Inside the workshop, a few steps from Sarah’s Home Design & Gift House in Peachtree City, a doctor performs surgery. His patient has bones, four legs, and a spine, but no pulse. Still, the doctor handles her gently, his skilled hands draping her in soft, teal fabric. The script on his white coat proclaims Noble Harris “The Doctor” but he doesn’t have a medical degree. He and his equally talented co-worker Alim Hassan resuscitate furniture through the art of upholstery. “This is what we do,” Noble said. “From the time we unlock the door, we’re performing surgery all day.”
“The springs—they’re like the chair’s spine—are fine,” Harris said, diagnosing his patient—a slipper chair with shapely carved legs. “No matter what you're doing, you treat it as if it was a female,” he said. “You know you got to be gentle.”
Before surgery begins, Sarah Thomas, owner of Sarah’s Home, helps customers in the design store choose the perfect fabric that will revive their tired furniture. Reupholstering furniture is expensive, Sarah said, but less expensive than buying new pieces of comparable quality. She stresses the importance of using quality fabric, such as stain-resistant performance fabrics, to make the investment worthwhile. During the upholstery process, many pieces must be stripped to the bones. Sometimes only the layers of old fabric need removing. “We never cover over."
The operation is as much an art as a skill. Joking that his surgeon’s hands are insured, Noble said, “Your hands become your eyes. We do a lot of things we can’t see, but we can feel it and know if it’s right or wrong. Your eyes lie sometimes, but your hands won’t. That’s the way we do it up in here.” Alim compares upholstering to putting clothes on furniture. “Once you see the fabric pattern, you know what it's going to look like at the end. You have to visualize that.” Sarah likes to sell intricate fabric, but the guys enjoy the challenge. Difficult fabrics and patterns like silk and buffalo checks are tackled with precision. Noble even loves tufting. “You have to challenge your mind,” he said. “That’s the only way you’re going to maintain your skills.”
The pieces Noble enjoys most are sentimental family pieces, some so old they’re stuffed with horsehair. “There’s a spirit of the people who used them that lies within those pieces,” he said. He also enjoys making custom ottomans covered in team colors and logos.
Noble met Sarah in an upholstery class. He has been with Sarah’s Home for about seven years and in the upholstery business for about 35. He follows in the footsteps of his grandfather who was also an upholsterer. Alim has worked for Sarah’s Home for about a year, but he grew up in his father’s upholstery shop and has been involved with the craft “ever since I’ve been able to walk around,” he said. After more than 40 years he still loves it. “I can’t see myself doing nothing else,” he said. “I like to see their (customer's) reaction when they pick their stuff up. Their face just lights up.” Noble agrees. “You fall in love with this stuff. You get addicted and the grave is the only thing that’s gonna get you out of it.”
It’s a passion Sarah shares. She is proud of the quality and custom work these men produce in the short turnaround time of four to six weeks. Long-term plans are also being made to offer upholstery classes. Friends and customers often stop by the workshop to hang out. “It’s like Cheers,” Sarah said. But with a never-ending line of furniture to save, surgery doesn’t stop. “You keep it moving,” Noble said.
“Your hands become your eyes. Your eyes lie sometimes, but your hands won’t." - Noble Harris