So your client is looking for the perfect custom upholstered seating. Well you’ve come to the right place! Here at Corn Upholstery we specialize in custom upholstered furniture, built-in booth and banquette seating, and furniture reupholstering/restoration. While there are many steps in the process of creating your custom piece of furniture, in this post we are going to focus on just one aspect of the process; sourcing upholstery materials and the acronyms “COM” and “COL.” What do these acronyms mean and what does it means for you as the designer?

First off, “COM” and “COL” are furniture industry shorthand terms for “customer’s own material” and “customer’s own leather.” These terms are used especially in the custom furniture business as a way of specifying and sourcing the materials used for upholstering your custom piece. In contrast to retail,
off-the-shelf furniture where there may be a handful of in-house fabric choices, COM/COL opens up a wide array of fabric and leather options that may better match your interior design plans.

When you wish to use a fabric that is not offered by the manufacturer, they may recommend you take the route of COM/COL sourcing. In this instance, the manufacturer will provide you with the amount of yardage needed to upholster your custom furniture (with a little extra added on for cutting and contingencies) and you as the designer will order your desired materials yourself and have them shipped directly to the upholstery workshop from the materials manufacturer. You may even opt to take a trip down to your local fabric store to source your materials and get a true hands-on experience!

This way of sourcing your materials can actually be beneficial for both sides. As a client, you are getting the exact fabric or leather you wish for you piece while saving some money cutting out the overhead that comes with a furniture manufacturer sourcing material for you. The upholsterer then also benefits by not needing to keep multiple fabrics in stock that may or may not sell.

Here at Corn Upholstery, we operate almost exclusively with COM/COL. As a custom furniture manufacturer/reupholsterer, we treat every piece as a unique, one-off project. We do not carry stock furniture on our shelves, so in turn we do not carry any stock fabrics or leathers either. While our first recommendation is to source through COM/COL, we are also happy to help you find your perfect upholstery materials and do the sourcing for you (standard purchasing fees apply). We offer full, 360-degree service, so don’t hesitate to ask us for help with any part of your custom furniture production!

If you are looking to take advantage of COM/COL yourself, check out this list of fabric and leather companies as a place to start your search!

COM/COL Links:
Knoll Textiles
Maharam
Majilite
Charlotte Fabrics
Decorative Fabrics Direct
Douglass Fabrics
Arc|Com
Morbern
Sunbrella
Spinneybeck Leather
Carroll Leather
Garrett Leather
Townsend Leather
Edelman Leather
Moore & Giles Leather

Lastly, as you search for your perfect material, there are some careful considerations to remember regarding your fabric and leather. Many fabrics have a pattern to them, and each pattern has a “repeat” where the pattern begins and ends. Every repeat has a dimension and that dimension can affect the amount of fabric needed for upholstering and getting the pattern to match up beautifully. Be sure to communicate if your fabric has a pattern, its size, and how you would like the pattern to run (Vertically = “Up the Roll” or Horizontally = “Railroad”). Also, all yardage estimates are made with the assumption that the roll of fabric you are using is at the standard 54 inches in width. Please notify the manufacturer if your fabric rolls fall outside of this standard size. Tufting and channeling can also affect the yardage needed for patterned materials.

Considerations that need to be made when sourcing leather are similar. An industry standard leather hide is roughly 50-55sqft. If your leather hides are smaller or “half hides” then this will change the estimation needed for your upholstering. Please make note of when your leather hides vary from the standard size as well as any embossing or patterns on your leather. And leather being a natural material, blemishes and defects in the hide can also affect the amount the upholsterer can use from each hide and in turn affect the total amount of leather needed for the project.

As always, we are here to help with any questions you may have on this subject or any aspect of the custom furniture manufacturing process. Please reach out to us via our Contacts page to submit your questions or to get your project started!

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