Sterling Custom Upholstery

David has been in charge of our upholstery for many years. His taste is impeccable. Sterling has upholstered all of my couches and antique chairs. David has a great eye for something interesting and most important: comfortable.
He will steer me away from something, just because he knows I will get tired of it and regret it or because it won’t be right for the piece. That said, he knows what will make a fantastic and unusual piece of furniture. There is a unique and eclectic selection of fabrics. Since the selection is huge, take some time to look at everything. If it’s something you are going to look at everyday, find a fabric you really love and feels wonderful to touch.
The work is always perfect. Yesterday I collected a favorite chair that spent years in my office and then garage. The old brocade was dull, very beige and really worn out. David showed me some brocades that were similar and but were very boring and scratchy. He pulled out the most luscious and soft fabric. I fell in love with it. While he had the chair upholstered, he had the wood restored and put in all new padding. When they brought it out, I was stunned! This chair has never looked so elegant and perfect.
Everyone at Sterling is wonderful and friendly. Very highly recommended.
Thanks David!!!

The job: 2 camel-​back sofas and one Danish Stressless reclining chair with ottoman (and that one is not all that easy to re-​upholster). The folks at Sterling Custom Upholstery were really friendly and responsive. Michelle, especially, helped me with my fabric search — I had a specific type in mind (cat-​proof!). They have a good selection of fabrics. David the owner, was great to work with and called once they had assessed the scope of the work, and estimated it would be about four weeks (once fabric arrived). The cost of this job was not inexpensive, but considering all that was done, and free pickup/​return, is good value for the money. The job included replacing all of the ‘squishy’ innards which just compress over time. David’s upholsterers also carefully cleaned the wooden supports of the chair, ottoman, and wooden legs of the sofas. Well, I am just THRILLED with the results — a BIG THANK YOU to the Sterling upholsterers who did the work — and a BIG THANK YOU also to the two men who came to pick up the furniture and return it when the job was done. I am sorry I didn’t get your names — but you two men were SO CAREFUL, and so nice to work with.

The quality of their work is excellent. I took off one star because of the variety in pricing. I felt overcharged when it wasn’t the owner himself who was taking my order. I had to push back to get what I felt was a fair price based on quite a bit of recent work I’d had done there. Left me with a weird feeling.

I called for a quote for repairing a sofa because I received a direct mail coupon advertising that «no job is too small or too big.» However, when I tried to explain what I needed done, the man answering abruptly cut me off and said «sorry we can’t help» and hung up on me!

I dropped off a rocking chair that needed two small cushions. Michelle was helpful and patient as I picked out the new fabric. I agreed to pay in advance for the job.
After waiting three weeks, I called and was told the job still wasn’t finished. Seemed like a long time to wait for a very small job. I should have asked for a firm delivery date when I left the chair.
Update: I just picked up the chair and the new cushions look great. Sterling exceeded my expectations with the quality of their work. I would definitely use them again.

First, take a chair that sat in my mother-in-law’s «Chicken House» (No chickens anymore) for 20+ years because it was «too old». Then, get it lovingly reupholstered so it becomes «Dad’s chair». Then, after a mere 30 years, it’s ready to be fixed up again. Enter Sterling Upholstery.
All I wanted was a job that came close to the job I had done 30 years ago. Well, Sterling may have done a BETTER job!
The fabric we chose (an antique floral pattern) had a large «flower» that we didn’t notice in the sample, but Sterling CENTERED it on BOTH sides of the cushion, the back, the rear, the arms (inside and out), even the arm covers they made with spare fabric!
These people are artists!

Sterling Upholstery recently reupholstered a midcentury modern chair and ottoman and did an AMAZING job. Their work really exceeded my expectations. I had provided my own fabric, and they took the time to ask me questions to make sure that the fabric was used the way I wanted it to be. Their attention to detail was amazing, and now my chair/​ottoman is so beautiful and so much more comfortable. Best of all, the price was very fair, and the turnaround time was pretty quick (~3 weeks). I love their pickup and dropoff service as well as I wouldn’t have been able to get my furniture to their store in my own car. I highly recommend Sterling Upholstery.

I had an armchair re-​upholstered at Sterling about 18 years ago, and it looks as good now as it did the day it came home. AMAZING WORKMANSHIP is all I can say… that didn’t cost me an arm and a leg. I had a sofa re-​upholstered by a different company that started to rip at the seams only 3 months later. (Why didn’t I use Sterling? Because I had moved out of the area.) I’ve lived with this shabby sofa for 8 years now and finally am going to re-​upholster it again. I’m so glad that Sterling is still around because that’s who I’m going to use this time! I’ve raised four boys, and most of my furniture shows the wear and tear of it, except for my beloved armchair. Thank you Sterling!

Awesome service, support, and all around good people. Professional service and they turned a job for me, surprisingly, the same day. Highly recommend.
Awesome.

I have had two good experience with Sterling, including how they responded when something went wrong with a recent job. A few weeks ago, we got six stool cushions reupholstered there at about $ 70 each. (The original cushions were $ 90 each about 6 years ago, but that’s another story). After just a few weeks in regular use, the new cushions were already blowing out at the seams.
I took the two worst offenders back to Sterling, and the crew there was very apologetic. They immediately recognized that there was a problem, and took responsibility. We chatted for a few minutes about possible fixes, and I left. They completely replaced the cushions, and the two redone stools were a much better, cleaner looking result. We just got the other four completed. I wasn’t charged anything for the fix.
You could say that maybe they should have done the cushions this way the first time, but that’s not always how it goes. Sometimes you have to get it wrong before you get it right, and when you’re doing one-​off custom fixes, that’s life.
Sterling was very professional and straight-​up with me the whole time, and I feel assured that if i don’t get great results, they’ll make it right.
As for price: I wouldn’t take a cheap piece of furniture there to get redone, it probably wouldn’t be worth it. But if you paid good money for some quality furniture and are willing to invest a little more to give it a second life, this is a good place to check out.

If you don’t have the time to read my entire review, here is the jist of it: Sterling Upholstery botched our sofa, and the owner, David, is a stubborn, unapologetic jerk. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH STERLING UPHOLSTERY.
For those who have some time, here is the whole story:
In September 2013 we had Sterling reupholster our sofa. After four weeks and $ 3100 we received the sofa. We noticed that while leaning back and moving around on the sofa the backrest creaked like crazy (see YouTube video here:
). We told Sterling about the problem and we both agreed to give it a few weeks to see if it would break in and go away on its own. It didn’t, so we had Sterling pick it up to fix the problem. Back at the shop, Sterling was unable to replicate the noise (they were bouncing on it quickly; the noise was audible only when moving around on it slowly). They said that they found a «loose screw» and returned it. This obviously didn’t fix the issue, and we had it returned once again to the shop. This time they acknowledged that the backrest was overstuffed and fixed the problem, however it did take a couple weeks.
After it was returned I then found that the an arm was very creaky, and could hear this when sitting on the cushion next to the arm and also when using the arm to stand up (see YouTube video here:
). I emailed that very same video to Sterling and was told that they would be happy to fix it after the new year as they were very busy at the time. In early January, Sterling came back to pick up the sofa. Again, they were unable to replicate the noise. They were confused as to why the creaky armrest was an issue for me, and weren’t happy with having to fix this. My wife visited the shop to explain things and an employee gave her grief over the whole situation, asking her «do you realize how much it costs for us to pick-​up and re-​deliver this sofa?» I thought that this was completely unprofessional, inappropriate and inconsiderate. They spent the next two weeks chasing the creak in the armrest, and returned the couch (after charging me a $ 175 delivery fee).
When it came back I examined the arm and found some more issues. The finish work was sloppy and filling was visible. Near the back of the sofa on the same side there was some hardware jutting out of the fabric (see YouTube video here:
). At this point I was extremely disappointed and I had lost all faith in this shop. I called Sterling to voice my disappointment, and that I was not interested in having them take it back (they already had three chances to get the job done right). Michelle and Stephanie, who I had been primarily working with previously, were always very nice and helpful. David, however, who runs the shop and I believe is the owner, was unapologetic, rude, and placed the blame on me. He told me that the reason they needed so much time was because I had not visited the shop to show them the issues, even though I did visit in addition to emailing all my videos to them. I asked for some money back, and he refused. When I told him I was then going to have a different shop fix the problems, he literally said this: «Well, that is your life decision,» and we ended the call. That is not an acceptable thing to say to a customer who has had a bad experience with your business. It also doesn’t make much sense.
I called a different upholstery shop to get a quote on fixing the remaining issues. This new shop picked up the sofa, and in six hours had the sloppy finish work hand-​sewn together, cleaned up the hardware previously sticking out, installed a matting on the backside of the couch (which Sterling failed to do), and had the couch back in our living room. I asked the new upholsterer what her opinion was on Sterling’s work, and she professionally and tactfully told me that it was poorly done. I was happy to pay even more to have a real pro fix Sterling’s botch job. Not only does Sterling do poor work, the shop owner is a jerk-​off.
I sincerely hope that potential customers are swayed by this review. I could not have had a worse experience with Sterling Upholstery.

I have never had furniture reupholstered before. I felt I could replace the piece with another quality piece for the same price. I decided to have two chairs reupholstered because I really like the style. I am so happy I did. The chairs look amazing. The workmanship is unbelievable. The chairs look better than new.

I had a tired, old sofa and I was actually feeling embarrassed by the state of it when I talked with David at Sterling. As it had been in my parents’ home, I had a great sentimental attachment to it, and didn’t want to just give it away. David took a look at it and not only knew exactly what kind of sofa it was, but he also helped me pick out new upholstery that would be most appropriate. I LOVE it! It was delivered under the estimated time to do the job. I also had a comfy chair reupholstered by them a few years ago… and I had the same excellent experience. In fact, the chair still looks like new! Thank you!!!

I must have «Insult me» written on my forehead. In less than 5 minutes inside their store, I walked out. I brought my indoor bench padding, about 6′ long I need a new cover, none of the 2 people inside the store helped open the door. After giving me the quote I asked the woman what «filler» means and she informed me that it was actually the padding itself. Then the man who was there opened his mouth by saying I brought in garbage (literally that’s what he said) and proceeded that it was a piece of crap (again that was his language)! I did not see anything wrong with my padding, granted it was not brand new but if that man was having a bad day he should not have opened his mouth in the first place. Next time if I feel that I need a very bad insult I will visit the store again. Right now I am happy with Paul’s drapery.

From my first contact with Michelle at SCU I have been totally satisfied. She arranged to stay late to allow me to sift through the hundreds of fabric samples available for my beloved chair. The chair was pick up within the 2 hour window. No waiting around all day! 4 weeks later, as promised, my refurbished chair was delivered within the 2 hour window. It looks absolutely fabulous and is sturdier due to the new cushions and padding. Really excellent work and customer service.

I’ve used Sterling several times to reupholster furniture: two sofas and four chairs. Their fabrics are high quality, they pick up and drop off at my home, the work is done on time, and looks good. I’m very happy with the results. I have 50’s modern furniture, and David recommended fabrics that were consistent with the era and would wear well with kids in the house.
The end of the year is an extremely busy time for them, getting furniture re-​done in time for the holidays. They were relieved when I explained I wasn’t in a hurry and after the holidays would be fine with me. On January 3 they called; everything was complete and cheerfully delivered a couple of days later.

Just got back my 30+ year old sofa from Sterling Upholstery. Sterling has been in business as long as I can recall… having grown up here that is a LONG time. They are very good at what they do and i got a great quality piece back. Reupholstering is not cheap, but neither is quality. In talking to others on the other side of the country pricing is comparitive. David is assertive but I got what i wanted on time, and at the price i was initially quoted. What successful small business owner is not assertive? The guys picking up and delivering are very nice and even moved a piece of furniture for me. I would definitely use them again.

The girls lightly scratched a client’s furniture. She wants it reupholstered, and since Crate and Barrel doesn’t reupholster, they recommended Sterling Custom.
David was rude and short with me on the phone. So i decided to look him up on Unilocal.I’m not surprised they have 3 stars.
I will not use this company and would not recommend them. I’m going with another company on Unilocal with better reviews.
They need better customer service skills… at least in my opinion.

I just wanted to share some things that I wished I had asked prior to having my down couch reupholstered. The 2 things I wished I had asked for were: 1) To save the stuffing I had in the couch and maybe just supplement what was in there. Because it was a really comfortable couch that I thought just needed a little updating. And 2) To inquire about the feel of the fabric that you pick out. The fabric I picked was beautiful, but it was much stiffer than what I had on there and now I feel like I am left with a couch that belongs in a dentist office. Not to mention I had to pay $ 2,000.00 for something I don’t like. They did do some beautiful work though on some other pieces I saw in the shop and this is why I gave them 2 stars instead of 1.

I can’t speak to the quality of their work, because I ended up walking out of their shop after after 20 minutes of discussing two large pieces I was looking to get reupholstered.
Actually, there wasn’t much «discussion». I walked in to this tiny shop and both women barely looked up from their conversation to acknowledge me. I showed them my photos of the pieces and told them the sizes and suddenly the calculator was coming out and they gave me a VERY expensive price, and this was with their direct mail coupon offer.
When I started to ask questions about how they got to that price, the sales person got defensive and acted like I was insulting them to question the price. She told me that all their fabrics were about $ 65/​yard and that’s what it would cost. Period. I said that was pretty expensive for fabric compared to a place I went to in San Jose a few years ago and did ALL the fabric fall in that range? All I got was attitude as I asked more questions.
Then she proceeded to ignore me, take calls, talk with her co-​worker about the A/​C being installed. I almost walked out at that point, but I’d driven all the way down from Menlo Park and thought perhaps I should just look at the fabrics before I decided to bail on these folks who obviously had little interest in earning my business either with price or friendly service. Talk about unhelpful! My questions continued to be met with a pissy attitude and less than helpful one or two word responses. I seriously felt like they didn’t care one way or another if I got my sofa and love seat done there, which seemed especially odd given how so many small businesses are trying extra hard these days to get new customers and they were spending money on the direct mail ads to get me there in the first place.
I did however get to overhear about this sales persons upcoming vacation and other details about the problems they were having with their reconstruction of the shop. Seriously, this place is about the size of a small bedroom in front and I was being treated like I wasn’t there… or worse, I was in the way. Fed up, I finally just walked out. they said nothing.
Regardless of the quality or the price, I would not go back to some place that had so little regard for a potential new customer.