As my days of stripping (furniture) are coming to an end, I find myself reminiscing about all the oddities and treasures that I have come across in the past year.  Finding cool stuff was definitely my favorite part of stripping furniture.  Sure, most of the “stuff” I found in the nooks and crannies was junk or trash but every so often I would discover a cool thingamabob.  It may have been as simple as a Lego or a charm but it was the idea that it was someone’s Lego or charm that made it intriguing.  It made me start to think of what memories I would have found in the furniture that I grew up with.

After many hours of research, here is a list of the top 5 things that would most likely be found in a generously used piece of furniture:

1.) Loose change (no duh!  That one was obvious one)

2.) Food (usually popcorn, pretzels, and candy)

3.) Guitar picks (who would have thought?)

4.) Small toys or pieces of toys

5.) Nail files

Some of our less common discoveries have the best stories.  A while back we found an English newspaper from 1998.  I know that doesn’t sound very old, but that is nearly 15 years ago.  In the paper there was a sweepstakes to win a trip to New York City with a large photo of the New York skyline with the Twin Towers still in place.  It was rather chilling.

More recently, I found what might be the largest remote control I have ever seen.  By the size of it, I estimated that it must have been produced circa 1991.  It was so over sized that it was comical.  I bagged that sucker and insisted that it be returned to its rightful owner.  Upon receiving their long lost remote control, we learned that its disappearance caused several arguments.  This happy couple can finally close the case of the missing remote. I regret not taking a picture.

As a Sprucette stripper, my secret hope was to find a suitcase full of money buried in a cushion.  Sadly, that day never came.  Here are some of the things I found instead…

Meredith and Clar bringing back plastic barrettes.

All of the change we find really adds up!  Your contribution to our beer fund is greatly appreciated.

The goodies in these next few pictures were all found in one chair.  With every layer of fabric that i pulled back, I found more treats.

This was no ordinary deck of playing cards.  They were appropriately called “laugh-in playing cards”.  Complete with jokes and funny faces.

A “professional sample” of chewable vitamins.

As you can see, stripping furniture can be quite a thrilling experience.  I must confess that while I am bummed that my days of pirating through cushions are over, I am excited to be upholstering 5 days a week now.  Living the dream!

*** Just to be clear… I am not leaving Spruce.  I am only relinquishing my duties as the Sprucette stripper so that I can now upholster 5 days a week.

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Upholsterers use a number of tools that are highly specialized and unique to the trade. In this post we’d like to share with you a few of our favorite tools that we use on a daily basis.

First, Max, the love of our lives … our favorite pneumatic staple gun. What makes Max so special to us is not only the fact he is our best performing staple gun, he is also one of only three guns of this model being used in the U.S. right now. He is a prototype from the Japanese based Max Corporation that we are helping test in our studio. Sure we have other guns, but the Max is quieter, has less kick and more consistent stapling with less jams the all the others.

One of the other three Max guns is being used at a commercial upholstery studio in Tennessee and the third just arrived brand-spanking-new to Spruce last week. That’s right, we have Max’s brother, so now we have two! Our favorite Max rep, Alex, who regularly stops by to give him check-ups, brought us a second prototype to test. We are very thankful, as we really needed another gun.

Another great tool Alex, our Max rep, brought us is the Steel Flex air hose. This light-weight hose doesn’t get  tangled up like the other fatter hoses (those of you who regularly use compressed air will know what we are taking about – a major pain in the workshop). I misheard Alex when he brought us this hose and thought he said “eel” instead of “steel” so this shiny blue baby is now affectionately called “The Eel” around the shop.

A more low tech tool Amanda and Lizzie made for the shop that is used everyday is our custom welt cord stick. This ruler measures the perfect strip of fabric that will have an exact 1/2″ seam allowance once the welt cord is sewn in. Sewing welt cord to fabric is an exact science and the correct seam allowance is needed to make cushions look just right.

As any seamstress would know, seam allowance is a very important factor when sewing and our mini seam allowance ruler is something our favorite seamstress, Lizzie, can’t live without. Also, we have all fallen in love with our new fancy new seam ripper – this will tear stuff up!

We also use some items that are common in households, or restaurants, like our electric knife. Some use this kitchen tool for slicing bread or meat, which is why we all call it “The Turkey Cutter” in the shop.  However, we don’t use this baby for food. This thing cuts through foam like a warm knife through butter!

When it comes to wood refinishing one of our go-to items is the red sponge mounted sandpaper in a fine grit for smoothing out any unevenness or scratches in wood before staining or paining. Think of it as Microdermabrasion for wood!

After a little sanding, the best way to bring life and color back into old wood is definitely Restore-a-Finish. It comes in a variety of different wood colors so you can always find the perfect, natural match for your furniture.

Here you can see this magic product at work on the Cleopatra’s Love Seat

All wood furniture, we have found, could benefit from a rub down with Natchez before it leaves the shop. This all-natural product brings back shine and warmth to any wood piece. Older woods drink it up – like an upholsterer at beer-thirty!

The finishing touch before a piece leaves the workshop and goes up to the showroom for customer pick up is a compressed-air hose down. Things can get pretty dusty back in the shop and to make sure everything is in pristine condition when it leaves, we use this handy air hose attachment to clean off the fabric. It’s like reverse vacuuming!

These are by no means all the tools you need for upholstery, but just a few that I chose to geek out over because of our love for their unique purpose in our work lives. Thanks tools … see you tomorrow.

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Changing jobs is always a big transition, especially when you go from an office job to physical trade work as an upholsterer. Now in my fourth month of work at Spruce, I feel very comfortable in the new environment and can look back on my old job with a sense of humor about how things have changed.

Here are some of the the major trade-outs that happen going from a downtown advertising firm to an uptown upholstery studio:

All of these changes are totally worth it, and I’m completely in love with my new work environment. I am still thankful to find a world outside the office workplace where I can help make beautiful things for others to enjoy.

Hope this finds you all doing something you love!

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So one of the things that made me most excited about my new job at Spruce was that I got to wear an apron all day. As a long time collector of different aprons, this was a dream come true to sport one all day at work.

On my first day, I was able to pick out whatever apron a wanted from the store. After much consideration, I chose a Skinny la Minx yellow pony apron made by Heather Moore in South Africa. The influence for her textiles are ancient cave drawings of native animals from the area. After my first day of work, I took it home to add some of my own personal touches. These were both to expand the stylish nature of the apron and add some utilitarian features that I would use everyday.
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So it finally happened. I knew it would eventually as it has happened to all the other girls here at Spruce. And it is only fitting that my “initiation” into upholstery would happen only three days after my apprenticeship ended and midway through my first week of real production. I stapled my finger.

This was something that apparently happens to most upholsterers and I had been taunted at work for the fact that I was the only one in the group that has not gone through this rite of passage. Amazingly, Keegan had only just had her first stapler vs. finger encounter a few weeks ago meaning that she had gone about six months into the profession without having that particular injury – pretty impressive.

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