Stitched in Tradition

Western Aesthetic with the Rusted Roan Design Co…

While a saying goes that one man’s junk may be another man’s treasure, it could also be said that one man’s junk may be a woman’s new career.

Such was the case when Sierra Shores swept up a vintage couch from the side of the road and decided to teach herself upholstery and furniture refinishing. It was 2015 and she’d been contemplating a career change from the world of healthcare. Information was sparse on the art of furniture upholstery at the time, and a farmhouse aesthetic was all the rage.

“I started with farmhouse style and I hated it,” laughs Shores. Yet she persisted in learning the trade and gained confidence in showcasing her personal love of a western aesthetic. Today she has a thriving business not only creating custom western furniture, but also teaching others how to create their own pieces, both online and in person.

Rusted Roan Design Co., the business concept of Shores with support of husband Cody Rauch developed in 2017, has become a go-to source for people who want to learn the art of furniture upholstery, as well as a much-sought source of custom western furniture. Shores has created a schedule of workshops in states as far as Texas and Oklahoma, and has been a teacher at Art of the Cowgirl in Arizona.

“Nobody was sharing trade secrets,” she says of her process learning furniture upholstery. “I realized when I was getting started that there weren’t a lot of resources. I originally took some classes in the Bay Area and I had multiple mentors. I had some video training and online tutorials. It was very much a scratch and claw kind of deal. I specialize in leather and wool and all of that was self-taught through trial and error.”

Her work caught the eye of Tammy Pate, founder of Art of the Cowgirl, who convinced a reluctant Shores to teach at her annual event. “She wasn’t someone you said no to,” says Shores, who built some pieces for the event and developed a curriculum to teach others what she’d grown to know. The event was so successful that she was invited to teach across the western states, with growing requests for an online curriculum as a waitlist over 300 grew for her in-person events.

“This is so much bigger than I ever thought,” says Shores, who has developed an online curriculum and resource library to support students all over the world in developing their own furniture pieces. She offers live online support that allows connection and resource sharing. “And they’re all making these amazing pieces,” she says. “The art and talent is coming out of the wood work. It turned into the most amazing online community and we’re all friends now.” She’s also teaching people how to launch their own upholstery businesses.

Shores grew up in Lake County in a rural western family, and was active in 4-H, FFA and high school rodeo. She was a celebrated rodeo queen. In 2009 she and her husband moved out to Flournoy in Tehama County and began renovating a ranch house. “There were more opportunities up here as far as horses go,” she says. She began working with a cutting horse trainer as she continued her work in healthcare. “We found our people,” she adds. “It just fit.”

With events like the Red Bluff Round Up and Bull and Gelding Sale, Red Bluff became a prime place to showcase her design work. In 2024 she opened a workshop in Frontier Village where she can teach live classes and display materials available for custom work. She opens by appointment when not facilitating online classes.

The studio experience has been infused by a grant from Boss Mares, Inc., which allowed Shores to purchase tool sets for in-person classes. Each student now has her own pieces of equipment to learn on. “It allowed us to facilitate workshops so people aren’t scrambling for tools,” she says.

While Shores laughs that her home situation is a bit like the cobbler that has no shoes as far as custom work for her own house goes, she and Cody did just collaborate on a prize winning piece that incorporates his custom-tooled leatherwork with her upholstery skills for a rocking chair that took Best of Show at the 2025 Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale Western Art Show. Their collaborative work brought new life to a piece that could have been headed to the landfill.

“This really turned into a venture to empower and encourage people to venture out of their comfort zone and do something they really want to do,” says Shores. “It’s empowering others to be creative.” In the end, she says, there’s great joy in “helping people customize their pieces so they really love where they live.”•

Rusted Roan Design Co.
www.therustedroan.com