A New Lease of Life For Our Old Favourite Furniture

A New Lease of Life For Our Old Favourite Furniture

In these recessionary, penny-pinching times we have learn that buying cheap, disposable furniture can be a false economy.  Not only do these pieces end up piled in landfill, but recent investigations have discovered that they are often “not fit for purpose in the first place”.

Quality pieces of furniture, however, deserve to be loved and cherished over the years and passed from one generation to the next. What better way to show your devotion to these old favourite pieces than by giving them a new cover: like a new set of clothes!

Treating these old faithfuls to a new outfit not only brings them to life again but by using some of the latest fabric designs you will instantly update your interiors as well.

In short, it is definitely worth re-upholstering any furniture that was made well to begin with.  As an upholsterer I have seen lots of 19th century chairs and sofas that are not even beginning to show any signs of giving up the ghost.  Additionally, there is some modern furniture that is well made and worth owning which can often be bought at a discount due to marked covers or out of date fabric.  But, buy wisely:  there is a lot of furniture on the market that will not serve you as you would like.

If you decide to use a professional upholsterer then these are some points for you to consider:

• Ask for a quote before work begins.  Some upholsterers will quote from emailed photos but, usually they will include a caveat for any unforeseen problems - such as frame weakness or damage which will need to be put right before re-upholstering.  I’m rather wary of professionals who only give estimates as you don’t really know where you may end up.

• In Britain, the laws now requires that any post 1950 furniture be covered with fire retardant materials.  There must be a clearly visible label attesting to this.  If there is no label, or there is any doubt, then the furniture should be stripped and all flammable materials replaced with compliant materials.

• In some instances the furniture only needs to be re-padded rather than being completely stripped.

• Make sure that you know what work will be done on your furniture.  In my business, I invite clients to visit the studio so that they can see the progress of the work or I will email progress photos to them.  

I urge you to re-use the wonderful furniture that already exists.  Constant mass production of poor quality furniture is not helpful to the environment and is really not a wise use of your money.