Why can’t I just go to an office supply store and purchase a new chair for my office? They’re so much cheaper! This is the most frequently asked question we hear regarding the chair lab. As part of Procurement Services, our department is certainly mindful of how the University’s money is spent. But to do that,…
We’re sure you’ve heard of the line, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Recently, one of our designers and upholsterers had the opportunity to bring to life that famous cliché. A discarded executive-style chair was found in surplus and given new life for a client who greatly desired a beautiful new chair. Designer Leah Shepherd found…
Jessica Owens of Furnishings and Design has been hard at work, completing the renovation of Houser Hall. Originally built in 1949, Houser Hall is the former home of the College of Engineering’s Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments. The building now houses the Office of Disability Services, Testing Services, and the Office of…
A group of Furnishings and Design’s designers visited Chicago, IL in June to attend NeoCon, the premier interior design conference where new commercial interiors products and trends are displayed for attending designers to gain inspiration for upcoming projects. NeoCon describes itself as “the commercial interiors industry’s most important annual event – bringing together the right people,…
Furniture and fabric must be ordered prior to year end deadlines to secure FY2015 funds. Due to the high volume of requests, priority will be given to Design Requests submitted by Friday, August 14th. Project requests received later will be handled as time permits. For new projects with furniture or upholstery needs and year end budget requirements, please email the…
Much of the basic information departments often need from our office can be found on our website. We recently updated the site with the help of Procurement Training Manager, Jennifer Clark, to make this information more easily accessible to you, our clients. The first major change was to give the page an easy to remember web…
There are two separate forms used to initiate a renovation project, so how do you know which one is appropriate for your department’s needs? Generally speaking, the Design Request Form (DRF) is for those smaller renovation projects and the Project Initiation Request (PIR) is for larger renovation projects. Design Request Form The DRF is used…
Each month, the Upholstery Shop completes over a dozen projects. Some of these are simple fixes that only take an hour or two to finish, while others are a part of much larger projects that require hundreds of hours of work over many weeks. This keeps our two upholsterers very busy in order to meet…
The Upholstery Shop is a beehive of activity, with projects constantly rotating in and out of our facility. When a client requests an upholstery project to be done, a fabric is quoted, selected, and ordered. Our upholsterers carefully evaluate the project to determine the amount of fabric needed so as not to create waste and…
Don’t let the chilly weather fool you – summer will be here before you know it! Summer is a busy time at the University. We take advantage of the decreased student presence to complete projects that must be finished before classes begin in the fall. If your department needs furniture installed or pieces reupholstered during…
