Foundations of Upholstery and Furniture Restoration: Materials, Structure, and Craft

Furniture fails from the inside out. A chair may look shabby on the outside but have a perfectly sound frame, or it may look presentable while hiding broken springs and collapsed webbing that will cause the whole piece to fail again within months of a superficial recover. Understanding what lies beneath the surface is the difference between a lasting restoration and a costly repeat job. By the end of this course you will be able to identify the major structural components of upholstered furniture, describe how different spring systems and webbing configurations support weight, match fabric types to specific use cases and durability requirements, and assess a piece of furniture to determine whether restoration is structurally viable. What you will learn: - Furniture frame construction: wood joinery, corner blocks, and what makes a frame sound or compromised - Webbing systems: jute, rubber, and sinuous spring webbing — how each functions and when each is appropriate - Coil spring types: eight-way hand-tied, drop-in unit, and no-sag systems compared - Padding hierarchy: burlap deck, cotton batting, foam grades, and dacron wrap — layers and their purposes - Fabric fundamentals: weave types, rub counts, pattern matching, and grain direction for upholstery - Stripping technique: identifying original construction by reading layers as you remove them - Tools of the trade: tack pullers, staple guns, webbing stretchers, and curved needles - Assessing a piece for restoration: what to look for before committing to a project This course unfolds through structured readings organized around the life of a piece of furniture — from original construction through wear, assessment, and restoration planning. Annotated diagrams illustrate how each layer relates to the next. Case studies cover a Victorian parlor chair, a mid-century sofa, and a contemporary dining chair to show how construction conventions vary by era and style. Reflection prompts guide you to examine furniture around you with a new eye before moving to hands-on work. This course is designed for beginners with no prior upholstery experience, DIY restorers preparing for their first project, and interior design students who want a practical understanding of furniture construction. No prior background in woodworking or sewing is required. This course is educational in nature; supervised hands-on training is essential for developing technique, and professional certification programs are available through trade associations for those pursuing upholstery as a career.