The Craftsman's Eye

There's more to custom upholstery than meets the eye.

Floor Plans, Sketches & Specifications

Architects sketch of location for custom banquette seat

When you visit your furniture designer, don't forget to bring along a detailed floor plan that indicates where furniture will be located, as well as exact dimensions of the piece. Be sure to also include measurements for all doorways, halls, stairways and elevators through which the furniture will travel to reach its final resting place. Even the most experienced designers make fatal errors that are evident only upon delivery. Almost any space constrictions can be accommodated if they are known in advance. For instance, a sofa can be made to come apart and re-attach on site. Forethought is key.

What is the style you are looking for? Do your homework before you meet with a furniture maker. Take time to go through design magazines, trade journals and design books. Pull photographs of details such as tailoring, trims and the overall look you are hoping to achieve. Don't be afraid to take an upholstered arm from one photo, a back from another and a skirt treatment from a third --- good custom furniture makers are skilled in bringing the varying elements together. Pictures that show what you want will save a thousand words of explanation. If you are able to do a schematic sketch on your own - that's great. But if you are not, your furniture maker can still create a design from your photos and conversation for your approval.

Above all else, be as specific in your instructions as possible. Once you have instructed the manufacturer, ask for written confirmation of your instructions that includes a drawing of how the piece will look. Take the time to read the manufacturer's instructions and look the drawings over carefully. Design deadlines and budgets rarely permit costly errors.

Construction and Customization

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Let's face it, custom furniture is expensive. Ask the manufacturer tough questions to ensure that you're getting quality merchandise. Is kiln dried wood used for the frame? Are the frames dowelled, glued and screwed on corner blocks? Are stretchers used when required for added support?

Go over fine details of the design with your manufacturer. The thickness of the back, the seat and the seat cushions will affect the overall depth. The width of the arms can affect the seating space. Inside and outside pitch will determine the angle of the back. Discuss your client's special requirements with the manufacturer. If your client is especially short or tall, large or slight, the manufacturer can make design changes for which your clients will be grateful. After all, comfort is the final determining factor in the overall success of your design.

Fabrics, Fillers and Flame-proofing

Example of a client's purchase order for custom kitchen banquette

Don't forget fabric samples. Your upholsterer will need to see what you have selected and can help you make your final choice. Will the fabric run horizontally or vertically? How wide is it? How often does the pattern repeat? Will seams show? Wait until you consult with the upholsterer before you order the fabric. Even the slightest style change can dramatically alter the amount of fabric you need. It is also a good idea to bring along samples for any welts, gimp, fringe or tassels you plan on using.

Next, take a moment to consider fillers. Once again, be specific. Will the furniture be used extensively or only occasionally? Standard cushions are generally made of a medium density urethane foam wrapped with a Dacron fiber. A more luxurious, comfortable cushion, however, is made of innerspring and cotton wrapped in foam. White goose down is also favored for comfort.
If flame proofing is required, be sure to let the upholsterer know at the beginning of the project. This is especially essential for commercial projects such as restaurants or salons.

Of course, organic and green materials are also available for any upholstery project.

Tailoring, Treatments and Toss Pillows

Custom upholstery adds a new dimension to your design talents. The final details --- tailoring, treatments and toss pillows --- are crucial in determining the end result.

Ask your upholsterer to show you samples of how the cushions can be tailored (knife edges, box welted and weltless, Turkish corners, waterfalls and hand-sewn are among the finishes available). Finalize treatments for the arms (round arm tuxedo, square arm tuxedo, roll arm, and flair arm, to name a few); the bases and legs (plinth; will they be upholstered, painted or laminated? Will the radius corner have a recessed bull nose base? Harem, upholstered bun feet?, parsons legs, or castors?) If there is to be a skirt, how will it be treated? (Kickpleat, dressmaker's, pleated corners, ruffles?) What about the overall upholstering? Will it be tufted (diamond and biscuit), hand channeled, quilted, trapuntal? And, what form, if any, will the final topstitching take? (Double needle, french-style back, fox edge?)

When choosing toss pillows, talk with the upholsterer about how they will be used. Do they have to hold up for a family of five? Ask questions. A good upholsterer will cheerfully answer your questions and respond quickly to your special requirements. Your design reputation is on the line; never allow yourself to be intimidated or pushed into a hasty decision.

Details and Delivery

Prepare a checklist. Go over it twice. Make sure your order is confirmed in writing and is accompanied by a sketch. Don't be afraid to ask for a specific delivery date, but make sure you do your part and get all fabrics and trims to the manufacturer as promised.

Don't leave the final detail --- delivery --- to chance. If your manufacturer leaves delivery arrangements up to you, and many do, locate a reputable firm and take prompt possession of your merchandise.

Finished custom made kitchen banquette for This Old House, Newton project.

"The secret of success," said Benjamin Disraeli, "is constancy to purpose."

By seeking out quality workmanship and working in tandem with your suppliers to ensure faithfulness to the most minute detail, success will be yours.

Introducing Naturtex

We're pleased to announce that we're now carrying this fantastic line of woven fabrics by Naturtex. Made in Spain, Naturtex has a huge range of different fabrics for all residential and contract purposes.






The woven materials can be used in: Upholstery, Wall Covering, Headboards, and more!

We have a selection of samples so don't hesitate to come by the shop to check them out and we'll help you figure out the possibilites!

Hot off the bench: Restoration of sofa & chairs

Before

This fantastic late 19th century sofa was in desperate need of woodwork repair as well as upholstery. New veneers and fills were applied to the woodwork as needed and a fantastic floral fabric was applied, making this quite an eye-catching piece! The best part of the story is that the client paid $1 for the sofa at auction several years ago!

Upholstery work in progress.

These chairs belong to the same client and were made by a family member many years ago.

Before.

It's amazing how far back old wood will come with expert attention!
Fabrics by Robert Allen.

"Discontinued"! The backup plan

One of the most frustrating aspects of interior design - whether you're a homeowner or professional - is how quickly a fabric, wallpaper or other item can become discontinued. Manufacturers are constantly evaluating their wares for availability and saleability. If an item is either deemed too difficult or expensive to produce, or the sales haven't been worth the cost to produce, then quicker than you can imagine, the item is no longer available.

When we're searching for beautiful fabrics for our projects, we often "fall in love" with a particular item and it's not uncommon for us to base an entire project around a single design. So, it can be a real bummer if the fabric we've been dreaming of is suddenly not available. So frustrating!! Unfortunately, it's a pretty common experience and the only way to avoid such disappointments is to either purchase the fabric as quickly as possible, or have a back up selection.

For vendors and stores, this is an equally frustrating issue. It's very time consuming to keep one's sample library updated - whether it be fabric, wallpaper or whatever. Our sources don't often send out "discontinued" lists, so often we don't know either until we try to order an item for a customer.

At Heller, we are on the front lines of this situation all the time. In business, it's always a balance between doing everything you want (having a perfectly updated sample library) vs. the time and salary cost of keeping up with it. I've been in the slow process of updating our sample library as it's been a couple years since it was done last. We were noticing that more and more fabric samples our clients were selecting were discontinued, so it was time. What a chore! But, in some cases, over 20% of our samples have been discontinued by the manufacturer so it's worth the time.

The moral of this tale of woe is that it's aways a good idea to have a plan B when selecting fabrics. Often, we're asked if the manufacturer can tell us what stores have the fabric. This information isn't generally possible and finding a desired, but discontinued, fabric is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's not impossible, but not probable.

Meanwhile, another management aspect of our business is keeping our sample library fresh and appealing. Sometimes, the most dated and blah fabrics are sold for years. I assume someone is buying them, but they often don't make for beautiful displays.

We're also in the process of rotating out the blah and making room for newer, more appealing lines. These are a few of the wonderful line of Pierre Deux upholstery fabrics we just got in. The patterns are traditional, but the colors are always bright and beautiful.

And here is a treasure trove of beautiful, textural neutrals from Kravet that are waiting to be unpacked.

So many fabrics... so little time!

How to measure and calculate repeats

A difficult aspect of working with fabrics is how to calculate the fabric yardage needs. Whether it's on window treatments or on upholstered furniture, understanding how the fabric repeat effects the yardage required is paramount. Underestimating can mean not having enough fabric to do the job and over estimating can mean significant added expense. In fact, this is also true when working with wallpaper, although the calculations are different.

For those who don't know, the repeat is the size of the pattern as it appears once on a piece of fabric. This is measured vertically and horizontally. Many decorator fabric samples come with the repeats listed, especially if you're working with the fabric house or a decorator. However, when buying at retail, often the repeats are not referenced and you will need to measure yourself, or hope the sales person is able to provide the information.

It's really pretty easy. Spread out the fabric, making sure you have a large enough piece to see the full repeat and then some. Determine the pattern from side-to-side and from top-to-bottom. As you can see above, I have determined that the horizonal repeat runs across 3 flowers: 1 large and two smaller. Measuring from the center of the pattern, to the next time that same pattern appears, I have a measurement above of approximately 18.5" across (horizontally).

Do the same up-and-down and you have the vertical repeat, which is 11-3/4".

Often, when we are quoted yardage requirements for a particular application (furniture, window treatment) assume that if you have not provided the repeat information, then you are getting a quote for plain material that has no repeat. The chart below shows how much extra fabric is needed depending the repeat you are using.


So, for the fabric above that has a vertical repeat of 11-3/4" and a horizontal repeat of 18.5", your total repeat is 31" (rounding up). If you are told you need 10 yards of plain 54" fabric, then to use the fabric above, you will need to order an additional 25% or 12.5 total yards. Make sense?

So, why, you may ask, is the repeat so very important? Because, quality workmanship dictates that the pattern matches. This means that the flowers line up across seam lines and other breaks. If you notice, the damask pattern on the top of this upholstered headboard continues across the break of border to padded middle section. Without enough fabric, your upholsterer or seamstress is not able to match the patterns and the result will be amateurish.

A little tip when selecting fabric - the larger the repeat, the more fabric is required to do the job. Obviously, the more fabric you buy, the more you spend. So, if you are looking for a way to do a job in the most economical way, a smaller repeat will save money. This can really make a difference if your job takes 25 yards of fabric and your fabric is $100/yard or more. An additional 6 yards of fabric (25% of 25 yards) at $100/yard is an additional $600.00 you may or may not wish to spend.

In a followup post, we're going to talk about the placement of pattern. We're currently recovering a standard wing chair in a very cool batik fabric that has a bold pattern. How the fabric is placed will make the difference between blah and wow!

Media Talk: This Old House sneak peek

A couple of months ago we wrote about our participation in the currently filming This Old House Newton Project. Interior designer Abbey Koplovitz tapped Heller Furniture to build a custom banquette for the kitchen, plus some window seat and dining chair cushions. The filming has officially wrapped and we wanted to share the work we did on the project.

This is the banquette seat for the kitchen table. One thing about Victorian homes, there are lots of wonderful elements like window seats throughout. Walter Heller and Tommy Silva collaborated to create this unit, which is a functional yet elegant use of the space under the bay window which looks onto the wrap around porch.


In the dining room, designer Abbey K put together a beautiful mix of new and old, with hints of the Victorian - such as the beautiful tasseled drape - along with with more modern touches such as the grass cloth shades. The beautiful bench cushion adds a warm and inviting touch.

The French country style dining room chairs are topped with comfortable pads made specifically to fit the seats.


And sitting on the top of the house is the slightly mis-named "Man Cave". Misnamed only because the "Billiard Room" is filled with light and hardly a cave at all.



We were thrilled to take part in this project. The house was certainly beautiful to begin with, but the combined talents of the This Old House crew, designer Abbey K and homeowners Paul Friedberg and Maddy Krauss really came together to create a comfortable home for a contemporary family that still pays homage to the past. Bravo to all!


Click here to read homeowner Paul Friedberg's posts on Old House My House about this project.
Click here to read interior designer Abby Koplovitz's posts on her blog On Interior Design. She includes lots of before and after photos.
Click here to find out when This Old House is airing in your area.

And don't forget to check out an upcoming This Old House Magazine for more photos!

Photos by Linda Merrill for Heller Furniture.

Preserving History: A restoration story

The recent exhibition at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts "Napolean: Symbols of Power" got us to thinking about a restoration and reupholstery project we did last year for the Shirley-Eustis House Museum in Roxbury, MA.

These beautiful Empire era pieces were in desperate need of careful restoration and it was very important that any repair work be undertaken with the greatest thought and knowledge of historically accurate methods and techniques.

Once stripped, it became apparent that a previous upholsterer had altered the frame and harmed the structural integrity of the sofa.

The antique sofa from the Shirley Eustis House was originally constructed with three evenly spaced hardwood bars from side to side. These “stretchers” fastened the front of the frame to the back, providing stability and strength to the frame (see red arrows on Figure A). Next webbing was applied on top of the frame from front to back and woven through side to side. The next step was to cover the webbing with a layer of horsehair topped with a layer of cotton for padding and covered with fabric, creating the decking for a cushion. (See Figure B) Next a loose cushion was placed on top of the decking.

At some point in the past the sofa was reupholstered. Whoever performed the work cut the stretchers out, added wood to the underside of the frame (see green arrows on Figure A) to which was covered with webbing. Springs were used to form a fully upholstered seat, eliminating the cushion. This frame was not designed to handle springs, and the jerry-rigged method by which it was altered left the frame weak and subject to damage, which is exactly what happened.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Walter, in consultation with furniture historian Edward S. Cooke, Jr., editor of Upholstery in America & Europe from the Seventeenth Century to World War I, (Norton, 1987) came up with the recommended repair work on this beautiful piece.

Stretchers were once again built into the seat and new wood was applied to the sides and back for structural integrity.

New webbing added to the seat and arms.

The seat and back are padded with cotton and horsehair, just as it would have been when new. A new cushion is made, also using cotton padding and horsehair.

The finished sofa - back where it belongs!

We want to thank the Shirley-Eustis House for entrusting us with the repair of these beautiful pieces of furniture - and history.