Caning Shop - Berkeley, CA

ron busby

It’s like walking through a time machine to see all the detail and care to almost lost art of furniture restoration and cane chair fixing. The guys that run the store are sweet. And you just gotta be a little patient. But they’ll tell you a good story and give you great advice on how to care for your items and projects. There are weaving and sewing classes there. Overall would recommend.

ari salomon

We buy basket making supplies and other craft goods. They have lots of finish products so it’s a little bit like a Museum. you can Get your chair caned again.

Amber Mccauslin

We had a wonderful visit and really appreciate Jim's knowledge and patience while assisting me! A wonderful spot to get supplies and love the personal connection!

Katie Lefevre

Magical hidden gem that I cant believe exists. They showed me how to cane a chair, lent me tools and a workspace to work in, and even sent me home with some loaner items. Radical, generous, I cant wait to go back to actually buy some of their excellent tools and materials.

Howard Hayakawa

Very friendly and knowledgeable. They can build or rebuild a rattan chair including the frame. They rebuilt the seat from a ww1 Jenny and a Ford trimotor. I went to buy a rattan pole to make Escrima sticks but saw lots of supplies and books for gourd art and musical instruments. Also stuff for weaving and tying. A quick buy and run visit turned into a 1hr tour and visit.

Hayley Rediger

The response I received after inquiring about classes and studio time with some chairs I am working on:

"After a brief conversation w Jim, we both agree these chairs are not suitable for restoration by beginners. These are “rush” seats and it might take you a month of Saturdays to learn how to restore them.

FYI, we’d likely charge you $600 each to install new seats on these chairs. It is highly skilled labor. You should find something else to cut your teeth on."

I was very surprised and disappointed to receive such a dismissive response when I am willing to put in time and money to learn a new skill, and they know nothing about me. I'm sure they are a skilled group of people, but for this reason I'll take my business elsewhere.

MeCeeBee !!

Super interesting place. Kind of difficult to find a shop to purchase caning stuff. This place evidently also repairs cane furniture, and has classes. Filled to ceiling (not s joke!) with great pieces of furniture.

I am redoing chairs myself and drove a couple of hours to try to decide on a pattern of pre-woven cane. The lady working was so nice, she gave me several free swatches to take home so I could be sure. Also she advised which materials would be easy for a beginner to use. Customer service is .

Only drawback, very limited Saturday hours. I wish they were open all day since shop is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Don’t forget, there’s an online store if you make it during there hours of operation!

Store has the most beautiful small multi-colored woven baskets-so fine and detailed, wish I could afford them!

Becky Manzo

If i could give more than 5 stars I would. The owner is more than helpful. I brought in an older used gourd saw i had bought from a friend. I brought it to him so he could tell me about the equipment. he rewired the saw and gave me a new updated transformer for it. He took the time to teach me the correct way to use it and even gave me some free blades and a tool bag. WOW! The greatest customer service ever! Did not charge me a dime.