Upcycled Fireguard In Grey With Silver And Gold Fabric

Hi - this antique fireguard came into the workshop in a bit of a sorry state needing a lot of filler and repair but it had some lovely features and a lot of history at the manor house it came from so it was well worth investing time and patience in!
The fireguard was stripped of its modern fabric screen which had been a 1990s temporary replacement from the original, and I took out all the nails and filled the holes and reattached its leg supports, cleaning everything with sugar soap before I got started on choosing an colour and finish for the paint work.
Picking a neutral to match as many interiors as I could, I chose an intelligent eggshell finish made by Little Greene in Cool Arbour, which is a gorgeous pale grey with a really soft attractive character, and it looked instantly much better and well worth the work so far.
The next part was not my area of expertise as it was all about replacing the fabric, and for that I brought in my underused sewing machine and some remnants I had been meaning to work with for a while. The first idea was rejected, as I made a tie-on double sided silk and velvet screen, but I didn't like the structure of the fabric, so I changed ideas.
I measured the space and made a double sided custom fit fabric screen from a very lush remnant pice made with silver and gold fine threads, using machine stitching for some and hand stitching for other detailing. I liked the match with the Cool Arbour paint immediately, so I double ruched the fabric at the top and bottom and once again when I secured it with upholstery pins. For the side showing the pins I hand stitched two small pieces of the same fabric over the pins, which you can see in the 'making of' clips in my social media content. I'm happy to send you the videos and links if this is of interest.
I then looked at the balustrade-esque columns running along the top of the fireguard and decided to bring in a faint amount of gold to bring out the gold threads in the fabric, so I used Annie Sloan gilding wax in bright gold with just a gentle brush on each column.
My last job was to stage and photograph the piece, not easy on a rainy day in an old Accrington mill, but I have some good images to capture the piece as it looks in real life.
I hope you like my work, and I look forward to the fireguard going to a cosy home this winter maybe, and adding some unique style to the fireplace.
Thanks for reading!