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Giving valuable old furniture a makeover
“All you have to do is choose the color and fabric you want for the new look of your chair, and we take care of the rest,” says Ersin Şahin, a master upholsterer who has been working to produce custom upholstered furniture for more than 30 years. In his workshop, there are dozens of antique chairs of all ages and styles, including those made from oak, walnut and pine, waiting to be reupholstered.
Pointing to a heavy wooden antique chair featuring intricate carving, Şahin noted that people bring in valuable chairs and sofas that have been passed on from generation to generation to be reupholstered and repaired. “People inherit furniture like chairs or sofas from their grandparents or great-grandparents, and they don't want to give it away because it is valuable to them both emotionally and financially,” he said and added people generally opt to repair and reupholster antique chairs because they want to give them a new look that will compliment the décor of their home or because the fabric of the chair has been seriously damaged.
Şahin also explained that either the entire fabric covering the furniture can be renewed to give it a brand new look, or parts of the fabric that have been worn or torn can be repaired so that the original look is preserved. Any old furniture, including valuable antique chairs and sofas, can be transformed into amazing new pieces, he said, and noted that knowledge of antique furniture and an attention to detail are key to providing the best service to customers.
Once customers bring in old chairs or sofas that need to be reupholstered, they choose the color, texture and fabric they want for their new chair or sofa from a catalogue. Furniture can be reupholstered using any fabric, including leather and silk, or customers can bring in their own fabric. “Some people buy high-quality fabric from abroad. For example, they follow the latest trends in home décor and buy high-end fabric from Europe and bring it to me to use to reupholster their furniture,” Şahin said, adding that he can reupholster a chair in a few days and a sofa in about a week.
The first step in reupholstering furniture is to remove all existing fabric, stuffing, screws and springs, leaving only the bare frame of the chair or sofa and gradually rebuilding it from there using new parts. This is a tedious task that requires patience. The skillful upholsterer explained that they are very careful about providing the highest quality of professional service to their customers. Noting that any piece of furniture, whether antique or contemporary, can be reupholstered, Şahin explained that the most expensive part of upholstery is the fabric and that one of the most challenging parts is installing buttons on the front side of the sofa evenly. “The difficult part is not sewing the buttons, but making sure that they are evenly spaced out, which is very important for me,” Şahin said, adding that the slightest asymmetry of buttons would be visible to any good upholsterer.
The price of upholstery depends mainly on the size of the furniture and the fabric that will be used, but prices range between TL 300 and 500 for a chair and average around TL 1,500 for a sofa. While people from all walks of life can have their old chairs and sofas reupholstered, Şahin has many customers from the diplomatic and political world. “Those who know me refer me to their friends and family. I have even been asked to work abroad,” he said and explained that he traveled to Austria to undertake a reupholstering task for a diplomat who had once worked in Turkey. Noting that the project took close to a month, Şahin said he has a compact and portable version of the tools needed to reupholster furniture that he takes with him on business trips abroad.
Şahin also provides custom-made furniture services, whether for just one piece or a larger project. His workshop is located in Ankara's Siteler district, which is known for its furniture shops.
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