As I walk into the Remnants Upholstery studio in the Northrup King Building, I feel like I am stepping back into a chic living room from the 1950’s. Owner David Osterberg invites me to sit down on one of his white Saarinen Tulip Chairs. Located in Northeast Minneapolis, Remnants is an upholstery studio that specializes in mid-century modern furniture and antiques. Read more after the jump to learn about Remnants Upholstery and tour the studio!
David Osterberg began his career as an architecture student, but with the recession of the late 1980’s, architectural jobs were hard to come by. “I decided to go back to school and do something that I could do for myself,” Osterberg says, “I had done furniture design in college, so I thought I would take some upholstery classes and see where that lead.”
The rest is history. Osterberg began his business in the Longfellow neighborhood, before moving his studio to southwest Minneapolis. He recently has settled into a studio next to Danish Teak Classics in the Northrup King Building in Northeast Minneapolis.
Being a mid-century enthusiast, Osterberg has developed a relationship with the furniture manufacturer, Knoll. As a result, he receives many referrals from the manufacturer for especially difficult jobs, such as Arne Jacobson’s classic Swan chair. Osterberg describes his relationship with Knoll:
“A lot of other upholsterers don’t want to touch items like a Swan Chair. they look at it and think it an unconventional upholstery method. It is done in a very different way and they don’t want to experiment. I have had people bring things to me, like Swan chairs for example, that other upholsters have worked with, almost in tears from previous upholstery job. So I am the go to guy in fixing it.”
While David loves mid-century modern pieces, he is a jack of all trades and works with all different time periods of furniture. He tells me, “as a student, I did a lot of Victorian, hand sewn, horse hair pieces. So I am very well rounded. I’ve restored 300 year old pieces that have come out of France that should be in a museum…I know clients would look into my shop in the past and think ‘Oh, he does not know how to do my antique piece’ because I only had modern pieces, but modern is my aesthetic.”
Well versed in most styles of furniture, David Osterberg turns his client’s furniture into works of art. Not only is he talented at his upholstery work, he is enthusiastic about sharing the story behind his pieces. David is in and out of his studio, the best way to reach Osterberg is by calling ahead to make an appointment at 612-823-5591 or e-mail him at REMNANTSUPH@msn.com. Check out the Remnants Upholstery studio below:
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