Photo courtesy of Oregon Metro One of the things we–and most upholsterers– feel really strongly about is keeping furniture out of the landfill, and repairing/reusing something you already have.   How can we encourage our customers to choose reupholstering if we don’t “walk the walk” ourselves? This is what was going through my mind as smoke poured out of our benchtop Delta belt sander recently.  We are in the business of refurbishing things.  How can I in good conscience throw out this nice and somewhat expensive tool? Still looks great after all of these years. “Old ..read more

In choosing a new fabric for your project, also consider what your priorities are for the next phase of your furniture’s life. Is it endurance in the presence of pets or children, soil avoidance, or softness? What is most important now? For empty nesters, it might be style and beauty as opposed to child proofing. For octogenarians it might be pet proofing and comfort rather than infinite longevity. For a newly single person, it could be to change up the color and texture entirely, to fit a new life. Not only did this Art Deco sofa have great bones, but the paisley chenille pattern Folie from M ..read more

Our sample room has thousands of options You’re ready to take the plunge and reupholster your furniture. That’s great! Custom reupholstery is a great way to take something you already love and make it just the way you want it. Redecorating? Restoring? Change in the household? This is a terrific opportunity to update your furniture to meet your lifestyle. We are here to help our clients choose a fabric that will suit the type of use their furniture receives, so let’s talk about that first. Is this something you use every day? For a couple minutes, or a couple hours? Do you use it near food or d ..read more

Image courtesy of USNews As the state of Oregon reopens today, we wanted to make sure that our updated hours and practices are out there for those who need them. First off, welcome back!  We’ve missed the lower half of your faces, and should apologize in advance if we don’t recognize you when you arrive at our shop.  Thank you to everyone who continued to place orders during the pandemic, and for helping us stay open for one of the busiest years we’ve had on record.  Who would have known that residential upholstery would be the big industry as people stayed home for a year? We h ..read more

At the risk of being unpopular, I’m going to say it out loud: It’s probably not a good idea to reupholster your recliner. There. It’s out in the open. Now let’s talk about why. Contemporary recliners (meaning ones manufactured in the last 20 years) have become a fixture in a lot of houses. Unlike most furniture, which is built for aesthetics as well as usage, recliners are created solely for comfort. They cradle us like newborns as we watch tv, take naps, and kick back with a cold one at the end of the work day. They are even made with lift assist motors for folks who aren’t able to easily rem ..read more

If you have an old piece of furniture whose design no longer speaks a modern language, you don’t have to get rid of it. Besides changing out a dated fabric for a new and fresh textile, many outdated style elements can be altered to update your piece while it is being upholstered. This plain-Jane Mid-20th Century chair gets a late 2000s bling factor by being completely updated with button tufting in a high-gloss leather. To turn your vintage sofas and quality antique pieces into even more traditionally well-crafted or designer-inspired furniture, consider special order down or mi ..read more

Once again this year we’ve had the opportunity to work with the folks at Community Warehouse for their Chair Affair event. In years past, we’ve collaborated with outside designers to fabricate a chair to donate. This year, we’ve decided to do a collaboration of our own, with Aladdin Finishers, to bring one of our found frames back to life. A friend texted about a year or two ago saying, “I just saw this chair on the side of the road. It needs you.” The frame was a classic with Queen Anne legs, and what we call a “channel” back, but had broken seat springs and holes in the upholstery. Rose City ..read more

Also consider what your priorities are for the next phase of your furniture’s life. Is it endurance in the presence of pets or children, soil avoidance, or softness? What is most important now? For empty nesters, it might be style and beauty as opposed to child proofing. For octogenarians it might be pet proofing and comfort rather than infinite longevity. For a newly single person, it could be to change up the color and texture entirely, to fit a new life. When pets leave or enter our lives, our sense of Furniture Freedom inevitably changes.  Whatever might have gone wrong (in terms of w ..read more

For first time customers and folks unaccustomed to working with custom handcraft workshops (upholsterers, like us!), we would like to answer our most common question: “How does this work?” First, we begin by giving you a free quote, which gives you an idea of costs, what sort of work will be done and what to expect during the process. Send us pictures of your project, some basic measurements, and what you want to accomplish to info@rosecityupholstery.com, and we will get back to you within a couple of days with a price for the labor required to recover/repair/restore it, and an estimate of how ..read more

Do a simple search online for “What to Look for in an Upholstery Fabric” and you’ll find one of the most often shared advice is to look for a high double rub count. A couple of industry standard tests (Martindale or Wyzanbeek) are used to gauge how much wear a fabric can take before it becomes threadbare. So, a double rub count of 25,000 means a piece of fabric has been rubbed back and forth by a piece of plastic 25,000 times before the textile began to wear through. Sure, your clay colored faux leather can last 200,000 double rubs, but is that necessarily a good thing? Textile durability has ..read more