Hello Clémence, Hello Manon,

What sparked the desire to create Chaise_au_Carré and contribute to the development of furniture upcycling?

Clémence: We’ve always been drawn to design and vintage. During the Covid-19 period, I was doing upholstery in my spare time, and Manon was remotely refurbishing wooden chairs. We were friends and both working in the office sector. I was working in the building industry and Manon was working in real estate development. The lockdown allowed us to come to conclusions in our respective fields. I noticed that construction was becoming more environmentally friendly, taking into account carbon footprint. Manon, on the other hand, noticed an increasing demand from clients for sustainable and vintage furniture. At that time, there were few players producing new sustainable furniture and none dealing with second-hand, vintage, custom-sourced furniture.

Coming out of lockdown, we couldn’t help but ask ourselves, “why not start a chair restoration business together?”: Manon could cope with wood refurbishment, and I could take in charge upholstery, and that’s how Chaise_au_Carré was born!

Manon: Once we started, we both underwent training to professionalize ourselves: continuous upholstery training for Clémence, and a woodworking class at École Boulle for me. We already had clients looking for some cool vintage seats and there wasn’t much competition to meet this demand in 2020. At that time, interior designers told us they weren’t equipped to do this kind of sourcing and restoration work. So, Chaise_au_Carré was born partly out of opportunity and largely out of a desire to develop a model that addresses environmental issues.

What are the environmental and aesthetic advantages of using second-hand furniture in interior decoration?

Clémence: It’s about the love at first sight and authenticity, I would say! It allows you to have iconic pieces with character, creating different spaces by restoring vintage seats’ magnificence. There are few spaces where you put vintage pieces that will look alike, whereas if you take new pieces…

Vintage is also an alternative to buying new products. It’s a responsible choice for consumers or B-to-B clients.

At Chaise_au_Carré, we’ve really developed a custom sourcing service for professionals and individuals. We believe that the best waste is the one that is not produced, so we start with existing chair structures that we reuse. Choosing vintage over new represents at least 80% less carbon emissions.

What unexpected challenges have you faced in this new venture?

Manon:

At the beginning, we had to do a lot of education with our clients, especially explaining how to buy second-hand instead of new. Finding vintage furniture doesn’t work exactly like shopping for new furniture. We had to shift a whole professional sector away from the catalog reflex. Today, it’s a bit simpler because we’ve managed to build an offer that is as practical for architects as searching for new furniture.

We also had to break down prejudices and misconceptions about vintage: poor quality, easy breakage. We had to convince people that we offer pieces for intensive, durable, and aesthetic use, and that all of this is guaranteed.

Finally, we had to deal with a significant increase in the volume of seats to source. We went from searching for 15 pieces to restoring 250 pieces on some projects. We experienced a huge surge. We renovated over 2,000 seats in our third year! It’s a great challenge that we’re proud to have overcome.

Have you noticed a renewed interest in sustainable spaces within companies or even in private interiors in recent years?

Clémence: Absolutely! I think since the lockdown period, we’ve seen a certain awareness in terms of consumption, whether it’s for furniture, clothing, DIY, food… As for furniture, it first happened at the individual level and then spread to the professional sector of offices, hospitality, and all types of living spaces. Nowadays, we want to feel good everywhere, in interiors as well as exteriors, with a trendy, more human, more responsible environment, and second-hand.

Manon: We also notice a desire to “bring home to the office” in the work environment and to give employees the desire to come back and sometimes even to take their wishes into account. This is a major difference in decision-making matrix.

Clémence: We’ve always been very well received by our prospects and clients, but initially, there was some hesitation before direct materialization. It’s clear now that clients who are interested quickly propose a project idea where they want to integrate our solutions. There is a real desire to have vintage second-hand in their own offices and more generally in all places with human interactions! We were aliens just 3 years ago. We are now part of the mindset.

How do you see the future of Chaise_au_Carré in the coming months and years?

Clémence: We hope it will be bright! We want to inspire and excite individuals and professionals. Our greatest satisfaction is to participate in co-constructing a project by providing vintage furniture that fits the identity desired by our clients, seeing this identity come to life, be embodied. There’s nothing like customer feedback such as “we love the space!” or “we love the furniture!”. That’s our greatest reward.

What advice would you give to people wanting to incorporate vintage or upcycled elements into their interior decoration?

Clémence: Call on Chaise2! [laughs] More seriously, it’s a very good choice that you won’t regret. Once we dared to try with the first piece, we often want to expand the initiative. It’s also a kind of heritage to value. Furniture is a beautiful thing to pass on, especially when it comes to valuable pieces, designer pieces that won’t lose value over time, that are iconic and can be passed down from generation to generation.

Manon: It’s better to have the original rather than the reissue, that’s a bit of our “mantra”. Why buy the reissue or the replica made in Asia when you can have the original piece, sourced in France, responsible and already there?

Any final words?

Furnish vintage, if you’re not convinced yet!

Thank you for these insights!