Once Upon Upholstery

Miami Beach

Bespoke
recover.

Furniture worth keeping, recovered by hand.

Start Your Project See the work

Get a planning range from Molly's own rates in a few minutes, then book an in-home visit. Rather write? onceuponupholstery@gmail.com

What Molly recovers

A white upholstered sectional layered with cream and grey linen pillows.
Linen sectional with layered pillows

The work

A little of everything Molly works on. Don't see your piece? Just ask.

Sofas

From tailored and skirted to deep and slouchy. A good sofa frame is worth keeping, and new fabric makes it feel like yours again.

A skirted cream sofa with dark green piping and matching pillows, on a navy Greek-key rug.
Cream sofa with deep green piping
A long curved sofa with olive seat and back cushions on a sand-coloured base, in a round room with three windows.
A curved sofa, olive on sand
A long grey channel-back sofa with teal houndstooth pillows piped in pink, and a teal built-in window seat behind it.
Channel-back sofa with teal and pink pillows
A white sofa with a long bullion fringe along its base, with a blue-and-white ceramic garden stool beside it.
A soft white sofa with bullion fringe
A deep three-seat sofa in silver-grey crushed velvet, with navy velvet and embroidered floral pillows.
Crushed velvet sofa with navy and floral pillows
A tailored sofa in white textured fabric with a skirted base, on a spotted rug between two gold lamps.
A tailored skirted sofa in soft white
Close-up of a textured white sofa arm with grey tweed pillows piped in brown, and more white pillows along the sectional behind.
Layered pillows, piped in brown
A modular loveseat in an oversized teal, brown, and tan houndstooth, in a sunroom with a wood coffee table.
Oversized houndstooth in teal and brown
A low white sofa with loose back cushions and lumbar pillows, in front of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the water.
A white sofa for a high-rise view
A white slipcovered sofa with four red throw pillows in a furnished living room.
Some sofas are worth keeping forever
A wingback settee with rolled arms in a sage green weave, finished with white piping.
A wingback settee in sage with white piping
Four mustard pillows with a small white pattern and piped edges, lined up on a navy velvet sofa.
Mustard pillows on navy velvet
A cream sofa layered with rust velvet pillows, cream diamond-weave pillows, and pillows printed with colourful birds.
Rust velvet, printed birds, and a little texture
A carved dark-wood settee with a ribbed blue velvet seat and back, on a red patterned rug in a yellow living room.
A carved antique settee in blue velvet
Close-up of a modular sofa in an oversized houndstooth of teal, brown, and tan on cream.
Oversized houndstooth, up close
A wood-framed settee with spiral-turned legs, upholstered in green velvet.
Green velvet in a turned-wood frame

Sectionals

Big, comfortable pieces for the way Miami lives, in linens and easy-care fabrics with plenty of pillows.

A large U-shaped white sectional with grey and white pillows around two charcoal ottomans, open to a pool terrace.
A generous white sectional with grey pillows
A large bisque linen sectional with a chaise, in an open kitchen and living room.
Beautiful bisque linen modular upholstery
A long dusty rose sectional sofa beneath a wide window with a black-and-white striped awning outside.
Love this Rose Moment
A long, low modular sectional in cream with brown piping, beneath a window of tropical plants, with a stone coffee table on a grey rug.
A long modular sectional in cream
A long modular sofa in dusty rose fabric beneath a wide window, with a wood coffee table.
A long rose sofa under the front windows

Chairs

Club chairs, dining chairs, family heirlooms and midcentury finds. A chair is the perfect place for a fabric you love.

A restored womb chair in green fabric with black leather on the crest and arms, and tapered wood legs.
Restored midcentury modern womb chair
Two curved lounge chairs on chrome sled bases, upholstered in magenta velvet.
Hot pink velvet on a pair of lounge chairs
A wood-framed armchair and skirted ottoman in a blue-and-white botanical print, with a red pillow, in front of a window overlooking the water.
Blue botanical print, chair and ottoman
Two wooden armchairs newly covered in blue fabric with thin white stripes, standing in the workshop.
A fresh pair of family heirloom chairs
A skirted slipper chair and a swivel club chair in cream fabric with green piping, beside a knit pouf on a colourful rug.
Cream chairs with a touch of green piping
A small barrel-back chair in bold black-and-white stripes, with a pleated skirt and bead trim, sitting on a workshop table.
Black and white stripes with a pleated skirt
Four white swan-back chairs with bright geometric seat cushions around a pale dining table, with a dusty pink banquette behind them.
The girlies love the prints
Carved wood dining chairs, including an armchair at the head, covered in cream fabric around a dark wood table.
Carved dining chairs, freshly covered in cream
A rounded barrel chair in a pale seafoam weave on a sisal rug, in a kitchen.
A round chair in soft seafoam
Two round-backed swivel chairs in textured cream fabric on bentwood bases, on a white wool rug beside two brass floor lamps.
A pair of cream swivel chairs
A cream upholstered rocking chair with a light wood frame, beside a fiddle-leaf fig and linen curtains.
A cream rocker on a light wood frame
Two chrome-framed lounge chairs with sand-coloured upholstered seats and backs, seen from above.
Sandy twins. Twin chairs upholstered in a sand fabric for a new clean look.
A rounded barrel chair with a loose seat cushion, upholstered in black-and-white tweed.
A round chair in grey tweed

Beds & headboards

Upholstered beds, headboards and daybeds that make a bedroom feel soft and finished.

A bed with an upholstered oatmeal headboard and base, dressed in taupe satin linens, seen through a doorway, with yellow curtains beyond.
A soft upholstered bed and headboard
Two twin beds with rolled blue velvet frames and pleated skirts, with blue-and-white striped pillows, against green-and-white patterned wallpaper hung with skateboards.
Twin beds in blue velvet with pleated skirts
A bed with a curved shirred headboard, floral pillows, and a turquoise ruffled bed skirt against matching wallpaper.
Shirred headboard for this happy chic bedroom
A carved, painted daybed upholstered in teal cut velvet with a bolster and a round pillow, in front of a bed and a botanical mural.
A carved daybed in teal cut velvet
A painted wood daybed upholstered in teal and silver cut velvet, with a matching bolster and pillow, at the foot of a bed with a patchwork quilt.
Teal cut velvet, bolsters and all

Banquettes

Built-in banquettes, window seats and bench cushions, made to fit your space just right.

A handcrafted channel-back banquette in pale linen, with a white cabinet base, in a sunlit room.
Handcrafted channel-back banquette
An L-shaped built-in banquette with oatmeal seat and back cushions on a white base, beside a wooden dining table and a window.
A corner banquette in an oatmeal weave
A long skirted banquette in off-white textured fabric with round bolsters at each end, beside a kitchen.
Skirted banquette with round bolsters
A built-in window seat with a grey linen cushion and long bolsters, beside a round marble table and a cane chair.
Window seat cushion and bolsters in grey linen
Close-up of a built-in window seat cushion in a grey and cream weave, with self piping and bolsters.
Crisp piping on a window seat cushion
Bench cushions and pillows.
Bench cushions and pillows sent to Carmel
Close-up of a skirted bench in pale textured fabric, showing a round bolster, piped edges, and a kick pleat at the corner.
Bolster, piping, and a crisp kick pleat

Benches & ottomans

Ottomans, stools and end-of-bed benches. Little pieces that bring a happy bit of pattern into a room.

A clover-shaped ottoman in chartreuse velvet on a pale rug, with a blue-and-white striped armchair behind it.
A chartreuse velvet clover ottoman
A square cream ottoman with olive velvet piping, in front of a charcoal sectional.
Cream ottoman with olive velvet piping
Two cream upholstered benches side by side at the foot of a bed, on a pale grey rug.
A pair of benches for the end of the bed
Two upholstered benches in white nubby fabric, lined up end to end at the foot of a bed, with an abstract painting on the wall beyond.
Textured benches at the foot of the bed
Two upholstered stools in a multicoloured zigzag knit, with tufted tops and teal piping, standing in a doorway.
Zigzag stools, tufted and piped
Two fully upholstered square stools in a pink and yellow flame-stitch fabric, standing on the workshop floor.
Flame stitch for a pair of stools

Outdoor

Cushions and covers in outdoor fabrics, made for sun, salt air and summer rain.

A white metal outdoor sofa and chair covered in a green palm-leaf fabric, on a Miami Beach patio.
Inspired fabric on the master patio
A woven outdoor loveseat, two lounge chairs, and a drum table with soft grey cushions, on a shaded terrace.
Soft grey cushions for woven outdoor seating
Teak outdoor sofas and armchairs with white cushions around a coffee table in a stone courtyard, with potted topiaries.
White cushions for a teak courtyard set
Two bentwood rattan lounge chairs with cream seat and back cushions and striped lumbar pillows.
Rattan chairs with fresh cream cushions
Handmade swing cushion insert and cover.
Handmade swing cushion

Commercial

Designers and businesses bring projects too, like custom beds and upholstery for Studio Santos and oversized walnut barstools.

A custom bed set into a boucle wall unit, with a boucle nightstand and a sculptural ceiling light.
Custom beds, upholstery, and lighting for Studio Santos
Four walnut barstools with cream shearling seats at a dark bar.
Oversized custom barstools. Solid walnut with shearling.
Dark wood counter stools with cream geometric-weave seats along a marble island, with a white sectional beyond.
Counter stools in a cream geometric weave

How it works

  1. Fabric

    Molly sources the fabric and brings real samples to your in-home visit.

  2. Pickup

    The truck picks the piece up and takes it to the workshop.

  3. Return

    Once it's recovered by hand, the truck brings it home.

A little bit about me…

Molly Stubstad Forenza

Molly Forenza has an extensive portfolio designing homes with a Miami chic authenticity. She grew up in the furniture industry, and pattern making and fabric selection are her practice.

Furniture today is not made to the same quality as the furniture of yesterday. Bringing it back with new fabric and craftsmanship is more sustainable, and more fun.

“because the new chair just doesn’t quite fit like the old one!”

Have a piece that isn’t ready for the end of its story?

Start Your Project