Save Money on Furniture with Reupholstery

Sometimes you just want to change the look of your front room without actually changing your front room. It sounds a little contradictory, doesn't it? How about if I explain with a situation that's happened to me recently.

I love my living room, its airy, its comfy but... one of my sofas doesn't match the other. Shock horror, you think, buy a new one! Well, I would, but I'm guessing there are other people out there who are a little like me and don't have the money to go out and simply buy a new piece of furniture. Or if they do, their funds are limited and so is their choice. The truth of the matter is that, I don't hate the couch that doesn't match, its a sweet little love seat with squashy cushions that's the right size and shape. I just don't like the colour.

The best way forward for me, and possibly quite a few of you, is to simply reupholster the sofa.

Jazzing it up

To be fair not every single one of you probably needs to reupholster the entire sofa, or if you do it might be for other reasons; it may just be that maybe its a little too well loved in certain spots (like the main cushions) or there's a spot that just will not come out from the back rest. It could be that you've used a loose cover, which are wonderful things, but sometimes you don't want drapes and folds, you want a snug fit. Which is why reupholstering the sofa might be the better idea for you.

Costing it out

If you have used a loose cover before, well, you've already got half your material! For the rest of us it's a pleasant excuse to meander around the nearest home renovations place and test the fabrics they have on offer. Remember you want a durable fabric in your chosen colour and pattern, sofas take a lot more abuse than you realise (think about how you throw yourself down on it at the end of a hard day). If you can't find the fabric you want in a nearby shop then there is always internet shopping, which is going to have a much larger range of colours, patterns and materials, sometimes at a cheaper price as they don't need to include the cost of a show room.

Before you order just remember to measure every square inch of your sofa and add on a little extra for seams and mishaps.

The Final Product

There are many helpful sites with step by step guides on how to renew your sofa upholstery, there are also a number of tutorial videos floating about the web that cover any problems you may find during your foray into reupholstery. But when you've finally finished it and slotted your couch back into its rightful place in your living room you may find yourself doing what I did and eyeing your ottoman thinking “hmm, that might need a makeover too.”



By: Vari Lloyd

Vari Lloyd is a whizz with soft furnishings, when she isn't hunting down the latest interior fashions she's applying them to her own home, her latest fascination is with sofa upholstery.