Multiyork sofa - recover or get rid of

[Maggiethecat]

The sofa is about 20years, well constructed but needs recovering.

Had a quote from the company which specialises in covering these sofas (Multiyork went out of business some time ago but their sofas are still going strong) for about £900 to supply new covers.

There's an extra £120 for fitting it (ie they post the covers to you to fit yourself but you can pay for someone to fit covers if you think you'd struggle).

This is in the new sofa territory of costs, albeit perhaps not of same quality, and I'm wondering if I should just get rid of the sofa if there is no cheaper alternative for recovering.

Btw, got a quote from a local company that would charge £1500 plus VAT

If the sofa is in new condition apart from the upholstery then I would keep it and recover personally. Newer sofas are really not built as sturdily as they used to be so I would cling on to a quality build for as long as I could.

Had a Multiyork Sofa back in the late 1990’s and wish I had it still.

None of the Sofas that have followed have been the same build quality.

If you still like the shape I would recover in a heartbeat.

Multiyork quality is really good. I would get the new covers. I think you will regret getting rid of it and getting a new sofa that only lasts you a few years.

I joined this thread to post more or less word for word what @Curlewcall said.
Hugely regret getting rid of my Multiyork sofas, the £5k Parker Knoll replacement is nothing like as comfy

I regret getting rid of mine too. I'd look for a different upholsterer. You need one one an industrial estate in the arse end of nowhere.

What’s the name of the company that quoted you £900, please, @Maggiethecat? I’ve got MultiYork sofas too, and although they don’t need new covers yet, it’d be useful to have the information to hand.

I agree with what you've all said! Very comfortable sofa.

I'm not mad about the shape but it is fairly neutral so doesn't stick out from other pieces.

Will have a rethink!

@AwkwardSquad - it's mysofacovers.com

My parents recently used the company who took over covering Multiform sofas. They were really, really good. They have the original patterns for all the sofas so the covers were made to fit perfectly. They were really pleased with the result. I would second not buying a new sofa if the bones of your current one are still good, you won't get the same quality.

*multiyork! Stupid autocorrect!

Can’t believe they’ve gone bust. Gutted!

Thanks, @Maggiethecat :)

Absolutely keep the Multiyork.

We've kept ours, it's almost 25! Nothing we've bought since comes anywhere near it in terms of quality, including John Lewis and M & S. Not had it covered yet, but will be doing so at some point. Such a shame they went out of business

I've got a multiyork bought in 1995. I wish my body was still as firm as it was back then...
We had new loose covers made when it wasn't very old mainly cos a combination of cat and sunlight meant it looked tatty but those covers are still going strong.

Keep the Multiyork...that is all!

Yep keep it and get covers. We have huge regret over getting rid of our sofa bought early 2000s. If I'd had any idea how crap sofas are now, I would definitely have had it fixed and recovered.

If it's comfortable, I'd keep it. Comfortable sofas are like gold dust. We have a Multiyork and it's a piece of crap. Bought about 6 years, a few years before they went bust. I can see why, they were clearly cutting corners.

I had my 20+ year old multiyork sofas recovered. A few years later springs went in both of them so it was a bit of a waste.

Had mine covered. Love it. Feels like a new sofa and had the same dilemma as you.

Keep and recover. I've had a sofa from new for 34 year, recovered 3 times now.

@gooders1105 that is beautiful!

I have experience reupholstering, did a course for four years, only did armchairs though. But to cover a sofa you are looking at 20m of fabric, assuming you're fillings are still robust. There's an awful lot of work in recovering a sofa. We were advised to not do an armchair for less than £700 labour and that's excluding the upholstery quality fabric (go cheap here and you could regret it) and fillings...and if we made min wage we'd be doing well. So I'd say £1500 is an amazing price if it includes good quality fabric etc, it's mind blowing! There are plenty of ways of cutting corners though and that will affect the finish - depends on how you feel about these things. I chose not to recover my old sofa - even with me doing it, I couldn't make it pay.

Keep it and have it recovered.
Couple of options though, you can look on ebay for replacement covers - they do come up, easier if you know the model name which should be on a label inside your current covers. Or ask locally for suggested people who make loose covers, its not that hard as they can use your existing as a template.
Or you could have fixed covers made which can be cheaper as its often quicker to do this than make loose versions,
I have some multiyork furniture and the quality is fantastic.

Or one other option is to dye yours if the material is suitable?