DON'T BE CRUEL, BE COMFY; PRESLEY WOULD BE PROUD OF 20-FOOT CUSTOM COUCH.

Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan Daily News Staff Writer

Elvis sat here.

Oh sure, Elvis did a lot of sitting, especially in his later years.

He even died while sitting on a toilet, no less.

So it's only fitting that Joe Silveti, a Canoga Park custom-furniture maker and upholsterer who furnished the Valley's Graceland with sofas and chairs, should have an actual couch where the King sat.

Though it can't be confirmed, it's possible that Elvis dozed or watched television, gun at the ready, on the couch.

``He probably ate doughnuts on that damn thing!'' said Danny Uwnawich, a Presley impersonator whose Northridge house, Melodyland, is a tribute to his idol.

Uwnawich, who goes by the stage name Danny U, gave Silveti the couch after it suffered water damage in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Since Uwnawich already owned a collection of Elvis' personal effects, he figured a stained couch wasn't of enough value to keep.

Silveti can't decide whether to reupholster the couch or leave the 15-footer as is. So he stores it outside his shop, the Antique Sofa, protected from the elements by layers of tarp held down by overturned chairs.

Either way, with the couch ruined, Uwnawich needed a replacement for his open house Saturday. Even before the damage, the plain, off-white Elvis couch wasn't really Uwnawich's style.

He hired Silveti to create a bigger, better couch, one that would evoke a '70s-esque Elvis his ``classy'' look, Uwnawich says.

The motif already in place features red, black and animal-print velveteen sofas and chairs flanked by gilded end tables atop lush rugs.

Silveti is responsible for much of it, including a black velveteen circular sofa (the kind on which everyone sits with their backs to each other). An Elvis jumpsuit in a glass case rises from the center. Silveti also made a 15-foot black velveteen living room couch with gilded trim.

``I would say that it is the most beautiful sofa in the world,'' Silveti said. ``I'm so proud of it. I go to the house and I see it, and I get the chills.''

But the newest addition is sure to be the most appropriate tribute yet.

Silveti worked day and night to finish the new couch for an upstairs conference room. He had planned to use a forklift and 10 men to lift it upstairs Friday evening.

To be sure, the couch is nothing short of majestic - 20 feet of black velveteen, gold piping, an embroidered crown atop the initials ``DU'' and laurel leaves carved into a wooden base shrouded in gold leaf.

A couch fit for royalty. A couch fit for the King.

A couch where even the King would fit.

``It's Gothic. It's French. It's Egyptian. All together,'' Silveti said of the design.

Silveti's next projects for Melodyland will be a black velvet headboard to run the length of the bedroom wall. He also plans to cover Uwnawich's grand piano in gold leaf.

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5 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Elvis impersonator Danny Uwnawich's hunting room in his Melodyland home in Northridge features skins from animals he hunted himself.

(2--color) The entrance to Melodyland features Danny U's own Hollywood Walk-style star.

(3-4--color) At left, furniture maker Joe Silveti shows off the 20-foot couch created for Melodyland. Above, a sleigh-style chaise longue sits below an oil painting at the Northridge home.

(5--color) A black wraparound couch, adorned with initials ``D.U.,'' of course, surrounds a display case holding one of Danny U's jumpsuits.

Photos by Tina Gerson