Wool is resilient and springs back, so it resists creasing and wears well on a seat. It is naturally slow to burn, takes dye deeply, and has a warm, matt surface. Some coarse wools can feel scratchy, so it is worth feeling a sample first. We hold more than 1,100 wools.
Yes. Both are on the Thames side, about 35 minutes from the workshop, among the nearest places in the borough. Curtains are made in our Heybridge curtain room, lined and interlined as standard. Our fitter measures and fits the track, and Simon hangs and dresses each pair himself.
Yes. A tired sofa is taken back to the bare frame and rebuilt by hand, layer by layer, with hand-tied springs, fibre and horsehair, often better than the day it was made. Older frames are usually the best to keep. Send a photo and a few words for a personal quote on an average price fabric.