A SEAT from one of the old Glasgow subway carriages has been transformed into a sofa.
Matt McCallum used the “iconic” seat to create the unique piece of furniture after he came across it on Facebook marketplace a few months ago.
Matt, who purchased the seat for £150, explained: “I was scrolling through Facebook marketplace, and I happened to see it for sale.
“A guy was selling a bunch of them I think he was saving them from the scrap heap.”
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Matt, who grew up in Bishopbriggs and now lives in the city centre, says he was sad to see the old carriages go but “inspiration struck” when the seat came up for sale.
He said: “It was sad to say goodbye to the old design because there’s something quote iconic about it.
“The thought had crossed my mind that you could make a blanket, wallpaper or cushions out of it.”
He continued: “When it came up on marketplace I thought ‘that could be that thing’, you could make a piece of furniture out of the actual thing.”
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Making use of his annual leave at the start of January, it then took Matt just a couple of days to transform the old subway seat.
The 30-year-old said: “I’m really proud of it.
“It's come together better than I could have hoped.
“I’m happy with how much I kept it simple by reusing the fixings and stuff.”
He added: “My friends like it, they think it’s cool.
“Some of my family think it’s cool but some think ‘oh that’s disgusting’.
“I can understand the reservations with it, probably half of Glasgow has sat on it by now.”
While some other people have raised concerns about how clean the seat will be, Matt has used a carpet cleaner to go over the fabric several times and also says the covers are removable and he will be able to put them through the wash.
Although the sofa is a unique piece, Matt says it ties in with some of the other furniture in his house and after sharing the project on X he’s hoping to have inspired a few more people who purchased subway seats.
The architect said: “I know of a handful of other people who bought the subway seat, but I haven’t seen what they’ve done with it.
“Because the arms and stuff are from Ikea hopefully it’s something people should be able to find easily and replicate quite easily.”
Did you purchase a subway seat? E-mail Nicole.Mitchell@newsquest.co.uk and let us know what you’ve done with it.
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