An upholsterer is a qualified tradesperson dedicated to design and manufacture of soft or padded furniture using some type of cover.

There are also many paths to specialisation in the field depending on the location where the craft is studied.

Some daily roles may include stripping furniture, repairing frames, cutting materials, sewing covers, re-springing seats, re-padding seats with various foams or other padding, fitting covers and fixing to the frame, adding finishes and adornments like gimp, braid, buttons or decorative studs.

Each of these roles require a depth of understanding to carry out the original craft of Upholstery.

Unfortunately in this modern age, we live in a disposable society.

The quality of mainstream furniture is lacking therefore the user looses any long term value.

As with any product including furniture, the higher the price you pay the greater the quality of the product.

Having a piece of furniture reupholstered will not necessarily be the cheapest option on face value but the quality of the end product and lifespan on that piece of furniture will be far greater.

Re-upholstered furniture will remain functional and wear with age not break down to the point of failure.

Similar to above, with flaking and peeling vinyls, when a lounge starts to sink or sag, it is a sign of a poor quality product (unless it has lasted you 20 years!).

The quality of the frame, webbing and foam used to manufacture the furniture is done in a cost effective manner, resulting in low quality and poor standards. Consequently, that’s why certain mainstream furniture shops are offering you that “bargain price” or “special package deal”.

To reupholster a poor quality product isn’t straightforward or worthwhile. Unfortunately we are living in a disposable society, and poor quality furniture can’t be recycled and reused. In these circumstances we suggest a better option for you would be to completely replace it and buy new.

To answer such a question is unfortunately not that straight forward; it really does depend on how much is involved to refurbish it (please see above “What is involved in reupholstering my furniture?”).

To help us gauge what is involved we need to inspect the piece of furniture we’re dealing with.

1. Please send us a photo of the whole piece along with close-up images if there is any finer detail – this will allow us to have a rough idea of what piece of furniture we are dealing with.                                                                                                                                                             .
2. Have an idea of what material you would like to recover your piece of furniture in – the range of materials available is huge and pricing varies accordingly. We only use high quality commercial grade materials on our projects. We have a huge range of samples at our store or you can look online at our affiliated partners (Warwick Fabrics, Zepel Fabrics, Wortley Group).                                                                                                                                                                                                           .
3. If possible, please bring your piece of furniture to our store e.g. a dining chair or armchair, ottoman etc. This lets us see your furniture firsthand and allows you the opportunity to browse our many samples. Once you have chosen a material, we will then be able to provide an accurate quotation for you.

Every piece of furniture is unique and has its own set of challenges. Generally speaking though, to have a piece of furniture reupholstered it involves:

• Discussion of colour, fabric, style and cost of upholstery with the client
• Repair the upholstered furniture by replacing covers, webbing, padding and springs
• Staple lengths of webbing (a wide tape) on to the underside of the furniture frame
• Stretch webbing from side to side, interlacing it to form a base for the padding
• Lace tops of springs together to prevent sideways movement and staple hessian to the frame
• Cut and fit foam padding
• Measure and prepare patterns followed by the cutting of various covering materials.
• Cover fixings with decorative braid, piping trim, buttons or nails and finish with a dustcover to the underside of the furniture

The simple most way to describe this problem is the cause- there is good leather v bad leather and good vinyl v bad vinyl.

By restoring a quality frame using locally supplied product you have a 100% guarantee that quality materials are being used.

If your dining chairs or lounge suite is peeling or flaking, it is not good leather or is not good vinyl.

The quality of imported furniture varies greatly, which can therefore be very deceiving and difficult to understand what you are paying for.

Good quality leather can be costly but yields long term value. To learn more about leather, go to our information blog: Leather Information

The quality of vinyls varies greatly and yes unfortunately cheap vinyls do peel and flake easily. However there are commercial grade vinyls available, which is both a quality product but a more realistic price tag in comparison to genuine leather.

Vinyl can be a much more cost effective alternative to leather – still have the look and feel of leather but without the price tag. If you choose a commercial grade quality vinyl, and you look after it, there is no reason why your piece of furniture wouldn’t last you 15-20 years.

Yes at Stylefurn we specialise in commercial upholstery. This includes:

• Banquets & booths
• Auditoriums, theatres & cinemas
• Dining chairs

Click the links above to learn more about each specialty. Also visit our Gallery Page to view some of our past projects.

No project is too big or too small – from existing seating to custom fit outs, we are happy to help.

Yes the design and production of custom furniture is one of our passions.

Custom chairs particularly we have an interest into – please click here to take a look at some the pieces we have designed and produced.