Few objects in the home can convey a sense of personal history as profoundly as furniture.


Maybe you have family heirloom furniture that always sparks a conversation when it’s mentioned to or seen by relatives. Maybe you hold on to the first pieces of truly well-crafted furniture you could afford, because it reminds you of where you have been and how far you’ve come over the years.

I have two massively heavy armchairs, which my family believes were built by my great-grandfather, a furniture maker. They have classic lines, a welcoming look … but they are covered in rather tattered, stained and outdated gold brocade fabric. They’ve spent most of their time with me, shamefully, cloaked in cheap slipcovers.

I love these chairs, and have often considered having them reupholstered. But what would the process entail?

As I found out from experts – people who have worked in upholstery for decades – it takes little more than a willingness to invest in the past.

“We get asked a lot, ‘Does it cost more to recover than to buy a new one?’ I wish there was a direct answer. If you buy a low end of furniture … yes. But if you’re looking at a quality piece of furniture, on the higher end, we do those for quite a bit less than what those cost,” said Fred Strang Jr., second-generation owner of Fred’s Upholstery in Woodstock. His father, Fred Strang Sr., opened the shop in 1948.

Sylvia Chavez, owner of Isaac’s Upholstering in Geneva, said a chair typically costs $300 to $500 to reupholster.

“The older the chair, the bigger the chair, the more details, the more money,” she said.

So we know it costs money to make an old piece new, but what should you look for in an upholsterer?

Look for a well-established business. Seek word-of-mouth referrals from friends and family. Hire someone who picks up and delivers furniture.

Shops will stock fabric, even thousands of fabrics, but most will let you supply your own. Chavez explained shops make a profit using the fabric they stock. So you will likely be charged something akin to a corkage fee to bring in your own.

If you have a true antique, Strang said, you should try to maintain it in original form as long as possible.

“If they get to the point where they’re not acceptable to put in the living room, it’s just deteriorated, now we have to do something. We can touch up and repair, but they do come to the point where they’re not appropriate,” Strang said.

Similarly, Chavez said her shop will polish and clean wood, as opposed to stripping and refinishing it, to preserve an antique’s value or the original look of an heirloom piece.

When a shop goes to work on a piece of furniture, it should be completely stripped of fabric and stuffing. An upholsterer will examine the wood skeleton, tightening it as needed.

Attention is then turned to the foundation, Chavez said. If you are lucky enough to have eight-way hand-tied furniture, the springs should be retied. If the piece is more contemporary, it might have zigzag springs. Chavez’s shop will install nylon webbing under the springs for better support.

Older furniture stuffed with horsehair is restuffed with the same material, while newer furniture gets new foam in cushions.

“The horsehair stays, because that is why a piece of furniture that is 50 years old is still around. It doesn’t mat down. It doesn’t disintegrate,” Chavez said.

Then comes the fun part – the fabric. With color, texture and pattern, you can literally create a new chair from the old – if that’s your aim.

“Basically you can completely redefine [furniture],” Chavez said. “We can change the legs, change the skirt. We can add or subtract almost anything.”

When your furniture is delivered with its new personality, it should look like new.

“There’s a trick to upholstery, people say the trick is to make it look like it hasn’t been recovered ever,” Strang said.

– By Kristen Turner