A torn cushion is his treasure

With a snip here, a stretch there, a seam sewed, Vincent Mannelli guides his hands like a master craftsman to transform dining room chairs and seat cushions into items of beauty.

The metamorphosis takes place in his Patchogue shop, The Furniture Hospital, a neat convergence of two Singer sewing machines with treadles, one owned by his father, a 5-by-8-foot work table to cut fabric and upholster with spaces for bolts of fabric, five shelves with neatly placed fasteners, screws, staples, drills and screw guns.

“This is not work for me,” he said sincerely. “It’s something I really enjoy. I love creating something beautiful out of something ugly.”

He brought out a dining room chair he’d finished; its beautiful soft blue and silver fabric cushioned on brass legs presented an elegant wow factor.

“It was a challenge with this square cut-out in the back,” he said, “and different from the norm.” But Mannelli’s creative muse urged him on. The chair is one of 10 that will enhance a customer’s home.

His expertise is definitely a calling, although it began grudgingly. His father, Vincent Mannelli Sr., was the instigator. A tough, diligent businessman of Calabrese and Neapolitan heritage, the senior Mannelli opened his Dun-Rite Upholstery Co. storefront in 1958 in Bethpage, then eventually moved to Huntington, East Northport, then Northport, adding furniture and mattress sales as well, working six days a week.

Vincent Jr. was a regular in the shop starting at age 10.

“I would go to work just to be around him at first,” Mannelli said. “Then as I got older, when I got in trouble in school, it was a kind of punishment.”

Nothing dicey. “I didn’t listen to the teacher,” he said with a little grin. “I was a bit of a cutup.”

His father had four people working for him and, exhibiting a good business sense, added couches, chairs, dining room sets, and cushions. “He was great at that,” Mannelli said. “He was very innovative and created a system for making cushions that was not the norm and had a great imagination. And I observed all this.”

But while it was his father’s dream initially, it wasn’t his son’s. He was drawn to electrical engineering. After a stint at Hazeltine in Greenlawn through a work/study program at Northeastern University in Boston, “working in the field made me realize, I didn’t want to be an engineer,” he said.

Dad was waiting, hoping for a partnership, but his son wanted his own shop (“my dad was very hotheaded,”), so he opened The Furniture Hospital in Northport in 1971. (Mannelli Sr., while disappointed, did support his son’s dream.) He moved to Coram two years later, selling retail mattresses; he worked part-time on upholstery jobs in back of the store. He had six retail stores at one time and remained in that business for 42 years.

Patchogue beckoned after retirement in 2015; he could now concentrate fully on upholstery.

He doesn’t tackle big furniture. “I have tons of samples. I go to the house, bring samples with me, people select what they want and I price it out.”

Right now, Mannelli is working on 10 different projects. From September to the holidays is his busiest time. Get your orders in now; he vacations in February and March in Florida.

Working seven days a week for several months on jobs that require focus and stamina requires fitness and concentration; Mannelli stays in good shape.

“I was a marathon runner,” he said. “I also play pickleball.” His Patchogue YMCA membership is on hiatus due to the COVID virus, but he regularly uses the village courts nearby.

His Jack Russell/pug, Rex (“my wife went out to buy earrings and came home with the dog,” he quipped), along with his beautiful wife Laura, keep him balanced.

Also, Patchogue Village. “We have many friends here; it’s very social, there are plenty of things to do and we love to visit the restaurants,” he said.