COM WORKFLOW · NO MARKUP · TRADE PRICING

Submitting COM to Bergerie — ten-step workflow.

COM (Customer's Own Material) submission is the standard mode of trade engagement. The designer specs fabric direct from their trade rep, ships to the Colvin Street workshop, and we execute. No markup on fabric; labor at trade rates for active accounts. Ten steps from spec to invoice. Total workflow runs about 4 weeks once fabric arrives; reserved per-quarter capacity for active trade accounts compresses or guarantees the schedule.

Trade Landing Fabric Library
Workshop receiving station — fabric bolts in kraft paper with shipping tags on a heavy wood workbench beside a logbook
From the workshop

STEP 1 · SPEC WITH TRADE REP

Confirm pattern, color, yardage, content, cleaning code.

Confirm the pattern, color, and yardage with your trade rep — Schumacher, Brunschwig & Fils, Pierre Frey, Kravet, Lee Jofa, Donghia, or any other to-the-trade fabric house. Memo-shop the fabric if needed; we can hold memos at the workshop for client-facing meetings on Colvin Street. Confirm content (linen, cotton, performance fabric, leather) and any cleaning code or fire-rating constraints relevant to the use case (TB117-2013 for commercial; performance fabric for residential family-room seating).

Designer's working corner mid trade-rep specification call — quartersawn-oak designer's desk with an open Schumacher sample book showing a hand-blocked oxblood-and-ochre botanical print, Pierre Frey toile / Lee Jofa damask / Donghia textured-wool memo cards tagged with brass tabs, spec checklist ledger open to a four-line specification (pattern / color / yardage / content), TB117-2013 cleaning-code stamp, brass loupe on chamois, antique candlestick rotary telephone mid-call
From the workshop

STEP 2 · CONFIRM YARDAGE

Email Antonio. Same-day or next-day confirmation.

Email Antonio at the workshop with the piece type (sofa, club chair, dining chair, drapery panel count), dimensions, and pattern repeat from the fabric spec. Antonio confirms required yardage including pattern repeat and pleat allowance. For multi-piece scopes we send a yardage table covering all pieces in the project — useful for designers to validate against the fabric-rep quote before committing to the order. Same-day or next-day confirmation; faster for active trade accounts.

Antonio's yardage-confirmation desk — leather-bound yardage ledger open flat showing a hand-drawn five-row multi-piece yardage table (SOFA, CLUB CHAIR, WING CHAIR, DINING CHAIRS x6, DRAPERY PANELS x4) with pattern-repeat arithmetic in the margin and pleat-allowance sketches, brass scale ruler across the page, brass tape measure unspooled to a pattern-repeat measurement, the project's oxblood-and-ochre COM swatch pinned at the corner
From the workshop

STEP 3 · SHIP TO WORKSHOP

Trade rep ships direct. Colvin Street receiving.

Trade rep ships direct to Bergerie Upholstery, 3133 Colvin Street, Alexandria VA 22314 — Attention: COM Receiving. The packing slip should include the designer name and the project name so we can match the fabric to the right project on arrival. We accept FedEx, UPS, freight, and white-glove deliveries during business hours; off-hours deliveries (some trade rep freight) can be coordinated with 48-hour notice.

Bergerie workshop COM-receiving bay at the Colvin Street loading dock mid trade-rep shipment arrival — wooden cargo dolly inside the open loading-bay doorway holding three sealed wooden shipping crates labeled with Schumacher / Pierre Frey / Lee Jofa stencil monograms, brown-craft packing slip with an ATTN: COM RECEIVING header, painted-metal 3133 COLVIN ST sign above the bay, brass dock-house lantern, clipboard with delivery log
From the workshop

STEP 4 · CONDITION + YARDAGE REPORT

1-2 business days from receipt. Photo + memo.

Within 1-2 business days of arrival, the designer receives a condition photo and a yardage-confirmation memo. We document any visible damage to the bolt, confirm yardage against the original spec, and flag any short shipment or mis-pattern immediately so the designer can reorder before the workshop window opens. For special-order yardage with weeks-long lead times this catches mistakes before they compound. If everything is in order, the project moves to scope sign-off.

Bergerie COM-intake-and-condition-report station — opened Schumacher shipping crate with the heavy bolt of oxblood-and-ochre botanical fabric unrolled across the bench in a 4-yard run, Polaroid-style instant photograph of the bolt clipped to a leather-bound condition memo with parallel condition-report and yardage-confirmation columns, brass yardage rule unspooled across the bolt, brass certified-yardage stamp
From the workshop

STEP 5 · SCOPE + SCHEDULE SIGN-OFF

Pattern alignment, tufting, edge roll, finish details locked.

Final scope sign-off covers pattern alignment instructions (centered on cushion, run direction for striped fabric, repeat-matched at seams), button or tufting specifications, edge-roll height, deck construction (spring suspension vs strap, hard-edge vs roll-edge), and any finish details (welt cord choice, tape trim, nail-head trim). We commit to a delivery date; pickup of existing furniture (if reupholstery) is coordinated for the same week or per the designer's project schedule.

Bergerie scope-sign-off desk with a designer's annotated specification working sheet — hand-drawn Camelback sofa elevation with annotated arrows pointing to PATTERN ALIGNMENT, BUTTON / TUFTING (diamond pattern with spacing), EDGE ROLL HEIGHT, DECK CONSTRUCTION (8-WAY HAND-TIED cutaway), plus finish details — WELT CORD CHOICE swatches (cream / oxblood / dove-gray), TAPE TRIM, NAIL-HEAD TRIM spacing diagram, hand-written delivery-date commitment at the bottom
From the workshop

STEP 6 · PICKUP + DELIVERY

Blanket-wrapped white-glove both directions.

For reupholstery on existing pieces: we pickup blanket-wrapped from the designer's address, the end-client's address, or the designer's warehouse. For new builds delivered to the workshop: we receive blanket-wrapped white-glove from your fabricator. Free pickup and delivery across DC-metro for trade accounts. 2- to 3-person teams for larger pieces. Departure and arrival photos sent.

Designer's warehouse staging bay at golden hour mid pickup of the existing Camelback sofa for reupholstery — wooden cargo dolly with the existing Camelback freshly blanket-wrapped in cream wool moving pads and jute-tagged, 2-person crew's leather satchel and brass tape measure on a side bench, designer's warehouse with rolled fabric bolts on a rack, matching dining chairs awaiting next pickup, wrapped wing chair and ottoman in the loading-area background
From the workshop

STEP 7 · FABRICATION ON THE BENCH

4-8 weeks residential. 4-6 weeks drapery. 6-10 weeks antique.

Frame stabilization where needed, refoam to spec, hand-stitched edge rolls or pleat construction, recover with the COM. Eight-way hand-tied jute springs on the higher-end pieces unless designer specifies otherwise. Period-correct discipline on antique-restoration scopes (hide glue, horsehair, French polish on exposed wood). Lead time confirmed at scope sign-off — typically 4-8 weeks for residential furniture, 4-6 weeks for drapery, 6-10 weeks for antique-restoration scopes.

Bergerie fabrication bench with three pieces from the same designer's project simultaneously mid-fabrication — Camelback sofa being recovered with the oxblood-and-ochre Schumacher COM (pattern centered on cushion, eight-way hand-tied jute springs visible), long cutting table with a triple-pinch-pleat oyster-silk drapery panel pinned at the header, Federal Hepplewhite shield-back side chair on a turntable mid hide-glue stabilization with French-polish wad
From the workshop

STEP 8 · QC + FINAL PHOTOS

Antonio walks the piece. Designer signs off.

Bench-side QC walk by Antonio — pattern alignment, stitching, finish, hardware, weight and balance. Final-piece photos sent to the designer for sign-off before delivery. Any spec questions or finish adjustments (welt cord redo, tape-trim change, pattern realignment) resolved at the workshop before the piece leaves. We do not deliver until designer sign-off is in hand.

Antonio's QC walk on the finished Camelback sofa — sofa on a low fitting platform with the COM oxblood-and-ochre botanical pattern centered and seam-aligned, vintage tripod-mounted brass-and-mahogany period view camera set up for the final-piece photo, Antonio's QC tools on a side table (brass loupe / brass tape measure / QC checklist ledger open to a walk-through page with PATTERN ALIGNMENT / STITCHING / FINISH / HARDWARE / WEIGHT AND BALANCE headers / brass spec-sign-off seal stamp)
From the workshop

STEP 9 · WHITE-GLOVE DELIVERY

To the install address. Coordinated with designer.

Blanket-wrapped white-glove transport to the install address. 2- to 3-person teams for larger pieces. Coordinated with the designer or the designer's install lead on placement timing and any in-room positioning. Wall protection, floor protection, and stair-protection logistics handled by the delivery team. Departure photo sent on completion.

Federal-period DC-metro residential drawing room at golden hour mid white-glove install of the finished Camelback sofa — sofa positioned on a quilted floor-protection pad, the COM oxblood-and-ochre botanical reading against a cream-paneled wall, blanket-wrap folded on the cushion, wall protection padding on the corner, A-frame furniture dolly and stair-protection runner visible, install-log book with a Polaroid of the placement, chair rail and salon-hung botanicals
From the workshop

STEP 10 · INVOICE + CLOSE

Itemized labor + materials. Net-30 trade. Project closed.

Invoice with itemized labor and materials; COM cost is the designer's (we do not invoice through fabric). Net-30 standard for trade accounts; immediate-pay terms for single-project engagements. Project closed in our project log; pieces enter the workshop's reference photo log (with designer permission) for future cross-reference on touch-up work or related future projects.

Bergerie project-close desk for invoicing and project-log archive — hand-typed itemized invoice on heavy linen letterhead with two columns (LABOR sub-rows: frame stabilization, refoam, hand-stitched edge roll, eight-way hand-tied, COM upholstery / MATERIALS sub-rows: foam, Dacron, jute webbing, tacks — COM with BY DESIGNER notation), NET-30 TRADE footer, project-log archive book with the project ID, completion date, and a Polaroid of the finished Camelback clipped to the page, COM swatch tied with a jute archive tag
From the workshop

Frequently asked

Why ten steps?

Because that's actually how it runs end-to-end on the bench. Every step has a deliverable — yardage confirmation, condition report, scope sign-off, QC photos, departure photos. The 10-step workflow is documented because trade engagement is a shared process between the designer and the workshop; clarity at each step is faster than vagueness over a 4-week project.

How fast is yardage confirmation?

Same-day or next-day for active trade accounts. New-account first inquiries typically run 1-2 business days. For multi-piece scopes we send a yardage table covering all pieces in the project so the designer can validate against the fabric-rep quote before committing to the order.

What happens if fabric arrives short or damaged?

Flagged immediately in the condition report. Designer reorders from the trade rep; project schedule is held. We document the damage with photographs sufficient for trade-rep insurance claims. This is why the condition report is step 4 of the workflow — catching shortages before the workshop window opens saves weeks.

Can the designer hold memos at the workshop for client meetings?

Yes — common workflow. Designers send memos to the workshop, schedule a client meeting on Colvin Street, and the meeting includes a workshop tour plus memo-shopping. 30- to 60-minute appointments by arrangement. Email Jose at jarugerio@bergerieupholstery.com to schedule.

Pickup logistics from the end-client's address?

Standard — we coordinate directly with the designer on the pickup time. End-client typically receives a 2-hour pickup window; designer or designer's lead is present unless the engagement structure has the end-client managing access. Blanket-wrapped white-glove transport; 2- to 3-person teams for larger pieces.

QC photos — what do we get?

Bench-side photographs covering all sides of the piece, close-ups of pattern alignment, stitching detail at corners and welt, finish detail on exposed wood, and any spec-sensitive points (button-tuft alignment, nail-head pattern). Typically 8-15 photographs per piece sent before delivery is scheduled.