A Reupholstery Rally Cry
Dear Design Devotees,
We write to you today with an earnest plea to join us in a most worthy movement. A movement that embodies individualism, environmentalism, localism, historicism, and anti-mass-market-consumerism. Harness your creative energy and stylish aesthetic to revitalize formerly beautiful furnishings of quality construction.
You, my design-lovers, are uniquely qualified to contribute to this cause. Bring home good-boned, threadbare chairs. Take a chance on fabulous flea market finds. Open your arms to family heirlooms. Give these soulful pieces another chance! Release them from their faded fabrics, cracked vinyl, chipped paint and corroding brass. Honor their fabulous frames by reupholstering, refinishing, repainting, repairing and reconditioning them.
The furniture “establishment” tells us that styles last a mere season or two. We fall prey to the lure of low priced products and ignore their lower quality construction. Glossy catalogues and endless promotions teach us the dark art of disposalism: to cast aside the used, to prioritize the new. But we say No! Our homes, flea markets, vintage and thrift stores are teeming with exquisite, quality furniture, no less precious for not coming straight off the factory floor.
A well-crafted piece is like a canvas and you are the artist. We are here to encourage and inspire you. To help you visualize your own aesthetic and to believe. To believe in the transformative power of fresh fabric and finishes. To believe that you can recast even the most forlorn piece into a stunning expression of your unique style.
In sum, the decorating rules of yore no longer apply. Ours is a movement of self-expression. A movement that empowers you to do what feels right to you:
YES you can reupholster a curbside castaway in a luxurious fabric!
YES you can lacquer that wood any color you see fit!
YES an estate sale treasure can become your very own heirloom!
Join us as we enrich, beautify and bolster not simply our homes but our creative spirit, our local artisans, and yes, piece by piece, our precious world.
— The Revitaleurs