Canvas and Upholstery supply in south Luzon Phil.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Upholstery fabrics on walls and ceilings transform any rooms

Upholstery fabrics on walls and ceilings transform any rooms

With the changing concepts and ideas on upholstery fabrics, the beauty, ambience of space are enhanced.

It was as if I'd entered some fabulous Russian country home complete with period furniture, animal skins of zebra and leopard everywere, colorful prints, a diminutive spiral staircase leading to an exotically themed loft, walls in the most beautiful shade of red I'd ever seen and exquisite upholstered walls and ceilings.

What a treat, what a trip -- and right there in the heart of Beverly Hills. I'd always liked Woolf personally and certainly admired her professionally, but being in her home and seeing her creativity raised my esteem even higher.

After a tour we sat and talked and I told her how wonderful her home was and mentioned that I was especially intrigued with all the fabrics, colors, tented ceiling in the dining room and that sexy loft with its fabric walls and ceiling. I'd never been in a home quite like it and I wanted to know more about the use of wall upholstery. Any design technique that could create the effect that I was experiencing, I had to know more about.

Woolf began by giving me a little history of the derivation of my newfound interest and I learned that before paint and plaster were used in the castles of the Old World, stone walls were covered with fabric. The large thick wall coverings, tapestries and draped walls were used for soundproofing, warmth and, eventually, for interior design. (Well, truthfully I knew most of that, but I wasn't going to let on because I was really enjoying myself just sitting and talking with her and didn't want my visit to end.)

Since that initial introduction, I've had occasion to use wall upholstery in homes of all different sizes and styles, and in rooms ranging from powder rooms to bedrooms and, of course, in home theaters from the very large and grand to smaller and more intimate spaces.

I've always relied upon it to add color, pattern and texture to a room's design and have bemoaned the fact that more designers and clients don't avail themselves of this multipurpose design element. No paint or wallpaper in the world can add coziness and warmth to a space the way that fabric can, while at the same time improving the acoustics and providing a backdrop for furniture that simply can't be beat. Wall upholstery literally has the magical ability to actually change the visual perception of a room while enhancing its architectural details as well. And, with the use of wall upholstery, a designer can create illusions of another era (just as Woolf did), change a dark room to light or add excitement to an otherwise dull and featureless space.

Today, most of us only see wall upholstery as acoustical insulation in home theaters, where it is, naturally enough, a basic requirement. What makes a room work well as a theater is to deaden the sound -- the same as in any professional recording studio -- so that it doesn't bounce off the walls and ceilings. This is a must for a home theater to work as well as it should. Wall upholstery in this way serves the same purpose as special acoustical sound-proofing for a theater, but looks so much better. I've noticed that installers use wide cotton padding for the variety of extra wide fabrics that are specially made for such applications.

From time to time I've turned to the glamour and sophistication of upholstered wall panels for an even more elegant look. I've found that nothing works quite so well for turning regular to regal as this treatment does, especially when combined with a tented ceiling, which, I feel, is the most graceful and romantic look of all.

And what is so great is that this alchemy, if you like, works equally well in any kind of home, from traditional to contemporary. It's certainly no longer necessary to own a castle or live in a museum to turn ordinary into elegant and plain into palatial. All any homeowner has to do is to choose a room where he or she wants texture, color and a degree of softness, and leave the rest to a professional wall upholsterer.

Oh, and by the way, I went on to share both life and career with Barbara Woolf for the past 23 years.

Stephen Leon is a licensed interior designer and president of Soleil Design International; he has been designing and manufacturing custom furniture and cabinetry for more than 25 years. He has served on the board of directors of the Central California/Nevada Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.

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Canvas and upholstery Supply in South Luzon Philippines

STALLION ENTERPRISE
Commercial building A
Ciudad Montrina, brgy. Mamatid
Cabuyao Laguna, 4025
tel#831-1303
Mobile# 09263415118


The company was established to provide quality service and merchandise to clients down south of Luzon Philippines. We have seen the vision of being the main supplier and service provider of quality canvas and upholstery products. Our lines are, leatherette, Vinyl, floor mats, Cushions, tarpaulins, foams, cloths, canvas, Insulation,Blinds, Plastics, quality fabrics. The upholstery business is unique and in demand. Since the biblical times there is upholstery business. Usually the upholstery business is in lines of Upholstery cushions, fabrics, leatherette, Umbrella, vinyl, blinds and tarpaulins. Each of these products have evolved because of ideas,innovations and of course the demand.

Tarpaulin
heavy duty tarps is what I define tarpaulins that cannot be easily torn apart by cuts, abrasions, and burn. It can withstand strong winds, extreme
heat and acid rains.this tarpaulin is used commonly to cover warehouses, trucking, temporary open venue, tents, awnings and household open windows.

Currently, our tarpaulin suppliers here in the Philippines comes from china, Malaysia, Korea and within the country. By experienced, each tarpaulin
manufacturer has their level of product quality and my team have define their standards. So far, our local brand is the heavy duty tarp.


A Brief History Of Upholstery

( Originally Published 1961 )



It is widely thought that the craft of upholstery evolved from that of the tent-maker. And it does seem a likely development. Although tent-making is now quite a separate and a very prosperous trade, it is not so many years ago that many branches of that trade were carried out by the upholsterer.

The Upholsterers' Company was granted a charter in the year A.D. 1626 and is one of the oldest of the City of London Guilds and Liveries Companies. Its coat of arms being a shield with three tents. It was first emblazoned in A.D.1465.

One of the first developments from tent-making was `wall hangings' and draperies at windows and around beds. This is a branch of the trade that has almost died out. At least the wall hangings and bed draperies. The window drapery has since grown enormously, incorporating jobs like blind fixing, loose-cover making and bed cover making.

The first signs of comfort for chairs came with the making of cushions, but it was not until the reign of Queen Elizabeth I that the stuffing of furniture began to evolve. From then on the craft of upholstery increased and was in great demand, reaching its zenith probably in the late Victorian era and early Edwardian days.

By this time the standard of workmanship and versatility in England was really magnificent. It may well have surpassed the art of the French and Italian craftsmen who were considered supreme.

At this point it may be as well to point out and consider the numerous jobs that came under the proud title of `journeyman upholsterer'.

Basically of course he was a `stuffer', which really means an upholsterer as the layman knows it. In other words, he built up from a frame a piece of furniture padded with stuffing. He also undertook to measure, cut and fix curtains, blinds, draperies, loose covers and pelmets and swags. This included things like mantelpiece drapes and bed draperies which were very popular in those days. Indeed all types of draperies for furniture became most elaborate, as did the window dressings. Deep swags and tails for the window headings suited the tall windows of the wealthy client's house. These were usually heavily trimmed and sometimes surmounted by elaborate wooden cornices.

Floor coverings came under the upholsterer's jurisdiction. These included carpets, linoleum and art felts. And on a more macabre note, he lined coffins. Until the turn of the century hanging wallpapers was yet one more task in the furnishing trade that was carried out by this craftsman.

This may sound a pretty comprehensive list in these days of mass production and prefabrication and probably strikes one as being in the dim past. But I can still recall doing all these jobs, with the exception of wallpaper hanging, during my years of apprenticeship. My grandmother used to tell me that her father, who was an upholsterer, went to work in his top hat and spats which was a symbol of the prestige in which this craftsman was held.

The all-round upholsterer still exists today I'm glad to say, and is found usually in the good-class furniture retail stores of the provincial towns. The trade in London and the very big cities is split up into three sections, because of the volume of work carried out. The sections consist of Upholstery, Soft Furnishings and Carpet Planning. The first deals with furniture of the stuff -over type; the soft furnishing fitter deals with loose-cover and curtain making, and the carpet planner measures and plans all types of floor coverings.

The amount of work in all these branches is so great that craftsmen in these jobs are very hard to get. The all round man has to choose which branch to work at if he decides to make his living in one of the big cities. Conditions of working have improved tremendously, as they have for most trades. During the nineteen-thirties the `stuffer', or `rag tacker' as he is called, probably experienced the worst conditions. These were prevalent wherever there was great unemployment. `Sweat shops' sprang up all over the country to keep pace with the `Installment Plan Era' which had just started. A lot of furniture made in these workshops and factories was of the cheapest and poorest quality and the craftsman had to prostitute his skill in order to keep a job. Some idea of payment may be got if I tell you that $4'to $4.50 was an average rate for a small three-piece suite in leather cloth. This was for the finished job from frame to cover.

A lot of tedious jobs have been eliminated by the manufacture of spring units, ready shaped padding and rubberized hair that can be cut off a roll to a required length. There are also machines used in the trade, but for a first-class job it still remains a craft, where patience and skill of hand and eye play the most important part. Pride of craftsmanship is a great incentive to a beginner and the would-be apprentice should not think there aren't work shops that still carry on the traditions and skills. There certainly are! These skills are also taught in nearly every town or city that boasts a technical college, and apprentices can usually attend under the day-release schemes and also in the evenings.

In the following chapters we shall be dealing only with upholstery-the basic fundamental methods of turning out the quality piece of upholstered furniture. There is perhaps a sense of creation in upholstery that is quite different from woodwork or metalwork and as one reaches the final stages there is a great satisfaction. Particularly if the foundation is sound. The instructions in this book will, I hope, encourage the reader to achieve making that favourite piece of furniture.


Upholstery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word upholstery comes from the Middle English words up and Holden, meaning to hold up. The term is applied to domestic furniture and also to applications in automobiles and boats. A person who works with upholstery is called an upholsterer; an apprentice upholsterer is sometimes called an outsider or trimmer.

Contents

Upholstery of domestic furniture

The materials which are important to the quality of an upholstered product, such as a bed, sofa, chair or ottoman, may be considered in four categories: the frame (usually wooden) on which the upholstery is to be constructed; the spring system; the cushioning or padding; and the final fabric or leather covering.

Frames

Main article: Upholstery frame

The life of a piece of upholstered furniture begins with its frame: although the underlying wooden framework cannot all be seen in the finished product, the type of wood used to create it will have a bearing on the quality of the final product. Where parts of the frame, such as chair legs, may be seen outside the upholstery these are termed "show-wood".

Some furniture employs softwoods, but may suffer from its difficulty in supporting the joinerygraining of hardwoods allows for pegs, screws and tacks to be set securely, reducing the likelihood of their becoming loose over time. Hardwoods used in upholstered furniture include oak, alder and other woods with tight graining. Hardwood laminates are often used for blocks and braces because laminates are actually stronger than solid wood in these applications. that is required for the best quality furniture. The tight

The wood for a piece of upholstered furniture must be assembled into a sturdy frame. Generally, the more rigid the frame the better, because a loose frame can crack or fail, and several craftsman processes can be used to create a good, strong frame. A variety of woods and laminates are used for joining, blocking and dowelling and sometimes several techniques are used.

Joints are the places where one piece of frame wood intersects to another part of the frame at an angle. Joints must be reinforced with blocks or dowels for extra support or the frame will be susceptible to loosening over time.

Blocking refers to the process of placing additional blocks of wood behind or diagonal to joints and corners for support in areas where the furniture craftsman believes there may be greater stress. Blocks provide lateral support and a larger area for screws and fasteners to set wood elements securely. This extra bracing at stress points contributes to the lasting integrity of the frame. An alternative to blocking is dowelling.

Dowelling refers to the process whereby one or two dowels are drilled, hammered and glued into the wood at stress-points to provide extra strength and support to the frame. Nails, screws, fasteners and glue may also support many parts of a frame.

Spring systems

Once the frame is constructed, a spring system is installed to support the seating area. Furniture manufacturers employ two main types of spring support systems: standard springs and eight-way hand tied springs. When the spring system is finished with a top layer of padding, it is commonly called the "seat deck".

Standard Springs provide good support at a lower price than the alternative. Most manufacturers offer either sinuous springs or drop-in-springs as their standard, depending on how they make their furniture. Both types affix to the frame to support the seat deck. Standard springs have a formal, very firm "sit" and only move in the up/down direction. In contrast, eight-way hand-tied springs can move in many more directions.

Sinuous springs are heavy-gauge steel springs that have been heat formed into continuous "S" shapes. They are cut into lengths and affixed to the frame. Drop-in Springs are mass-manufactured welded units that are more cheaply manufactured and considered to be of lower quality than sinuous springs.

Eight-way hand-tied springs have a wide range of movement providing a very even and individual "sit", because they move up and down and side to side. In the construction of these systems, the craftsman individually ties heavy gauge coils from front to back, side to side and diagonally (eight ways) to provide the highest level of quality, comfort and durability. This process costs more because it is time consuming and can only be done by hand.

Cushions, pillows, padding and fills

Once a piece of upholstered furniture has its frame and springs, the next components are the cushions and padding. Seat cushions sit on top of the spring system and seat deck. Back pillows, if present, rest against the back and arms of the piece.

Most cushions are made of a high-density foam core that is then wrapped with either soft polyester, feather and down, or a hypoallergenic down substitute. Dacron adds resilience so that pillows and seats keep their shape, while the wraps form a soft envelope. Cushions and pillows are usually sewn into cotton cases to ensure smooth upholstering.

Feather and down offers the maximum comfort and softness in cushions and pillows that most people desire and designers prefer. Feather and down back pillows and wrapped seat cushions can always be "fluffed-up" to maintain an attractive look. Feather and down fills and wraps require a little more maintenance than polyester and high density-foam but they have greater comfort, durability and resilience.

Buckwheat hulls are also used as filling for a variety of upholstered goods, including pillows and zafu. The hulls are durable and do not conduct or reflect heat as much as synthetic fills. They are sometimes marketed as an alternative natural fill to feathers for those with allergies.

Horse hair and hay have also been used in upholstery as cushioning/padding, however this practice is not as common today as using foam.

Fabrics and leathers

Textiles, a term used in the furniture industry, encompass both fabrics and leathers and the choice of textiles can account for up to 80% of furniture price.

Tightly woven fabrics and blends tend to wear longer than light or loose-weave natural fibers.

Leather is a durable and easy-care natural material that softens and improves with time. To create quality leather, top-grain hides are tanned, processed and dyed to give a certain color or look. Tanning refers to the process in which salts are used to cure the hide and to stabilize its shape. Dyeing refers to infusing the hide with different color dyes.

Aniline dyeing is a high quality process that imparts color but does not disguise the natural character of the hide. Some leathers are further treated with a pattern, texture, or polish.

Automobile upholstery

A typical leather-upholstered car seat.

An Automotive upholsterer is also known as a Trimmer, Coachtrimmer or Motor Trimmer. The trade shares many of the skills required in upholstery, in addition to being able to work with carpet.

The term Coachtrimmer derives from the days when car bodies were produced by manufactures and delivered to Coachbuilders to add a car body and interior trimmings. Trimmers would produce soft furnishings, carpets, soft tops and roof linings often to order to customer specifications. Later Trim shops were often an in-house part of the production line as the production process was broken down into smaller parts manageable by semi-skilled labor.

Many automotive trimmers now work either in automotive design or with aftermarket trim shops carrying out repairs, restorations or conversions for customers directly. A few high quality motor car manufacturers still employ trimmers, for example Aston Martin. The way the market is changing and manufacturers are cutting corners, it is a better idea to use a trim shop to use aftermarket materials. Adding your own touch can be a way to show originality while retaining the retail value of the vehicle. In some cases actually raising the retail value. Trim shops are now equipped with a higher quality, longer lasting and better color fastness, than many manufacturers.

Marine upholstery

Marine Upholstery differs in that one has to consider dampness, sunlight and hard usage.

A vinyl or material that is UV and cold cracking resistant is the choice.

Stainless steel hardware such as staples, screws must be used for a quality job that will last. Also wood when used for a job must be of marine quality.

Usually a high resiliency, high density (closed cell foam mainly used on smaller cushions to double as floatation devices) with a thin film of plastic over it is used to keep out water that might get by the seams and as well as aid in placing the vinyl back on the piece.

Also a Dacron thread must be used in any sewing work. Nylon zippers are the choice as well.

History

Upholder is an archaic term used for upholsterer in the past, although it appears to have a connotation of repairing furniture rather than creating new upholstered pieces from scratch (c.f. cobbler vs. cordwainer).[1]

In 18th-century London upholders frequently served as interior decorators responsible for all aspects of a room's decor.[2] These individuals were members of the London Upholders' Company, whose traditional role, prior to the 18th century, was to provide upholstery and textiles and the fittings for funerals. In the great London furniture-making partnerships of the 18th century, a cabinet-maker usually paired with an upholder: Vile and Cobb, Ince and Mayhew, Chippendale and Rannie or Haig.

Grand Rapids, Michigan is known as the furniture city and many of the best upholsterers can still be found there. These craftsmen continue to create or recreate many antique and modern pieces of furniture.


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