A Heartfelt Farewell to Spruce’s Upholstery Classes: Austin Needs a Dedicated Learning Space

It’s hard to believe, but it has been years since Spruce held its last upholstery class. What started as an exciting and enriching experience for both us and our students has evolved over time. As much as we would have loved to continue offering these workshops, the reality is that the demands of running a growing business simply made it unsustainable.

At Spruce, we pride ourselves on doing things the best way and we feel that an effective upholstery curriculum should be more than a couple of evening classes.  It should focus heavily on the basics and slowly build from there.  When we previously entertained this concept and wrote a preliminary curriculum, it was months long! 

Unfortunately, our current space is too small and the number of hours in the day too short to transform our workshop into a classroom for months at a time. We are constantly moving furniture, cushions, fabric bolts, foam slabs, and more to accommodate our current workload.  Adding classes and workshops would further complicate and add unnecessary stress to our day-to-day that we cannot justify at this time. 

We’d love to see a dedicated upholstery school in Austin, one where beginners and seasoned artisans alike can come together to learn, practice, and share their passion for upholstery. We are open to finding a way to support such an endeavor to help keep this amazing craft of transforming old furniture into beautiful, functional works of art alive and well.

Warmly,
The Spruce Team