Topics

One advantage of being self employed is I can work holidays and stay away from the maddening crowds. Then take a day off the following week when things aren't so hectic.

Happy Birthday USA Happy Birthday USA Happy Birthday USA

I wanted to share some work from a refinish shop I do a lot of business with. They just did some incredible work on these two chairs.

the customer wanted the chairs to sit 2" higher so he added the brass wheels on the front. That meant adding 2" to the back legs as well.

The tape shows where he cut the leg off at an angle and added a new piece plus 2".
This pic shows the finished product.

Any one out there live near St Augustine, Fl. I'm seriously thinking about buying a house there to pick up more work and sell furniture.

Anyone job hunting might try Monster.com they send me new listings daily. Here's a few

http://jobview.monster.com/GetJob.aspx?JobID=99598932&aid=98543329&WT.mc_n=JSA_Redux_0321_HG10_bam&fwr=true

http://jobview.monster.com/GetJob.aspx?JobID=99571995&WT.mc_n=JSA_Redux_0321_HG10_bam&aid=98543329&fwr=true

http://jobview.monster.com/GetJob.aspx?JobID=99591771&WT.mc_n=JSA_Redux_0321_HG10_bam&aid=98543329&fwr=true

Whenever a solicitor calls me I like to end the conversation with, no thank you but do you need any reupholstery done. This is usually followed by a pause and when they say no I go for the hard sell and ask surely there's something in your house that needs to be redone, I have a beautiful line of fabrics and I have a list of outstanding references. When they say, but sir I live in Timbuktu, I say I guess I cant help you and hang up the phone.

here's a link my wife found
http://modgreenpod.com/room-creator-2/
she was having fun with it

Hay Bobby and all our other NC friends. Hope all is well considering the bad weather your state had Saturday.

Here's one for ya. The customer said, 10 years ago, she paid $800 for this leather sofa and love seat. I always try to be upfront when dealing with customers, I feel it's part of my job to tell them when somethings not worth reupholstering. And I really didn't want the job any way. So I told her she could probably buy new cheaper than I could reupholster the pieces. She said they were made in Italy and felt she got a good deal 10 years ago. My opinion; Italians make good shoes and hand bags but not always good furniture.

Can't say I ever saw a cushion like this before.
The sofa is a hide-a-bed. The bed sat to low in the frame. Instead of fixing this problem they made the cushion to fit. Notice the rubber webbing on the back, the love seat had this on the seat also. The frame is mostly made of plywood and particle board

The backs and arms were all sewn together and assembled as one piece. An upholsterers nightmare.

I was glad to get this one done. When we gave the estimate she was all ready to buy the fabric from me. Two weeks later she calls and says she bought her fabric (pink vinyl) and was ready to go.

When we delivered them she was so happy she gave us a $20 tip.
Her only complaint; One week later she calls and says when she sits on it with her silk house coat it clings to her. Sorry.

Like many of you our business has been on and off the last couple years. Last November I decided to start looking for a job working for some one else. Sent out a ton of resumes and met a lot of interesting people. I got several job offers but because our business was good I could afford to be  picky. January I saw a job posted on the Internet that said, experienced upholsterer needed for high end workroom, good pay and benefits, in South Florida. I called the guy and told him about myself and my experience. He said the job was already filled but I should send him my resume and he would keep it on file. One month Later he calls and says he thinks I would be a good fit for his company, could I come to Deerfield Beach for an Interview. I live in North Florida, six hours away. 

We met and hit it off well. He has a huge workroom, state of the art. Most of his work comes from decorators. A lot of his work is in window treatments. He has about 12 employees. He dose mostly window treatments but has enough furniture work to keep two upholsteres busy. I've worked for him for 5 weeks now.  I'm staying in my camper in a county park in Lake Worth.

My wife is running our business and telling customers I have a temp. job in S. Fl. I go home every weekend and do as much work as I can in a day and a half.

Its time to get serious and start looking for a house. Here's the problem. My wife has been down several times and she dose not like it here. June and all you other South Floridians please don't take offence, S. Fl is beautiful, has great weather and tons to offer, but we come from the small rural town of Live Oak. and finding it real hard to adjust to all the crowds, and traffic (work is a 30 min. drive on I-95) although this would be temporary. The Houses we could afford are very small on postage stamp lots. I know its real easy to say will why don't you just pack up and head on back home. The job pays really well the other employees are friendly and the boss loves my work. I don't know if I'll get another opportunity like this again.

I guess the question is should I try to talk my wife into moving down hear knowing she may not be able to adjust or go home and look for other options 

Thought I might share a project I finished a few months back. This is more for the non-pros out there wondering what goes into a full blown restore job. The nice thing about these pieces is the finish is in good shape and for an Eastlake reproduction its fairly well constructed.

This is the settee before       


The springs on the chair fell through the webbing. What a mess.


Three layers of fabric.


All the old padding had to be replaced. It was very lumpy. You can see the old straw seat padding in the background.


Both pieces needed a lot of frame work.




I added corner blocks to give it more strength.


All new webbing on seat, back and arms


Eight-way hand tied the seat springs.


Cover the springs with burlap and add a little edge roll.


Sometimes on these old Eastlake pieces they upholster the outside arm halfway up the roll on the inside arm. I asked the customer if I could change this and she said go for it.


This meant adding a tack rail to the bottom of the rolled arm.


New webbing and burlap for the backs.


And abra-kadabra, restored settee and chairs with tufted backs.

Wish I had a better picture. I did a pair of chairs for a decorator a couple months back. the back frame was formed with bent metal rods. Over that was an elastic type fabric and then foam over all. I love working on challenging pieces it gives me a break from the old routine.

I get a call 3 or 4 times a year from furniture insurance companies asking if I want to be their local repair representative. You know the ones who offer extended warranty after the factory warranty has run out.

I enjoy doing repair work for several furniture stores in the area, but theirs something about these guys that leave a bad taste in my mouth. Lets say I do a repair job on a piece of furniture that was poorly designed. Of course I'm going to try to fix it and redesign it to the best of my ability. But will this mean I'm now forever responsible if any thing else go's wrong with it.

I recently did a repair job for a couple that bought an over stuffed chair from one of the big discount chains. They bought the extended warranty. The chair was covered in vinyl. The chair was just 2 years old and the vinyl was all peeling away from the backing. They called the warranty company many times to no avail. The warranty was worthless. They ended up having the chair fixed on their own dime.

I'm just thinking if that's how they treat their costumers, how will they treat me when it comes to payments.

Just wondering if theirs anyone out that has a good working relationship with one of these company's?

I'll bet theirs a lot of business people that have this problem. For every 10 commercial or government estimates I give, I get maybe one job.

I've learned over the years that their usually shopping for the lowest price so when they call I tell them right off that I'm not the cheapest guy in town. They say oh no no no we want some one who'll do a real nice job. Right!

Awhile ago I gave an in house estimate to an upscale hotel in Lake City. This place had a real nice Lobby and the manager pointed out 8 or 9 pieces he needed reupholstered. I let him know I'm not the lowest price in town but our quality can't be beat. I said a nice place like this needs a high end upholsterer. I really talked myself up . He kept telling me he wants only the best. I kept getting the feeling he wasn't the decision maker but I took the time to work up an estimate anyway. 3 months later no reply. Yes I tried to call him back and he's never their. This happens 3 or 4 times a year.

The latest was at the EMS call center. I herd the lady showing me around tell one of the employees, "ya I have to get 3 estimates". The funny thing is a week later a decorator called and asked if we could give her an estimate for the EMS call center. I could tell you a real doozy about the VA hospital but I'll save it for another time.

To top it off they act like this is just part of my job.

I'm sure every one has this same problem. How do you deal with what seems like a big waste of time? 

 I'm sure this has been addressed before but I've been all over this website trying to figure out what dictates a users position status. I'm considered a "newbie" even though I've been in the business over 20 years.

I guess it must have something to do with how many postings you create. This seems a little odd because when a true newbie, some one who's picking up a tack hammer for the very first time, is asking for advice they might see newbie and think, will this guy doesn't have much experience.

If it is the number of postings it seems some "newbies" are going to post a bunch of worthless messages (like this one) :P just to get their position changed.

Don't get me wrong. I think its a great web site. Just wondering how long will I be a newbie.

My wife wants to know is a newbie like a wedgie?

I played a little joke a while back on a high school kid I hired to pull staples. I was out behind my shop stuffing feathers in cushions. As usual feathers were flying everywhere and making quite a mess. When I was done I grabbed three or four in my fist and walked back inside the shop. I faked a slight cough that grew worse and claimed that I must have swallowed some feathers. Each time I coughed I'd bring my fist up to my mouth. The coughing got worse and the kid asked if there was something he could do. I brought my fist up to my mouth, let out one big cough and loosened the grip on the feathers. His eyes got big as saucers when he saw those feathers fly out and he exclaimed "Oh My".  It took him a few seconds to realize what happened and we all had a good laugh. Some times you just have to lighten up a little.

I have had my own shop for over 20 years.  I am passionate about upholstering but not the business aspects of it.  I am looking for a high end upholstery shop that can use my many skills. NO DRAMA, NO BAGGAGE.  Good hard worker, dependable.  I have  references from decorators I've worked with.  Willing to relocate for a stable full time job to a well established enterprise.  Resume upon request. elnorthuis@yahoo.com