Upholstery comes from the Middle English word upholder, which referred to an artisan who makes fabric furnishings. The term is equally applicable to domestic, automobile, airplane and boat furniture, and can be applied to mattresses, particularly the upper layers, though these often differ significantly in design.

noun, plural up·hol·ster·ies. the materials used to cushion and cover furniture. the business of an upholsterer.

To upholster is to cover a piece of furniture with fabric and soft padding. The act of making these furniture coverings is also upholstery, and when you do it, you upholster. The word for the expert who specializes in this, upholsterer, came first, from the Middle English upholden, “to repair.”

adjective

/ʌpˈhəʊl.stəd/ (of a chair or other seat) covered with cloth and filled with a soft substance: a nicely upholstered couch. We were lounging in beautifully upholstered armchairs.

The average cost to reupholster furniture is $200 to $1,000 for chairs and $600 to $1,800 for a couch or sofa. Prices depend on the size of the piece, fabric, repairs, finishes, and labor. Upholstery fabric costs $30 to $60 per yard on average, and labor charges are $50 to $100 per hour.

Yes, It is always worth reupholstering your furniture if your frame isn’t broken or damaged. You support local workroom professionals, and save potentially perfect furniture from a landfill. This is a more sustainable approach to furniture than buying new every time your fabric is damaged or worn out.

That’s just a basic explanation of what goes into the process of reupholstering car seats, but it can be quite labor intensive. You have to not only take the current upholstery off, but hog ring the new ones on and ensure that it is in place and won’t move around over time.

It makes sense to reupholster if your sofa is very high quality or has an unusual frame. It is possible that the cost of reupholstering it would be less than buying a new sofa of comparable quality. You may have a perfectly good sofa that can be brought back to life by just re-covering with a new fabric.

Chair Reupholstery Costs The cost to reupholster a chair ranges from $50 to $2,000, or $800 on average. This includes labor at $40 to $100 per hour and $50 to $70 per yard in fabric. Reupholstering a chair can be a wonderful way to get a custom piece that still feels like home.

Couch Reupholstery Cost Reupholstering a couch costs $600 to $4,000, with an average cost of $1,750. You’ll pay $50 to $70 per yard on average for fabric, with labor rates of $40 to $100 per hour. If you have a beautifully-crafted sofa with fabric that needs a little TLC, reupholstery might be a great option.

The age of the piece will also play a factor, with furniture over 50 years old generally costing more due to additional interiors that need repairing or replacing. Chair reupholstery costs around £425 – £800.

Luckily, as long as the bones of the furniture are in good shape, a bit of fabric and some staples can give an outdated or otherwise unsavory chair a whole new look. Whether you’re updating an old favorite or refreshing a flea market find, reupholstering a chair is a DIY project that can make a big impact.

The average salary for a upholsterer is £11.02 per hour in United Kingdom.

Reupholstering a couch or loveseat isn’t an easy DIY project—it is time-consuming and requires research and note-taking. Once you’re ready to start your new upholstery project, check out our step-by-step guide: Study your couch.

So long as the old fabric isn’t darker than your new fabric, you can even upholster right over it.

Upholstery can be an intimidating project, but it seems more complicated than it actually is. A thrift store arm chair with simple lines, a sturdy frame and good padding makes a perfect subject for a novice upholsterer.

Reupholstering a sofa sadly is not a quick and easy project. If you have ever looked into paying someone else to reupholster your furniture, you know it costs a LOT of money and there is good reason for that. Upholstery is time-consuming, especially when you are dealing with something as large as a couch.

If you have a leather sofa that has seen better days, with worn or torn seat cushions and arms, you may wish that you could afford a new one; but reupholstering the sofa yourself is likely easier than you imagine. Whether you are upholstering leather or some other fabric, the procedure is the same.

Bear in mind that if there’s only one cover on the cushion, you can recover the chair without even removing the old fabric; simply lay the new fabric over the old. When dealing with a cushion that has more than one cover, however, take off the top layer by drawing out the staples that hold it in place.

9 Ways to Update a Chair without Reupholstering

1. Chalk Paint on Fabric. Did you know you paint directly onto fabric using Annie Sloan paint??
2. Latex Paint on Fabric.
3. Decoupage.
4. Replace the Seat Fabric.
5. Add Nail Trim.
6. Spray Paint.
7. Stencil and Paint.
8. Wax Paper Transfer.

Here are the steps:

1. Carefully remove cording.
2. If tufted, remove buttons.
3. Remove fabric on the top part of chair.
4. Use the old fabric as a pattern to cut your new fabric.
5. Replace fabric and foam on top half of chair.
6. Now for the seat.
7. Make your cording.
8. Attach your cording to the chair.

to reupholster a sofa in this way you will need: a staple gun and staples (7/16″ and smaller will work for most). basically all you need to do is cut, tuck, stretch pull and staple the fabric over the existing stuffing and cushions with the goal being to hide all the staples and smooth out all the wrinkles.

There is no need to remove the old fabric. Now, simply tuck your fabric and staple with your hand powered staple gun. I used a compressor and heavy duty staple gun with 1/4″ staples. Be sure to staple to the wood part/frame of the sofa.

You already know that your sofa is the right size and shape for your room but you fancy a change. Recovering it with the latest fabric all give you the look and feel of a brand new sofa for a lot less than the cost of buying brand new. We strip back your sofa to the bare frame.

Thankfully we have tried and tested all the ways to bring a second life to your sofa.

1. Bring the fluff and structure back into your sofa.
2. Dye your sofa covers.
3. Change/Make a new slipcover.
4. Change the sofa legs.
5. Restore your old couch through Re-upholstery.
6. Fix a tear in the sofa.
7. Remove unwanted odour.

You might be surprised just how simple it is to teach an old sofa some new tricks.

1. New Throw Pillows. The easiest and likely least expensive option is to get some new throw pillows.
2. Add Some Nailhead Trim.
3. Stuff Saggy Cushions.
4. Switch Out the Legs.
5. Cover it Up.

Using spray paint is not the only way to paint faded fabric. You can mix one quart of acrylic paint with two bottles of textile medium and apply the mixture to faded fabric with standard paintbrushes. You can also apply fabric dye to faded fabric using a pump sprayer, which you can buy at any home improvement store.