HISTORY

BEGINNINGS

Sheffield Furniture & Interiors has been making Philadelphia's Main Line homes beautiful since the 1950's. The company acquired its name from its original address... Sheffield Furniture & Interiors got its start on Sheffield Lane in Drexel Hill, PA in the garage of Mr. Paul Wining. Soon after, Paul took on a partner, Don May, and Sheffield Furniture & Interiors took off. Soon they had three showrooms, one in Drexel Hill, one in Lima, and the most recognized location in Paoli, PA.

When the partners split in the 1970's, Paul Wining closed the Drexel Hill and Lima locations and poured all of his efforts into the Paoli showroom. Sheffield flourished in Paoli, and when it became time to retire, Paul set out to find an owner that would carry on the company's fine reputation as well as take it to a new level. He found that person in the early 1990's when David Barenborg walked through his door. Mr. Barenborg had been in the furniture industry his entire career and was the type of person Paul had foreseen taking over his company.

Soon after purchasing Sheffield, Mr. Barenborg made a monumental decision to move the company out of its location in Paoli to its current location in the town of Malvern, PA. This was no small undertaking, in fact, Mr. B (as he is affectionately known), took an old mill in the heart of Malvern and turned it into a showroom. With his foresight to know how beautiful the location would be, once again, Sheffield Furniture & Interiors thrived and so did the town of Malvern.

In the mid 1990's, Mr. B added a new partner, David Zartman. By putting together of a team of experienced and talented interior designers, and by filling the showroom with the finest products available, the two continued to grow the company while refining the fine reputation that had been the foundation.

SHRAWDER RESTORATIONS/ FURNITURE

In 1997 Mr. B was ready to move on to a new chapter in his life, and like his predecessor, he too only wanted to sell the business to the right person or persons who would continue the tradition, carry on the reputation, as well as take the company to the next level. In the year 2000, after 3 years of searching, he found that person in Jim Shrawder.

Mr. Shrawder owned his own successful furniture store in Chester County. He got his start when he and his wife, Liz, purchased his grandfather's restoration business. After a few years of perfecting the art of restoring fine furniture, Jim and Liz wanted to do more. They turned their to selling fine furniture as well as restoring it... Thus, Shrawder Restorations became Shrawder Furniture.

As Shrawder Furniture attained a level of success, Jim and Liz took on a new partner, Michael Holmes. Together they refinished and sold furniture, but the young entrepreneurs had much bigger dreams... They wanted to be the best and were not willing to settle for anything less. It was that drive that gave them Mr. B's nod of approval, and in the late summer of 2000, Jim Shrawder with his partner Michael Holmes purchased Mr. B's interest in Sheffield. David Zartman, Mr. B's partner, kept his interest in Sheffield and to this day is a working partner of Sheffield.

GROWTH

With Jim Shrawder as majority owner and president, the three partners have exceeded the levels of success that Mr. B had wished for the company. With the company's reputation always at the heart of every decision, Jim knew he had to continue growing the interior design staff, always searching, and only hiring the finest talents in the area. From the original 7 interior designers employed by Mr. B, Jim has added 10 more designers to assist the Sheffield clients. He expanded the resources that Sheffield had to offer by offering even finer brands of furniture from which the clients can make their selections. Then, when the time was right, Jim expanded the showroom floor by more than double so that he could actually move and blend all of Shrawder Furniture into the Sheffield showroom. This gave the Sheffield clients' access to all of the finest brands of furniture available, the best creative design talents in the area, and the finest furniture restoration craftsman available.

Jim Shrawder continued his strive for excellence in serving the client when in 2002 he added a full service drapery and soft goods department. This decision now allowed the client can have their designs executed to their exact needs and the specifications of their Sheffield designer without losing a single detail in the translation.

As in the past, when Jim saw a need that his clients had, he made the necessary adjustments to make it happen. And in the late fall of 2007 he brought convenience to them again by adding an Oriental Rug Gallery to the showroom. Now, instead of the client running back and forth between locations, they can complete their entire home design in one place.

PRESENT DAY

Today, Sheffield Furniture & Interiors is the largest fine furniture showroom and design studio in the entire Delaware Valley. Serving clients from all of Philadelphia's surrounding counties, and to as far off places as The Turks in Caicos, England, and South Africa.

Sheffield has been honored to receive recognition by the readers of The Main Line Times and Main Line Today Magazine as "The Best of The Main Line" as well as named the "Most Beautiful Showroom" by the Tri-State Furniture Commission.

Sheffield welcomes you as a client and promises to continue their more than 55 year old honorable reputation as the finest furniture and design studio in the region. How can we make your dreams of a beautiful home come true?