Selling original furniture designs
With the right amount of knowledge and drive, upholsterers can find many rewards in selling original furniture designs.
Upholstery Journal | August 2010
by Holly O'Dell
Carla Pyle’s path to furniture design started with an antique chair she found at a yard sale.
Although she was a professional textile artist and graphic designer, she had never delved into the world of furnishings. Pyle turned to her friend, Tina Ortman—an upholsterer for 18 years—to help her re-cover her vintage find. “We were both inspired by the unique lines and modern styling of the finished product,” Pyle recalls.
Pyle also found information (and inspiration) from another close source: her husband, Chandler, an expert woodworker. With an emphasis on crafting sustainable pieces, the Pyles formed Casulo Studios in April 2009, now doing business as Living Home Furniture. The Pyles work out of their studios in Livingston, Mont., which are open by appointment only, while Ortman’s upholstery shop in Bozeman, Mont., has a small showroom displaying Living Home’s pieces. The trio’s work is representative of what’s possible when upholsterers and other designers produce and sell their original furnishings. Here’s what it takes to start and maintain your own successful, one-of-a-kind furniture operation and create a new stream of revenue.
Tricks of the trade
For creative types who like to work with their hands, the path to designing original furnishings is a natural one. Many upholsterers are already at an advantage because of their experience working with chairs, sofas, ottomans and the like. Ortman, for one, brings a trained eye to the projects she works on. “She has contributed vital insight to all of our projects,” Pyle says of her friend and colleague, who is taking woodworking classes to learn to build the frames for her upholstered designs. “Her success today has grown through perseverance, and much of her progress has been dependent upon her own ingenuity.”
Some designers who delve into furniture-making already have a natural tendency toward it. Jason Lewis of Jason Lewis Furniture in Chicago, Ill., worked as an apprentice in a high-end furniture shop before launching his own business. “It taught me a lot about woodworking and a good deal about design, both the functional and artistic elements of designing a piece of furniture,” says Lewis, who has also taught himself many furniture design practices.
In 2001, Jonathan Sebastian left his job at a large financing company to start Lunar Lounge in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His first project was a 1960s-style surfboard coffee table, and his skills—and opportunity—grew from there. “My father, being a hobbyist woodworker, had taught me a lot about woodworking as I was growing up. He had built a lot of furniture over the years for the family home,” Sebastian says. “Once I dove into the business, I did a lot of self-study on the internet, which is a great resource for techniques and problem solving. It also was a huge help having friends who taught me how to weld, paint and upholster. They showed me the basics and I took it from there.”
Still others combine a family background in furniture making with traditional training. Ana Maria Martinez-Stumpo, vice president and furniture designer for her family-run firm, Pacific Hospitality Design Inc. in Los Angeles, Calif., attained a bachelor’s degree in art and design. “I have mostly learned furniture manufacturing and ergonomics on the job, but the degree has allowed me to expand my design ability in making pieces that are functional, aesthetically pleasing and unique,” notes Martinez-Stumpo, who, as a teenager, found inspiration by helping her father with installations, including one at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. “Since that time, my interest for design sparked.”
Similarly, upholsterer and artist Raken Zielinski, owner of Raken Leaves in New York City, found an appreciation for the trade early on. “My uncle and granduncle had an upholstery shop in Detroit, where I grew up, and as a child I was fascinated by their work,” she recalls. “Little by little they let me do small tasks with them, and I learned a lot at their hands.” Zielinski eventually moved to Manhattan to study fashion design at Parsons The New School of Design, where she learned pattern making, draping and tailoring. “But I decided that the fashion world was not for me and returned to my love of upholstery and took these skills with me. That was over 25 years ago.”
Pulling the trigger
Starting a furniture design company takes talent, of course, but also business acumen. It took Living Home Furniture two years worth of full-time R&D to prepare the business. “The manufacturing logistics have required many hours of procedural documentation, fabrication of templates and collaboration with a local CNC (computer numerical control) manufacturer for automated machine cutting of curved elements in the wood frames,” Pyle explains. “In addition, our goal of offering earth-sustainable and chemical-free alternatives in our upholstery services and in our own products necessitated research into suppliers and subsequent trials of these materials.”
Pyle and her husband established clear goals as part of their business plan, many of which involved being responsible caretakers of the earth through offering sustainable alternatives, including minimizing the flow of used furniture to landfills by reclaiming salvageable seating, then repairing and rebuilding it for resale—which has become the crux of their business.
In fact, establishing a solid business plan first is key to getting your furniture design business off the ground, much less making it grow. “It will help you to identify exactly what you want to get out of the business and will give you a clear idea of where you are and the steps necessary to get where you want to go,” Pyle advises.
For his part, Sebastian started off by finding his niche—midcentury modern designs—and developing products to fit. “I put my accounting education to use to determine if this was something I could make a living at,” says Sebastian, whose next steps involved naming the company and setting up with vendors before launching his internet-based business. “I then developed a marketing plan and put myself out there—and worked tirelessly at it, day and night.” The time investment paid off. “After almost nine years I still love what I do and enjoy going to work every day.”
Furniture designers should also expect to invest cash into pre-planning. “The main costs, apart from the usual business overheads, are R&D,” says David Walley, design director for Yellow Diva in Melbourne, Australia. “It is always a difficult process deciding which ideas and designs are worth investing in to develop and take to market.” Other expenses that furniture designers can expect to face include advertising and marketing, subcontractors, shop and tool maintenance, utilities, materials, insurance, software (which could include AutoCAD, Alias, Photoshop and Illustrator) and trade show costs.
Like any business, operating your own furniture design firm is not without its challenges. At one point, overseas manufacturing proved to be an obstacle for Pacific Hospitality Design. “We overcame this challenge by providing one-on-one customer service, as well as continuing to manufacture high-quality, custom furniture with short lead times,” Martinez-Stumpo notes.
To stay on top of potential challenges and keep the business fresh, Martinez-Stumpo recommends that upholsterers regularly seek out learning opportunities as well. “Continuing education is always a must in order to keep up to date with trends, products used to manufacture and so on,” she says.
Sebastian, too, is educating himself about simplifying tasks and improving results. “Right now we are trying to cope with the demand for our products,” he says. “We are working on reducing our lead time on our products with the intent on building up an unfinished inventory so that when a customer places an order, it’s a matter of days for completion and not weeks of waiting for the client to receive their piece.”
Of course, no business can succeed without the right customer base. Successful furniture designers take many routes to find leads: trade shows, advertising, showcasing in showrooms, the internet (through popular sites like Etsy and eBay), editorial mentions in print and online, design blogs, social media, establishing and maintaining industry connections, press releases, return clients, community involvement, networking and good-old-fashioned word of mouth.
Upholstery of utmost importance
Although some designers focus solely on furniture without fabrics, many will need to upholster to get the job done. In fact, quality upholstery can make or break a piece. “Upholstery allows hands-on product development without prohibitive tooling commitments,” Yellow Diva’s Walley says. “There is also an expressive freedom to be found in using textiles and soft structuring as well as opportunities to genuinely collaborate and experiment in three dimensions with the upholsterer and fabric manufacturer.”
“Upholstery is an integral part of our furniture line and everything we do,” Pyle adds. “The clean lines of modern-style furniture design suggest simplicity while often presenting a technical challenge in the upholstery process behind the scenes. We love projects that present a unique problem to solve in the creation of an heirloom-quality piece of furniture.”
Zielinski, for one, has parlayed her upholstery skills into original works of art. “A lot of my artwork, sold in galleries and online, is made from upholstery materials, such as tacks, grommets, zippers, leather and threads,” Zielinski says, adding that one customer who brought in a chair to be upholstered also purchased a work she saw in the studio.
If you, as an upholsterer, feel that creating your own furniture is past your scope, consider connecting with a furniture designer who needs your services. Lewis uses a company called the Furniture Shop in Chicago for upholstery of many of his casual seating options, such as lounge and rocking chairs. “We do occasionally refer work back and forth, where they have sent a couple of people my way and I recommend them to anyone I can,” he says.
Additionally, reupholstery services can add another source of revenue for furniture designers. Pacific Hospitality Design refurbishes furniture regularly, especially because it caters to the hotel and restaurant industry, where furnishings always need to be serviced and repaired. What’s more, the company’s reupholstering services support one of the biggest trends in furnishing design today: sustainability. “Considering that we are moving into a more sustainable approach in furniture, we can always retrofit and make a used piece contemporary by changing the style a bit and the finish to give it a fresh, new attire, instead of making new furniture,” Martinez-Stumpo notes. “This keeps furniture from ending up in the landfills and gives an old piece new life.”
With the proper know-how, starting your own furniture line can reap many rewards, both financial and creative. As Lewis puts it, “This business is always driving me to learn new things and try new approaches.”
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Comments are the opinion of individual posters and do not reflect the views of Upholstery Journal or Industrial Fabrics Association International.
11:46 pm CDT
Thank you
Loved this article I will use this as a guideline for my business.
For the past 13 years I've worked as a courier, searching for my trade. I have many skills from health care, real estate, carpentry etc.
Ive been studying upholstery on my own the past two years, reading books by David James and others, and articles like this. Fixing my garage up for a suitable upholstery workshop, and acquiring the equipment.
This article is my goal, I am passionate about designing,building, and upholstering my own quality furniture. Gearing towards leathers and vinyls, dealing with hotels, restaurants,salons, and custom built chairs etc.
Thanks again, would love more info.
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