Sylvanus Drapery & Upholstery

Mr. Brickley patiently dealt with me over several months, during the agonizing, paralyzing process of selecting draperies for my living room. He came highly recommended to me by a commercial drapery vendor that I work with. His seamstress makes everything by and he installed everything all by himself.

Astonishing, intelligent, and economical service. The story starts with a broken piece of drapery hardware on a hidden rail wall drape that would have cost hundreds, perhaps thousands to replace (hidden in wall soffit; that would have meant hardware, carpenters, and then painters) — and a part that Google, three hardware stores, and two other drapery places had no ideas about finding.
And after two weeks, the owner of Sylvanus produced the replacement pieces of hardware (exact replacements) for this circa-​1986 install, which got everything working again — for $ 20.
Amazing.
I thought service like this had disappeared from the face of the planet.
Hurrah!

I had a slingback chair from the 1960’s, a family chair that I’d held onto for sentimental value and its retro appeal. I decided to make the investment in refurbishing it, especially as its white vinyl upholstering had split open (making the chair unusable) and it was really dingy. The chair has a bunch of buttons and some tricky piping, so I knew it wouldn’t be an easy job. Wow, that chair came back looking so beautiful, as white as white can be, with all the buttons perfectly done. What’s more, it’s so much softer (more comfortable) to sit on now than it ever was in recent times. I am so impressed with the work that Sylvanus did on this.

We like to use local merchants who excel at quality and service. Sylvanus Draperies is one of these.
In 2012 Mr. Brickley came to our house and gave us some initial suggestions. We then stopped by the store on Taraval Street to check out some options. He had great ideas — thank goodness, since we’ve never bought drapes before. A few weeks later, he installed the drapes — and they look great! Really turns up the «elegance factor» in our living room … and they’re quite a step up from the Japanese standing screens we’d been using for years.

This is a wonderful, small business that STILL cares about customers and takes time with each one. The work is top notch — I have had chairs repaired and recovered and they also do an outstanding job with roman shades. use them… small business — and my grandmother used them for decades in their old location

Once upon a time, there was a little old gent who ran an upholstery and drapery store called Sylvanus on West Portal. He couldn’t have been taller than 5′ 5″, and was about 105 years old when he reupholstered my Victorian era sofa in the late 1990s. I practically had a heart attack when I saw him through my front window carrying the sofa by himself up the stairs to deliver it. I’m pretty sure that delivery was one of his last, for a short time later the store moved over to Taraval, and was taken over by a younger guy (a relative term, as the new guy also appears to be north of 50). Anyway, I had the younger guy reupholster a couple of old Arts and Crafts era chairs, and he did a heck of a job — they look great! Minus one star for keeping the store looking as though they’ve long gone out of business (perhaps they have).