The Low-Down on Upholstery
You have decided your house needs a new look. Maybe that means going the whole hog – taking down walls, laying new carpets and adding fresh wall coverings. Maybe, though, you only need some new furniture. Either way you need to decide on a look. This low-down on upholstery points you towards the key decisions and factors to think about.
Whether your project involves a complete rebuild or just a bit of tinkering, you need to get the upholstery right. It is going to involve some major decisions, whether it is for a new sofa like the Goodall two seat sofa or just a new piece for the bedroom like the Ayrton headboard. The choices you make will live with you for years. Approach the planning logically and look after the upholstery properly once it is in place and you can expect years of good service.
Off-the-Shelf or Custom Made?
The key decision this low-down on upholstery points you towards is whether to go for something unique or whether to settle for seeing what you can pick up in a shop. There are advantages to both. Off-the-shelf is likely to be cheaper and you can see exactly what you are getting before you buy it. These days, on the other hand, it is increasingly affordable to get something custom made. If you go down the bespoke fabric route, you have control over every part of the feel and design. You also know there is no chance anybody else will have anything identical.
The same considerations apply whether you are looking to re-cover an existing item of furniture or put your own stamp on a new piece. The look, the feel and the practicality are all part of the low-down on upholstery decision-making process. Leave none of them to chance.
Think carefully about where the item is going to go. Consider how much wear and tear it will face. What kind of decor does it have to fit in with? Decide whether you are more worried about comfort or appearance. They all matter and you may have to make a few compromises. When if is all done, you will be left with something you can take real pride in.
There are plenty of designer fabric outlets to investigate. Some even work in the discount market if your design ideas are flexible enough.
Picking the Furniture
Often, you are making these decisions because you are getting new furniture. It may be going into an existing room or be part of a bigger redesign but either way, the size of the item is the first thing to look at.
If you are looking at sofas or chairs, then you probably want to go for comfort. That means making it as big as you can – always remembering the space it has to fit into.
Whether you are heading for a showroom or a bespoke sofa manufacturer, the low-down on upholstery points you towards some catches to watch out for. Remember the floor space that something like the Gosling three seat sofa will occupy is not the same as the amount of space you have to use. Padded back and arm rests do cut into your space. If you have cushions as well, they add to the difference between the total dimensions and the seating area. It might be a joy to slump into the welcoming embrace of a big, squelchy cushion at the end of a hard day but that luxury uses up space.
In the Bedroom
Of course, not every upholstery decision is going to be for areas on public display. You need to think about the designs in places like the bedroom as well. If you are looking for bespoke wooden headboards or bespoke upholstered headboards like the Ogilvie headboard, you have just as many choices as with furniture. The low-down on upholstery is that the types of wear and tear they will be exposed to are different. You also probably want to head towards the soft, snuggly and comfortable end of finishes available like in the Glover headboard.
The Low-Down on Fabric
There are plenty of manufactured options, and many will be more durable than the natural alternative. On the other hand, the natural look is hard to replicate and will look good in almost any setting.
Among the coverings to look at are are leather, polyester, olefin, rayon, wool, acetate, cotton, silk, acrylic and linen. To save you counting, that’s a list of 10 to pick from before you start to think about the choice of colours and patterns.
Low-Down on Upholstery Groups
Before getting down to the nitty-gritty, decide on the broad direction you are going. Here, things get a little simpler. Your low-down on upholstery choices can be broadly categorised as: leather or leather-look, some kind of manufactured fabric, a fully natural cloth or an artificial base mixed with a natural fibre.
Leather is classy, hard wearing and easy to clean. It can be a bit cold to the touch, though, and might be one of the more expensive options.
Many artificial fabrics like polyester and acetate can be used on their own. This has advantages but, in practice, they are often mixed with wool or cotton to give the best of both worlds. You get that natural look and feel alongside the durability of a modern manufactured product.
It probably won’t be as easy to clean as leather but can be treated to resist stains and water damage. Some have a poor reputation from the period half a century ago when they were new and easy to set alight but this is no longer true. Modern materials are flame-proofed and safe.
Wool, cotton, linen and silk all have their uses. Without extra protection, though, none of them cope well with children or pets so they are best reserved for formal locations. They are often the choice for top designer fabrics, however, because they look superb, can be dyed to any colour and created in any pattern.
Low-Down on Upholstery Choices
You are on safe ground if you are buying the fabric from the same place as the frame. The covering will have been tested to make sure if fulfils all the safety requirements and that it will last. It will probably come ready-treated, so those styles more vulnerable to stains and dirt will have some protection.
You have to be clear about the kind of risks it is likely to face. Is your prime focus practical matters like durability, how easy it is to clean and so on? Or can you afford to worry more about the look and feel, knowing it is always going to be carefully cared for? The details will depend on exactly what you are buying. They are one thing for a sofa like the Hawking modular sofa and a chair – totally different for something like a bespoke headboard such as the Grosseteste headboard.
Designer Fabrics for Upholstery
Don’t get too carried away by the appearance. Remember the fabric has a practical function as well as a stylistic one. You must factor in, the extra costs that may create.
Top of the list is safety. Some level of fire retardant is a must. Even in a modern house, the fabric has to be able to deal with a spark or momentary exposure to a flame. Use a fire-resistant liner between the fabric and the stuffing if you are determined to use untreated material.
A strong second is durability. There is a technical specification. It is called the Martindale Test and puts a number on the covering’s resistance to rubbing.
The Martindale Test
The number reflects how often you can expect to rub the fabric before it tears or wears a hole. You may consider 10,000 sounds like a lot or rubs. Think about how often a piece of furniture is used, though. Then you realise how quickly you will reach that number of rubs.
Looked at like that, 10,000 is the minimum acceptable even on furniture you don’t expect to he used much. Even then, 15,000 should be the lowest you actually contemplate.
So if you are buying a piece like the Turing four seat corner sofa with chaise, go for 20,000 to 25,0000. For furniture in daily use, and if you have children or pets, it is worth going for a heavy fabric with a rating of up to 30,000. Above that and you are into the quality and price demanded by commercial venues like hotels and restaurants.
The Low-Down on the Upholstery Stain Game
This partly depends on what covering you have gone for. Leather and leather-look coverings tend to be stain resistant anyway. All you need is the occasional polish to freshen them up.
For the softer, more absorbent fabrics, however, you have to make sure they last beyond the first cup of tea, glass of wine or fruit juice somebody drops.
Fortunately, there are a large number of treatments out there that do the job. If you are buying direct, stain resistant treatments often come as standard, or are available at a small extra cost. You can also buy spray-on treatments. That means you can do it yourself as long as you follow the instructions carefully.
None of the stain protectors last forever. They probably have to be renewed from time to time. The wear and tear they face will determine the exact timing.
Low Down on Upholstery Details
You’ve picked out the furniture, settled on a fabric – so job done?
Not really, not if you want full control over the finished product. The finicky little details may seem to be a bit of an irritation but they do matter in the final appearance and may make all the difference when it comes to how long the finish will last.
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Seams – Hidden or Out-and-Proud
Take the seams, for example. You cannot wrap a piece of fabric round something without them, but it makes a huge difference whether you try to hide them or make them a design feature.
Hidden seams, usually sewn from the inside, are harder to repair if things go wrong years down the line. Dirt might get trapped in them if they are deep. On the other hand they don’t distract from the look, and they are usually well away from daily wear and tear.
Some manufacturers use what are known as “piped seams” to be part of the design. These sit proud of the surface, usually to highlight an edge. They can be either in the same material as the main part or picked out in a contrasting colour to add a bit of variation.
Buttons
Many upholsterers like to use buttons to break up large panels. They once served a functional purpose – and may still do so – but these days are just as often purely decorative.
A lot of furniture design goes back to the days before modern materials. All soft furnishings were stuffed in those days. Sometimes it was with something soft like cotton, but often it was something harder wearing such as horsehair. Either way, there was a danger that if you had a large flat area, the stuffing would slip and bunch over time. The danger was greater when the piece got old and the fabric stretched a little. The solution was to divide it into compartments by pulling the fabric together and holding the joins in place with buttons.
Modern furniture has less risk of slippage because it is probably made with an artificial padding such as foam. People are used to the look, though. They see it as lending the item a traditional, classy appearance. This works whether you have gone the full hog for the traditional look or just want to mix things up a bit in a room with a more contemporary design.
Low-Down on Upholstery Wrap
Whether you are going for a designer sofa, a bespoke chair, a custom headboard or any of the dozens of other pieces of furniture, the low-down on upholstery is that the look is a key decision. There is a lot to think about. Get it right and it can transform a room.
