I. IN-HOME

We come to you when the piece can't come to us.

Free in-home consultations across Northern Virginia, the District, and Maryland. For pieces too large to transport (sectional sofas, built-in banquettes, oversized headboards), too fragile (period-correct antiques with separating joinery, water-damaged frames), or simply too inconvenient to move from a multi-story home. Antonio measures on-site, assesses condition in person, and gives a written estimate before he leaves.

Schedule a Consultation Service Area
Master upholsterer at the bench — the hands and discipline that arrive at your in-home consultation
From the workshop

II. WHEN TO SCHEDULE ONE

Large, fragile, built-in, or just inconvenient.

Sectional sofas where the seam connections need on-site assessment. Built-in banquette seating in dining rooms or kitchens. Wall-mounted headboards. Antique pieces with separating joinery, lifting veneer, or water damage where transport could compound the problem. Custom drapery measurement for window treatments. Estate-scale projects (multi-room residential refurbishments). Anything you would rather not haul down a flight of stairs.

Federal-period Old Town drawing room set up for an in-home consultation — L-shaped cream-linen sectional sofa (too-large case), built-in banquette in a breakfast nook through an arched doorway, wall-mounted oxblood-velvet headboard fragment through a hallway, Federal antique side chair with a separated leg-and-stretcher joint on a quilted pad (too-fragile case), Antonio's brass tape measure and notebook on a side table
From the workshop

III. WHAT TO EXPECT

60 to 90 minutes. Antonio brings the tools.

Antonio brings a tape measure, a flashlight, a pin to test fabric weave and frame condition, and a notebook. He photographs each piece, notes dimensions, evaluates frame and spring construction, identifies the period and original construction method on antiques, and discusses fabric and finish options. A written quote is left on-site or emailed within one business day. No obligation, no charge, no hard sell.

Tight close on Antonio's in-home consultation tools on the writing flap of a Federal mahogany slant-front desk being assessed — open leather-bound notebook with hand-written sectional measurements and a seam-connection sketch, brass tape measure unspooled to 84 inches, brass flashlight on chamois, brass-headed pin, antique brass loupe-and-folding-magnifier, dish of upholsterer's chalk, pigeonhole interior visible behind
From the workshop

IV. SERVICE AREA

Northern Virginia, DC, Maryland — no charge.

Free in-home consultation across the DC metro: Old Town Alexandria, Arlington, McLean, Great Falls, Falls Church, Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Fairfax, Springfield; all of Northwest, Northeast, and Capitol Hill DC; Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac, Silver Spring, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Annapolis. Further travel by arrangement — Loudoun County (Middleburg, Leesburg), Anne Arundel County, and select Northern-VA / Eastern-Shore destinations.

Estate-grade DC-metro residential driveway at golden hour at the start of an in-home consultation — wooden folding work table with an open leather satchel of brass tape measures, flashlight, leather-bound notebook, loupe, and swatches of cream linen and oxblood velvet, hand-drawn DC-metro service-area map on a clipboard, background composite of Old Town fanlight transom, Bethesda center-hall foyer, and Middleburg stone manor entry
From the workshop

V. DESIGNER & TRADE VISITS

Designers visit by appointment with the client.

Interior designers in the trade often schedule the in-home consultation alongside their own client visit. Antonio attends, measures alongside the designer's specs, and the designer leaves with the workshop estimate built into the broader project budget. For trade-only visits to the workshop fabric library on Colvin Street (no client present), call Jose Rugerio at jarugerio@bergerieupholstery.com to schedule.

In-home designer consultation in a Federal-period DC-metro drawing room — long quartersawn-oak side table layered with the designer's portfolio of ochre silk, forest-green damask, oxblood mohair, and toile memos beside Antonio's brass tape measure and notebook open to Camelback elevations, Camelback sofa being measured with chalk-marked cushion crown line, tufted oyster-linen headboard awaiting specification
From the workshop

Frequently asked

Is there a charge for the in-home consultation?

No. Free across Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland. No obligation. Antonio leaves a written estimate either on-site or by email the next business day. We only charge for travel beyond the standard service area, and that is quoted up-front before the visit is scheduled.

How long does a typical visit take?

60 to 90 minutes for a single piece or two; 2 to 3 hours for a full-room or multi-piece assessment. We work around your schedule — weekday mornings, weekday evenings, Saturday before close. Just not Sunday.

Should I have anything ready for the visit?

Helpful but not required: any provenance documents on antiques (auction receipts, prior restoration records), photos of the piece in its prior state if it was refinished or modified, fabric swatches if you have a direction in mind, a measure of the room or doorway if access is tight. Antonio handles everything else.

Will Antonio recommend against doing the work if it's not worth it?

Often, yes. Some pieces are not worth restoring — modern flat-pack construction without solid frames, severely water-damaged antiques where the cost exceeds market value, pieces where the work would destroy more value than it preserves. Antonio is direct about this. The shop has been around since 1949 because we tell clients the truth, even when the answer is 'don't.'

Do you bring fabric samples on the visit?

On request. If we have a sense of direction (formal vs casual, performance vs heirloom, color family), Antonio brings memo samples from the trade library. For deeper exploration, the next step is a workshop visit on Colvin Street where the full fabric library is available — designers typically join for that.

What if I am outside the standard service area?

Travel beyond Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland is by arrangement. We have served clients in Loudoun horse country, the Eastern Shore, and select Mid-Atlantic destinations. Travel is quoted up-front, separately from the project estimate, before the visit is scheduled.