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Re-upholstery or Recovery?

Re-upholstery should not be confused with recovery. Much depends on the quality of the piece when made from new. Often people have a romantic notion about family heirlooms or treasured items of furniture, these depending on their maker were often high volume production pieces of their time. It is difficult for the upholsterer to assess in detail just how much work is required until the piece is stripped back to the frame. In essence any frame can be rebuilt or copied but often the cost of copying or remaking as a one off is prohibitive.

Re-upholstery involves the removing of all the primary fabric, secondary fabrics, linings, fillings and springs. The frame should normally be checked and remedied for any structural problems: damaged rails, loose joints, worm etc. Any polished work is normally carried out at any stage before the new primary fabric is applied. This may involve stripping the existing finish, re-staining, French polishing or reviving only.

Recovering in contrast can be quite superficial, involving lesser skills than building new shapes. The primary fabric is removed and usually only new surface fillings are added prior to the new fabric being applied.

Recovery is not always feasible in a high proportion of modern manufactured styles as the work is too labour intensive to reproduce as a one off and in some cases the poor quality of the frame cannot justify recovery let alone re-upholstery. When recovery is justifiable the skill, in the main, is in reproducing the styling of the many component parts - 120 is not uncommon in a lounge suite. These require cutting, collating and sewing into three dimensional shapes. This exact reproduction of the original style often out-prices the initial cost of the work and beyond.

In essence, the work can often be, after consultation with the client, a combination of both of the above, with some areas, in particular the seat, requiring back to the frame; possibly a new cushion and where appropriate new springs and stuffing, prior to recovering.