Does your upholstered furniture look old and worn out? Have become attached to it and don’t want to replace it? You may have considered changing up its upholstery. Reupholstering furniture is one of the easiest ways to inject some life into it, and freshen up the look of a space. Purchasing common upholstery fabrics also cost much less than buying a brand new piece of furniture.
Reupholstering furniture is also a great way to extend the life of furniture that has been passed down from generations. Many people don’t even consider reupholstery because of limited reliable furniture stores that provide the skills to reupholster furniture. Also, the process can be stressful and may take time.
How can you determine if you should reupholster furniture instead of just buying new furniture?
If your furniture is more than 15 – 20 years old and the frame hasn’t begun to fall apart, it is probably good quality, which would make it worth restoring. Generally, older furniture tends to have sturdier frameworks than newer models because of the timber used for the frame.
Often, you can feel how solid the furniture’s framework is by simply sitting on it. If the frame feels sturdy, and if the coil springs are in good condition (meaning they don’t collapse when sitting and getting up), the piece is usually worth saving. After years of use, your upholstery will fade in certain areas, become torn, and lose the padding and spring in its cushions. Having said that, upholsterers can usually also repair worn out springs and foam.
You can take such furniture to the attic, drag it to the sidewalk, or get it professionally restored with new upholstery. Take a look at our pros and cons to help you decide what to do!
Pros of reupholstering your furniture:
-Take an opportunity to redesign a room in your house with a bright, bold pattern for your sofa. Then redecorate the room around the piece.
-You can continue to enjoy that favourite sofa, chair, or loveseat, instead of buying a new (and possibly less comfortable) replacement.
-You can save money. Depending on the condition of the item in question, reupholstering can be less expensive than buying new furniture.
– Reupholstering is eco-friendly and good for the environment. When you have your furniture reupholstered, you are recycling your furniture instead of adding it to a landfill.
– If you choose to reupholster furniture, you’ll most likely be choosing to hang on to a high quality piece of furniture. Antiques are almost always made of sturdier materials than the furniture that is manufactured today. Your upholstered antique likely has a wood frame and high quality materials. Brand new furniture likely would incorporate particle board, plastic, and vinyl.
Cons of reupholstering your furniture:
– It can be difficult to find the right upholsterer with the necessary skills. This is important so that your furniture is not damaged by workers who may not understand what is entailed.
– A good upholstery job does not happen overnight, and the job can take days or even weeks.
– If the piece of furniture’s frame is damaged, the cost of reupholstering might be high. In this case, you would need to take into consideration how important the furniture is to you, and if it would be worth reupholstering.
There are more pros than cons when deciding to reupholster over purchasing new furniture. Many people have misconceptions about the price of reupholstering, and would rather just purchase a brand new piece.
If you have an antique piece of furniture, it may be worth looking at the quality of the framework, as the decision to reupholster could save you money in the long run. Buying a new piece of furniture today, which is likely mass-produced, will often be made of poor quality material.
In the current market, new furniture does not usually have a quality, solid frame. Often, it is made out of material such as cheap pinewood, as opposed to oak, maple, cherry, or mahogany used in the past. This means that it might not cost much more to reupholster an old piece than it would to buy a new piece of equal quality. On the other hand, if you decide to buy a new, cheaper piece of furniture you may find yourself in the same position as you are now in 10 years time questioning whether or not you should reupholster!
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