If you’re into upholstery and are looking for a quality upholstery supplier, you are in the right place!
We are Discover Upholstery – the retail arm of a successful wholesale upholstery supplies company based in Somerset. We’ve been selling to professional upholsterers for many years and we have built a great reputation for what we sell and how we do business. We’re very proud to offer these to you for your home projects.
Discover Upholstery stocks all the supplies you don’t see – from the webbing, to the glue, the calico and the tacks. You may not see them, but they need to be really good. It’s the equivalent of solid foundations on a house. The alternative is sagging, splitting and subsidence. No one wants that – neither in your home, nor in your newly upholstered chair.
Every month in this blog we’ll be talking about the ins and outs, ups and downs, of upholstery projects. Our aim is to give you information and inspiration, to boost your creativity and help make your projects a success.
Why did we set up Discover Upholstery?
People have been phoning us for years to buy products for their home projects but until now, we’ve been trade-only. It’s brilliant for us finally to be able to say, “Yes, we can help you with that!”.
So, whether you’re a total novice or a dab hand at upholstery, we hope to be your favourite one-stop shop upholstery supplier. Our trade company will carry on taking orders in just the same way as before, by telephone, email, fax and Royal Mail!
Meet the Discover Upholstery team
Our experienced team is as sharp as tacks (excuse the pun) when it comes to upholstery supplies, plus they are really friendly and helpful.
Here they are:
From left to right: Kevin Viney, Gill Luxton, Phil Jordan, Cyndy Robertshaw and Luke Foster
Kevin Viney picks and pack orders. He thinks the sheets and cuts of foam are a good product, as they can be used in a variety of ways. He admits, “I’ve never done any upholstery. My DIY skills are such that my wife calls in a tradesman!” He once had a customer ask to see the different types of hessian as she wanted to use it on the tables at her wedding. He thought it was pretty unusual at the time but has since found out that it’s very trendy. He adds, “I also once had a fake delivery for Fred and Barney c/o Bedrock which did make me laugh for a few days. We do have a good banter in the workplace.”
Gill Luxton processes orders and sends them to the warehouse for picking and packing. She’s a fan of the Bronze Renaissance Nail Strip, saying “these are great as they save a lot of time, as you don’t have to hammer in so many nails.” Gill would like to tackle a chair, stripping it back to the wood and building it back up from there. Any strange requests? One customer, when asked if there were any special delivery instructions, told her that the carrier company would need to ring him when he was nearby, as the goods had to be ferried across a pontoon. His house was on an island on the Thames.
Phil Jordan helped set up the Discover Upholstery area in the warehouse, successfully he hopes! He’s a fan of the Rapid Cordless Staple Gun, saying, “It does exactly what it says on the box. Take it with you and use it anywhere.” Phil has a few upholstery projects to his name including headboards and dining chairs, which he says had “reasonable success”. We think he’s being modest. He once helped a customer out to her car with two large sheets of foam, only to find that she had a two-seater sports car. “After dropping the roof we got the foam belted into the passenger seat. It was a strange sight and probably not legal but she drove off a happy customer!”
Cyndy Robertshaw chooses products to stock and writes the descriptions for the website. Her favourite product is Gloverbond aerosol adhesive. She says; “It’s a really good strong glue and it’s liked by many of our customers too!” Cyndy trained in 3D design, and in a previous life made wooden and soft toys, and model horses. Her star product was an articulated wooden crocodile which was selected for the Design Centre in London and received a British Toymaker’s Guild Award! She’s yet to tackle upholstery but makes clothes, curtains and soft furnishings. She has three alpacas and is trying to find an alternative use for their soft fleece, other than having it spun to make jumpers and socks. She says, “Maybe I will make an ultra-soft duvet with it.”
And strange requests? “I think probably the strangest one we had was from a customer who wanted to buy some black fabric to make curtains for a submarine. One disaster I can recall was when a delivery man (not one of our drivers!) unloaded a customer’s goods onto a freshly white-lined road. He picked up the bag and took it into the customer’s house, put it down and left a large white paint mark on her carpet!” Oops.
Luke Foster is your first and also your last port of call: from email to Royal Mail! He will print your orders and take them to the sales department for processing as well as making sure that they leave here in perfect condition by the best method of carriage for the individual order. He has helped Phil put up the racking and arrange the layout for Discover Upholstery’s warehouse. He likes Gloverbond spray because he says, “It’s a good all round product, especially for gluing foam together or even underlay.” Luke hasn’t done any upholstery before but he’s painted his property and re-tiled the bathroom. His funny moment came when he first started at the company and was asked to get Duck Canvas. He thought it was a wind-up: “I didn’t realise there was such a thing!”, he laughs.
So, if you need any supplies, get in touch and make their day!
