we often get asked for our best re-upholstery tips. The things we have learned along the way in the trade as well as facts that are well known throughout the upholstery business that we use to help us with every project.

One of the first things to consider is whether the piece is actually worth re-upholstering. We are all about honesty at Central Upholstery, so we will tell you if it is worth spending your money on it or not. Our reputation means more to us than taking your money, so honesty is key for us.

Another consideration, which may seem quite obvious, but is not always thought about, is whether the furniture actually goes with the rest of the furniture within that room. Although you may have stumbled across a beautiful antique chair for a great price, and you are upholstering it in complimentary fabric for the room, double check that the style of the furniture piece actually works along side your existing furniture?!

Would allocating it to another room look better? Would changing the original plan work better for the styling of the room?!

If upholstery was easy and everyone could do it, we wouldn’t be as successful as we are. And while it is always great to try the DIY approach, if you aren’t confident in what you are doing, do not touch the existing piece of furniture. It is far quicker for us to use the existing template of fabric from the furniture rather than to start from scratch – saving yourself money in the long run.

Not only this, but as experts, we also have the right tools to handle the job, so removing fabrics at home without the correct tools may end up with damage caused to the furniture itself.

Finally, when you are thinking about re-upholstering something, remember that there may be more costs that just the fabric and labour.
We tend to be able to tell from just looking at the furniture, so we will quote accordingly for this before hand, but that isn’t always the case and sometimes when we see the furniture stripped, the structural elements may need repairing or the foam needs replacing. Before completing this, we will of course re-quote you and check you are happy with us to carry out the work.

We try to be as transparent as possible, but when things sneak up on us, we will always check first as your experience and satisfaction with our work is important to us!