My dad owns an upholstery shop. He pretty much provides furniture with padding, springs, and fabric covers.
I would love to work with your dad to learn how to upholster furniture.  Recycling furniture is a growing market
An apprentice upholsterer is sometimes called an "outsider" or "trimmer". Traditional upholstery uses materials like coil springs (post-1850), animal hair (horse, hog and cow), coir, straw and hay, hessians, linen scrims, wadding, etc., and is done by hand, building each layer up. In contrast, today's upholsterers employ synthetic materials like dacron and vinyl, serpentine springs, and so on.
History.
"Upholder" is an archaic term used for "upholsterer"
Upholstery
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word "upholstery" comes from the Middle English word "upholder", which referred to an artisan who held up their goods. The term is equally applicable to domestic, automobile, airplane and boat furniture, and can be applied to mattresses, particularly the upper layers, though these often differ significantly in design. A person who works with upholstery is called an "upholsterer".