Anyone had a sofa reuphostered? Tips and recommendations this way please...

[culturemulcher]

Just that, really

We've got a tatty old sofa (second hand already when it came to us) which we love. But since we kitten-sat it's now definitely more shabby than chic.

And if you did it recently, how much did it cost, including fabric? I'm trying to weigh up if it's actually worth getting ours reupholstered or whether we should just keep looking for a new one.

Any tips or recommendations?

Only that its more expensive than you think. I think my quote was around £700 and that was for a pretty standard 2 seater sofa in not too expensive fabric.

Thanks Mandy. May I ask, was that recently?

We've worked out that a similar new sofa would probably be £1500 - so £700 weighed up against that would be okay... over £1000 we'd probably swallow hard and buy a new one.

yes, twice. antique day bed was about £1000, and our water-damaged expensive sofa (£3K new) was £1.5K to re-cover in the same wool fabric. So it does cost a lot, but if the sofa frame is high quality or antique then it is worth it. if the basic frame is cheap, then don't bother.

Thanks Parietal - sounds as though it might be worth doing, then.

The sofa was second hand to us, so I've no idea if it's a very good quality frame or not, although I think it might be. It's in generally good condition, just has wrecked cushion covers thanks to a sustained attack by a kitten!

If it's just new cushion covers you need that should be way less - couple of hundred depending on the fabric. And if you go loose covers made from ikea fabric (v durable) then you are only looking at £6-10 per metre for the fabric. Other upholstery fabric can cost anything from 20-150 quid a metre.

Lots of people do upholstery in a very low key "from home" way so try to use one of them (I use mums at school - ask around) and they will be cheaper than someone who advertises and has expensive high st premises etc

It was a couple of years ago. I think the fabric was about £20 a metre or thereabouts - Next / Laura Ashley in the sale and it was a relatively small sofa. Good luck!

Thanks both - I'll ask around to see if there's anyone more 'low key' and local! Thanks for the Laura Ashley tip for material too - there's one near me and I wouldn't have thought to look there.