1. Upholstery – what do you need to know?

Upholstery is the skill of restoring old pieces of furniture, especially seats. Do you have a worn-out chair, a faded sofa, or torn cushions? Don’t get rid of them. Nowadays, only the most expensive furniture can compare to old pieces both in terms of quality and price. Instead, contact your local upholsterer, who will make sure your old furniture dazzles in its new outfit.

Custom-made or off-the-shelf furniture can be reupholstered, but it’s usually older pieces that need some TLC. And that’s when you should call an upholsterer. On our portal daibau.ng you can find professionals who offer the following services:

• - customizing suites,
• - re-upholstering benches and chairs,
• - various repairs,
• - making or repairing cushions,
• - upholstery of doors,
• - re-upholstering beds,
• - seats for motorhomes, caravans, and boats, and
• - car seat upholstery.

  

Before you embark on choosing an upholsterer, it’s not a bad idea to find out a little bit about upholstery itself. The most important decision is the choice of fabric. In addition to the colour and print, which should be in perfect harmony with the other furnishings in the room, the type of material, which could be leather, cotton, linen, polyester, faux leather, various mixtures, etc., is equally important. Not only do these materials feel completely different, but they also differ in terms of how easy they are to work with, how durable they are, how waterproof and stain-resistant they are, which cleaning agents can be used on them, and the like. Leather is highly durable, but cold to the touch, and later causes perspiration. Faux leather is much cheaper, although it quickly begins to peel. With other types of fabric, there are no such problems, although wear and tear occurs more quickly. For upholstery, special fabric is used known as furniture fabric. When you’ve decided what you want, you can leave the rest to the expert. After a few days, your armchair, chair, or cushions will look as good as new.

2. How to find a good upholsterer

High-quality fabric, fillings, wood, and springs are the most important things for good upholstery. Even so, without someone who knows what they’re doing, you can’t expect a quality finish. So when you’re looking for an expert upholsterer, take some time to ask around and look at photos of their work and references and comments from their clients. Draw up a shortlist and send them an enquiry. You’ll easily be able to compare their answers and decide on one. The simplest and fastest way to do all this is through our portal daibau.ng.

3. Upholstered furniture

3.1. Upholstery of chairs

It’s hard to get rid of old pieces of furniture mainly because of their sentimental or historical value. In particular, this applies to those pieces that are your favourites and that you use most often, but which of course wear out more quickly. Chairs and armchairs are one such example. Fortunately, they can be restored. The upholsterer will check the condition of the wood, filling, stuffing, springs, wadding, and the fabric itself and replace or repair whatever is necessary. As a result, your grandmother’s chair will be restored to its former glory. Timely repairs carried out well will maintain the quality of such furniture as well as increasing its value over time.

3.2. Suites

There’s a price to pay for lying around on your sofa day after day: not only in terms of the state of your health, but also the state of the couch itself. Over time the sofa becomes worn, the fabric stretches or rips, it starts to sag, and the cushions lose their plumpness. However, if it’s good quality, don’t get rid of it. Reupholstering your suite is a much better idea than buying a new one. Talk to a local upholsterer and choose a fabric, colour, and print. With a little bit of effort and skill, your suite will look as good as new. You can also have your ottoman, pouffe, cushions and everything else repaired. Your reupholstered suite will breathe new life into your whole room. A top quality, bespoke suite is on a par with the most expensive furniture you can find in the shops because the construction, materials, and fabric is of just the same quality.

3.3. Padded doors

A padded door not only looks amazing, but is also a way to greatly improve soundproofing and insulation. If you have a front door that opens out onto a noisy street, then this is a great solution for you. A layer of high density foam, 5 cm thick, and a piece of faux leather, resistant to external factors and wear and tear, are usually placed over the door.

3.4. Automotive upholstery

Cars are generally considered a status symbol. It’s not just what they look like on the outside, it’s what they look like on the inside that counts. A more elegant interior makes driving even more enjoyable. If you want to reupholster your car seats, you should visit a vehicle upholstery service which specialises in such things. Like any other furniture fabric, car seat fabric wears out over time, so you can have it repaired or replaced. The seats, trims, headlining, hood, carpet, and the steering wheel cover can all be repaired or replaced. You can opt for leather or faux leather, vehicle fabrics, microfibre, or Alcantara suede. They come in a wide variety of colours and prints. Vehicle upholsterers will replace or repair seat covers and other parts in cars, but also in other vehicles, boats, and caravans.

4. The upholstering process

The reupholstery of old furniture begins with an evaluation of how much the piece is worth and what work is needed. In this way, it can be seen whether repairing the piece really is worth it from the financial point of view. In particular, keep in mind that original pieces of vintage and antique furniture often have great value. When restoring such pieces, old materials must be used, to be as faithful as possible to the original – be it wood, jute, seaweed, coir, cotton, or wool – since this is the only way to preserve their authenticity. And the fabric should also be as close to the original as possible, both in terms of quality and pattern. The next stage is to remove the damaged parts, replace the filling or springs, and the wooden parts. When the interior is done, the furniture fabric can be added to make the piece shine again. With regular vacuuming and brushing, as well as repairs or protective covers, you can extend the life of this kind of furniture.

4.1. Furniture fabric

When it comes to upholstery you need to choose the right fabric from the many types of furniture fabric that exist - these differ in terms of quality, structure, texture, strength, durability, resistance to cleaning agents, and certainly, price. The most expensive material is leather because it is so durable. It is not recommended for garden furniture because it doesn’t breathe and when we sit on it, we immediately start to sweat. Faux leather is cheaper and looks almost the same at first glance, although it cracks quickly and begins to peel. Other types of furniture fabric include silk, cotton, linen and polyester fabrics or different blends of these. In order to be suitable for upholstery, they must be thicker than material used for clothing. No less important is the foam used for upholstery. It should be of a certain thickness, softness, density, and stiffness, but also elastic enough to bounce back to its original shape even after prolonged, constant use.

When you’re choosing the fabric, you’re actually choosing the colour and design you want. Today’s technology means that virtually anything can be produced in any colour, so what you choose is solely down to your taste. In principle, lighter colours and beiges go harmoniously with most furniture. Vivid colours will make a particular piece of furniture really stand out. The same applies to the pattern, which can be striped, spotted, checked, geometric, floral, or animal print, which is currently especially popular. Even so, however bold you may be, be mindful of the impression that the entire space as a whole will leave.

5. Prices of furniture upholstery

Reupholstery is far more economical than buying something new. If you’re thinking about reupholstering a chair or your whole suite, first compare the price of this to that of buying everything anew. Reupholstery prices mostly depend on the condition of the furniture as it is this that determines what needs to be done. Is the fabric torn? Has the filling thinned? Are the springs rusty? Is there some mechanical damage to the wooden parts of the structure? The next factor when it comes to price is the price of the material, and above all the furniture fabric. The most expensive is real leather. Faux leather, denim, or other types of fabric are certainly cheaper. When choosing furniture fabric, don’t only look at the price because quality is also very important – it should last at least as long again. The price, of course, also includes labour costs, i.e. the time the upholsterer spends repairing the piece..