The sofa is central to the living room. The harmony and comfort of the room depends on its appearance. But what if the sofa upholstery has lost its appeal, is worn out or torn? Or maybe, after repair, the old sofa no longer fits into the new interior? Do not rush to the furniture store, because you can change the sofa upholstery yourself. This will help not only save on the purchase of new furniture, but also show imagination and design inclinations. In the article, we will tell you how to choose a beautiful and practical fabric for upholstery, and a detailed workshop will help you to update your old sofa at a minimum cost.
Choose fabric
The choice of fabric is a responsible task. It is necessary to select such a material so that it is attractive, harmonizes with the interior, is also durable, practical and easy to clean. If the house has small children and animals, the task becomes even more difficult. Spilled juice, cookie crumbs, chocolate, sharp claws are all risk factors for upholstery.
The most popular materials are: flock, chenille, jacquard, velor, tapestry and leather:
- Flock is a synthetic fabric with the addition of cotton. It has a pleasant velvet structure, is well cleaned, resistant to claws and ultraviolet. Ideal for home with children and animals.
- Chenille is made from dense twisted threads, so it is resistant to abrasion, does not absorb dirt and odors. The texture of the fabric is very pleasant, resembles velor.
- Jacquard is a natural material and is suitable for people prone to allergies. It is made from cotton threads by complex weaving. The structure of the fabric is stiff and does not tolerate wet cleaning.
- Velor looks great in the interior, but requires special care. Despite the solid base, the pile is quickly worn away, so this upholstery is not suitable for intensive use.
- The tapestry has a pronounced texture and high density. It is well established as a durable and wear-resistant upholstery, but the fabric quickly fades.
- Upholstery leather uses natural and artificial, the so-called eco-leather. It does not absorb odors and pollution, perfectly clean, but if there are animals in the house, skin is not the best solution.
Before rushing to the store for the selected fabric, it is necessary to calculate its quantity. Ideally, it is necessary to remove the upholstery, spread it on a flat surface and measure it. A simpler way: take two lengths and two widths of the sofa. Get an approximate amount of material with a small margin. If the selected fabric has a large pattern, you need to add another 1-1.5 meters to fit the result.
The material should be taken with a margin, because it is not always possible to buy it, and from the surplus you can sew another sofa cushion or leave it in case of minor repair of the upholstery.
Tools and materials
In order to replace the sofa upholstery at home, you will need the following tools and materials:
- Screwdrivers, wrenches and pliers. Need to make out the sofa.
- Device for removing furniture staples. A flat screwdriver and pliers are suitable for these purposes.
- A cut of fabric and thread. The threads must be thick and strong to withstand the tension of the fabric.
- Tailor scissors, crayon or bar of soap, pins, needles for hand sewing. These tools will be needed in the manufacture of patterns.
- Steam iron.
- Sewing machine. The process of replacing the upholstery of the sofa will accelerate; there is the grinding of parts on a typewriter, rather than manually.
- Furniture stapler and staples.
Step-by-step instruction
It is not difficult to replace the sofa upholstery with your own hands, if you follow the instructions prepared by us. The old sofa will gain a second life and will delight with beauty and comfort for a long time to come.
Parsing the sofa
First of all, it is necessary to completely disassemble the sofa and remove all the accessories. So that during the subsequent assembly there will be no problems with finding the right screw, all the details can be put in a jar.
Next, remove the old upholstery, carefully removing all the brackets. It is important not to damage the fabric: it will be needed for cutting new upholstery. All seams are opened and threads removed. Details are numbered and mark the direction of the figure with an arrow. The old upholstery is steamed and smoothed with an iron.
Cutting the fabric
On a flat flat surface, the fabric selected for replacing the upholstery of the sofa is laid out. It distributes the ironed patterns of the old upholstery, taking into account the direction of the pattern and fix them with pins. Details are drawn around the outline with chalk or a bar of soap. Using tailor's scissors, the details of the new upholstery are cut out and the numbering is transferred to them.
The cut fabric is swept away and tried on a sofa. Covers should sits with a slight tension. If everything is in order, the details are sewn on a sewing machine.
Hauling and assembly
Ready-made covers are put on the sofa and, pulling the edges, secured with a furniture stapler. For the cover to fit nicely - without bubbles and creases, you need to stretch the fabric evenly. It is advisable to involve an assistant in the process, but you can do it yourself.
At the final stage, they assemble a sofa and fix fittings. If necessary, mechanisms can be lubricated with machine oil so that they do not creak.
Using a similar technology, the upholstery of a corner sofa is replaced.
Done! The sofa flaunts a new "outfit" and pleases the eye, and the owner can be proud of the work done.
In what situations is it better to attract specialists
Judging by the reviews, when replacing the upholstery of the sofa often there are problems that only specialists can solve:
- If the piece of furniture is very old, and in addition to upholstery, replacement of the filler and springs is required.
- If the design of the sofa is quite complicated, which can lead to problems during assembly at the final stage.
- If the upholstery of upholstered furniture has a complex cut. Without skills and experience in tailoring, repeating covers will be problematic.
- If the sofa is quite expensive, and there is a risk of spoiling it due to inexperience.
- If you plan to fit the interior with leather. Working with it requires certain skills and experience.
Replacing the sofa upholstery is a time-consuming process, but simple enough so that you can do it yourself. Self-hauling will save money and breathe new life into old furniture. The updated sofa will ideally fit into the interior and will serve faithfully for many years to come.