Unit standards in furniture (restoration and recovery upholstery)

Jerram Puru found he was a natural at upholstery. Picture / Fotopress

The course

Getting something recovered or upholstered instead of biffing it into the inorganic rubbish collection is not such a common practice any more, but upholstery qualifications are still available for people interested in giving old furniture a new life.

The National Certificate in Furniture (Restoration and Recovery Upholstery) Level 4 and the NZUT Traditional Craft Upholstery Certificate (Level 1, 2, 3) are industry qualifications that include interpretation of furniture job specifications, frame-making and repair, suspension and fillings, and use of hand and power trade tools.

Pukekohe-based New Zealand Upholstery Training offers some of the unit standards required to gain an upholstery qualification.

Trainees spend between six and 18 months gaining upholstery and furniture-making skills. They learn about selection and use of the tools required for upholstery, preparation, stripping and finishing furniture, and health and safety. Personal projects include upholstery of boom boxes or car seats.

Course work takes up between 10 and 15 per cent of the time, the rest is practical. Many trainees continue to gain unit standards for the qualification once in the workplace.

A side business in furniture upholstery is based on-site so trainees participate and observe some of the processes.

For example, through unpicking old upholstery, trainees learn how a piece of furniture has been put together.

A maximum of 19 can be enrolled at any one time. Many are Youth Training or Training Opportunities trainees but fee-paying students sign up as well.

New Zealand Upholstery Training has no prerequisites but wants applicants with good manual skills and an interest in woodwork or technical drawing of some sort. Good co-ordination, strength, an eye for detail and an understanding of colour are also useful qualities.

It takes about three years of on-the-job training to become a fully qualified upholsterer. These skills can be used in furniture, cars and boats.

What graduates think


Jerram Puru
17 years
Upholsterer at Vidak Davies

I work as an upholsterer for Vidak, putting fabric on screens and panels. I've been here about seven or eight months after spending just over a year at New Zealand Upholstery Training. I went there for six months, then thought I should give school another go but it didn't work so I went back and did another six months.

I started the course just because it was there but I really enjoyed it and found that upholstery comes naturally to me. It is hands-on work and quite creative. We learned to make our own furniture designs as well as do upholstery.

The course helped me to get this job although I don't use all the stuff I've learned. I did quite a few unit standards and would like to carry on and get the full qualification. I like working here and gaining experience and knowledge.

What employers think 

Bevan Thompson
Vidak Davies Limited production supervisor

We manufacture commercial furniture and Jerram is involved in upholstering panels and screens.

He was good to take on because he came from the course with good basic training, which meant half our job was already done.

It really helps productivity when you're not spending half your day showing someone how to do every little thing. We had a couple of guys start without any background training and a year later they were still learning.

Jerram is also learning new skills because we work with square panels here and he was used to furniture such as lounge suites.

In this work you need to have patience. We are dealing with about 20 different ranges of fabric. A lot of the fabric has fine detail so you need to get the fabric lined up perfectly.

Jerram has a real interest in upholstery. He has personal projects on the go here which he works on in his spare time. He obviously really enjoys what he does and, to me, that is important.

Doing the course meant Jerram already had some experience with upholstery so he knew he wanted to carry on which means nobody is wasting time and money.

Qualifications

Unit standards in furniture (restoration and recovery upholstery)

New Zealand Upholstery Training Ltd
Phone (09) 238 2381
Fax (09) 238 2391