Funky Our Funky Chair collection has all you need to add an injection of fun and colour into your home. Choose from our ecclectic range of styles, colours, textures and fabrics and let Just Armchairs provide you with a funky yet usable chair, all of your own. Sort ByMost PopularLowest PriceHighest Price Filter ByBy Style Swivel ChairsBy Type Upholstered Faux Leather / SuedeBy Colour Black Blue Cream Green Grey Orange Pink Purple Red YellowClassic cars are a favourite among investors, but very few would see value in this battered 1974 VW Beetle banana skin.However, upcycling pro Max McMurdo has managed to turn this clapped-out motor into a £5,000 cash cow by ripping it apart and converting it into an array of bonkers furniture.Of the 25 items created, there's a Beetle-door bed, exhaust-pipe lamp and a windscreen dressing table. Battered-Beetle beautifier: Max McMurdo has converted this tatty £700 1974 Volkswagen into 25 items of furniture, including a Beetle-door bed and an exhaust-pipe lampAccording to online classified ads site Gumtree, there's been a 50 per cent rise in people selling upcycled products on the website and a 1000 per cent spike buyers searching for renovated items.
But few would be able to manufacture as many pieces of furniture for a vehicle carcass as designer turned TV presenter McMurdo.Pulling panels and parts from the '74 Beetle bought for £700, he managed to upgrade the VW seats into a sofa and a rocking chair, remaster the number plates to tell the time and create a floor lamp from a brake drum.In fact, McMurdo upcycled just about every salvageable bit of the Beetle into useful, functional and desirable items which, having been valued, are now up for sale on Gumtree. All proceeds from these items will be donated to The Butterfly Tree charity to provide classrooms, books and toilets for the children of a rural Zambian community - Gumtree has also said it will match the proceeds made, doubling the amount going to this great cause.'We want to show people that you can create quality items out of anything, even a run down VW Beetle,' McMurdo said.'This project is a great way to share these opportunities and help people uncover their own creativity and put their hand to making something amazing.'
Forget Ikea, McMurdo's creations have everything you need for your living room, from £150 brake-drum lamps to a £650 rear-bench sofa The dresser, which has a windscreen mirror, is for sale for £750 McMurdo (pictured right) set to work on the £700 Beetle in his workshop. Six days later - with the help of some other upcyclers - he'd created 25 items of furniture, including this £400 rocking chair and £200 exhaust lampThe upcycling guru also hinted that others should try to follow in his footsteps,With around two million vehicles being scrapped to become waste every year in the UK, McMurdo said there's a real financial and environmental benefit of re-purposing rust-ravaged cars.'I had 6 days to strip down and upcycle the Beetle and, with the help of a few fellow upcyclers, we managed to complete all 25 gorgeous pieces,' McMurdo told us while filming a new series for Channel 4 called 'Fill Your House For Free'. 'I've used a few odd car parts to create furniture in the past but upcycling an entire car was a first for me.
Working with a 1974 vintage VW Beetle, which was a little rough round the edges, and bringing it back to life in different innovative ways was pretty challenging.'The re-upholstering on the back seats into a sofa was particularly challenging, especially when I found out the upholstery was initially fitted using very sharp spikes.' A Beetle door bed: McMurdo has even added a wing-mirror-style reading light in case you want to sit up with your favourite book. You might have to mind your head on the door handle, though. The bed, with mattress and Beetle bedding, is for sale at £350 These rocker-cover lamps (left) are available for £150. And you can forget about taxidermy - these car-part antlers could be on your wall for £250 Wheel arches have been re-purposed to make the armrests of this outdoor chair. It's listed for £650Katie Crossfield, marketing campaign manager at Gumtree, added: 'There has been a huge surge in people buying and selling upcycled items on Gumtree, we want to motivate and grow this amazingly passionate community by helping them discover new and exciting opportunities within the upcycling world.'Through working with Max we've had the privilege of seeing our community really embrace upcycling on Gumtree
, anyone can give it a go. 'We hope by showcasing the positive impact on the environment this brings it will help inspire more people to follow suit.' The 1974 VW Beetle had seen better days. With flat tyres and rusting bodywork, we're surprised this yellow relic cost as much as £700 Even the headlamp has been reused, this time to encase a painting of the car it came from (£150). The speed has also been given a new lease of life, converted into a clock (£125) Clocking up some mileage: The number-plate clocks are £75 a pieceNew copyright laws in the UK have come into effect, banning replicas of some of the most-copied icons of 20th century furniture design – including pieces by Arne Jacobsen, and Charles and Ray Eames (+ slideshow). As of 28 July 2016, dealers cannot make or import new furniture copies. After a transitional period of six months, they will no longer be able to sell them either. The change brings the UK – once derided as "a Trojan Horse for the importation of copies into Europe" – into line with the rest of the EU, which has longer-lasting copyright protections.
While the future of the laws may be uncertain following June's Brexit vote, for the time being UK copyright protections for industrial design have been extended. They've changed from 25 years after an item is first marketed to 70 years from the death of the creator. This is the result of the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988, which previously exempted industrially manufactured pieces from the copyright protections afforded to artistic works. Although there's still a legal grey area for items "inspired by" designer classics and boasting only small differences from the originals, the shift could spell the end for businesses that rely on rip-offs. Here are 10 of the most copied designs that are now protected: Designed by: Charles (1907–1978) and Ray (1912–1988) Eames The plastic Eames DSW chair with its Eiffel Tower-like base is one of the most copied pieces of furniture. Discount supermarket chain Aldi was recently selling pairs of replica Eames chairs for £39.99.
That's a fraction of the £339 it costs to buy a single authorised version of the chair, manufactured for the UK market by Swiss design brand Vitra. While UK law deemed the chair out of copyright 25 years after its marketing in 1950, the repeal effectively means it will be protected until 2058, 70 years after Ray's death. The Eameses were famously advocates for democratic, affordable design, so the merit of replicas of their furniture is often a subject of debate among their fans. Arne Jacobsen Egg chair, 1958 Designed by: Arne Jacobsen (1902–1971) Originally designed for the Radisson SAS hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, Arne Jacobsen's Egg easy chair has since been manufactured by Republic of Fritz Hansen. Recognisable to the British public as the diary room chair from the first series of Big Brother, it can be bought for £559 through replica retailer Vita Interiors. That compares to £4,283 from Fritz Hansen. The design is now protected until 2041. Hans Wegner Wishbone chair, 1950
Designed by: Hans Wegner (1914–2007) Also known as the CH24, the Wishbone chair has been in continual production by Carl Hansen & Sons since 1950. Its name comes from its characteristic Y-shaped back. Retailing for £504 at design store Skandium, a version of the chair can also be purchased for £120 from Swivel UK. The Danish design classic is now copyright protected in the UK until 2077. Designed by: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) Even though it was designed a full 87 years ago, the leather and chrome Barcelona chair remains one of the most iconic seats of the 20th century. It will now be copyright protected in the UK until 2039. The official version manufactured by Knoll, retails for £5,232. Replicas can be purchased for £455 from Swivel UK. Designed by: Xavier Pauchard (1880–1948) By contrast, the Tolix chair, designed five years after the Barcelona, will be newly copyright protected for only the next two years. The new copyright provisions cover designs for 70 years after the death of the creator, and Tolix's French designer, Xavier Pauchard, passed away 68 years ago.
The metal Tolix has been a ubiquitous design, with replicas available in supermarket chain Tesco for £59.99. Still made by original manufacturers Tolix, the official version retails for £187. Jean Prouvé Standard chair, 1950 Designed by: Jean Prouvé (1901–1984) French designer and architect Jean Prouvé first began work on the Standard chair in 1934, although it wasn't released until 1950. Traditionally manufactured in wood and steel, it has a distinctive shape with thin front legs and more robust, load-bearing back legs. While Vitra holds the licence to manufacture it in the UK, where it retails for £547, an "identical" chair can be bought through Voga for €124. The UK's new copyright provisions will protect the Standard Chair until 2054. Designed by: Eileen Gray (1878–1976) Previously out of copyright since 1952, the E1027 will now by protected in the UK until 2046. Gray originally designed the adjustable metal table for her own house, wanting a multipurpose item that could serve as an occasional, side or bedside table.
Aram Designs holds the worldwide licence for Gray's designs, and sells the E1027 for £510. At Swivel UK, the replica is £108. Isamu Noguchi coffee table, 1944 Designed by: Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) Sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi is said to have described this 1944 coffee table as his best furniture design. Now manufactured by Vitra and sold for £1,324, it is replicated by the likes of Swivel UK for £230. It is now copyright protected until 2058. Designed by: Le Corbusier (1887–1965) Designed in 1928 and manufactured in the year of his death, Le Corbusier's LC2 is described as "the archetype of the modern chair" by manufacturers Cassina. Its three-seater version retails for £9,024 from Nest, while replicas are available for £1,293. It is now copyright protected in the UK until 2035. Designed by: Poul Henningsen (1894–1967) Danish architect Poul Henningsen's Artichoke lamp has a distinctive form that has proven difficult to copy.