Do-it-yourself sofa upholstery steps at home

To carry out the restoration of furniture, and specifically - the upholstery of the sofa with your own hands, is a laborious task, but quite doable.

And if you take into account the savings (buying a new one will be much more expensive), then it certainly makes sense to do a detailed study of the issue and immediately move from theory to practice.

In the process of work, you will have to face difficulties in any case. But with some knowledge, you can reduce the risk of failure.

First you need to find out in what situations it is not recommended to haul the sofa on your own.

Modern professional sofa reupholstery technology is noticeably different from the methods of working at home.

And in some cases, the work can cause certain difficulties and turn out to be completely impossible.

Most often, these moments occur if:

• The design of the sofa to be renovated is very complex and difficult;
• Elements of complex geometry of individual parts cause difficulties in constructing a pattern, and it is not at all easy to choose a fabric;
• The sofa has been in use for 10 years. In this case, it is unrealistic to do without additional repair of the frame, legs or replacement of the filler. Only professional craftsmen can do this;
• A sofa, which is an antique item and will require extremely careful handling;
• So-called complex material will be used as upholstery. Most often, they are leather or leatherette, which is problematic to work with at home, so it is better to refuse to pull the leather sofa.

Tightening technology at home

In many other cases, reupholstering a sofa at home is not difficult.

It is only important to adhere to the correct technology and carry out the work in stages:

• analysis of the subject of constriction into separate elements;
• removal of upholstery from parts;
• creating patterns for new upholstery material;
• fixing the cut upholstery on specific details of the sofa;
• assembly of the updated design.

Five correctly and consistently executed stages of the waist will allow you to do the job efficiently and inexpensively.

And to make everything perfect, consider each of them in more detail.

Dismantling of furniture into separate parts

Disassembling a sofa by elements, of course, is much easier than putting them back together later. But even at this stage, attention and patience cannot be dispensed with. First of all, you need to stock up on the right tool.

For these purposes, a screwdriver, screwdriver and pliers are suitable.

The first thing to do is to detach the sides of the sofa. Next comes the line of overhead elements (if any) - backrests, seats.

Work should be done slowly, very carefully and patiently, so as not to damage the structure itself.

Modern furniture is made taking into account high maintainability, so there should be no problems at this stage.

All removed fasteners (bolts, nuts, self-tapping screws, etc.) should preferably be put in one place.

Removing old upholstery from disassembled furniture

Worn tissue is removed carefully. The fastening brackets are carefully removed, and the material should be kept intact, since it is these parts that will serve for new patterns.

The next step is to inspect the metal parts that follow the filler for possible defects.

Springs are subject to a very thorough check, since subsequently, a missed flaw can bring a lot of trouble.

Sometimes manufacturers install mesh or belts instead. It's better to change them for new ones.

Open new upholstery

The quality of the sofa upholstery will largely depend on the correctly cut parts. Therefore, you should leave the old fabric, since it will be much easier to cut a new pattern on it.

And if it’s easy to drag an ordinary sofa, then a corner-type model will require more attention and work.

The technology for creating a pattern is not as complicated as it seems at first. It is necessary to measure the parameters of each individual surface: width, length, height.

It is necessary to mark the fabric with chalk, on level ground, be sure to add a few centimeters on each side to the hem. Strictly along the marked lines, the finished part is cut out.

Attaching new fabric

We put the prepared fabric on the desired surface, tuck the edges and fix it on a wooden frame with nails specially designed for furniture, or building brackets.

At the same time, it will be necessary to stretch the material on the details of the sofa evenly, otherwise nothing will work. The staples should be about 3-4 cm apart from each other.

To facilitate the lesson will help the initial strengthening of the fabric on the sides. Thus, it is not difficult to do everything.

When performing a sofa upholstery at home, it is difficult to do without errors and, as a rule, the most common is the incorrect calculation of the material.

And this, as you understand, leads to the main problem that suddenly arises - the lack of tissue. The objections that it is easy to buy in addition are not justified.

No one will guarantee that it will be possible to find exactly the same shade. There is only one conclusion - the fabric must be bought with a margin.

Even if there is plenty of it left, there is always the opportunity to sew another sofa cushion or sheathe a stool.

final assembly

At the final stage of the upholstery of the sofa at home, you need to once again carefully consider the updated details of the sofa, remember how it looked at the beginning.

All elements are laid out in order of assembly and the final assembly of the structure begins.

Work carefully and carefully, using the retained fastening tools.

The video in our article will tell you about the correct connection of the details of both simple and corner sofas, after watching which you will not make mistakes and do everything right.

How to choose material for a new sofa?

But before you start such a difficult task as replacing the upholstery of a sofa at home, you should be very careful in choosing the right material.

Please note that this applies not only to fabric, but also to various fillers. Let's dwell on some aspects of the choice.

Undoubtedly, when choosing, many will be guided by their taste and preferences. But still, think not only about the external beautiful appearance, but also about the practical side of your undertaking.

When going to the store or buying material elsewhere, make the following requirements for it:
check it for smell - high-quality material smells good, does not have sharp specific aromas;
check the pile - it should be firmly fixed on the surface and not tear out.

When buying facing fabric with an abstract small pattern, plain and lint-free, you can minimize its consumption.

It will be more difficult to save on fabrics with a geometric pattern.

For example, an ornament in a large cell implies their location in a certain direction, respectively, even the slightest inconsistency will be striking.

Experts consider the use of companion fabrics to be the best option for do-it-yourself sofa upholstery. For example, color and monophonic.

If you approach the process with a bit of imagination, you can achieve an original version in the new design of the sofa.

Such a choice as a bright colored back and seat, dark and plain side parts is quite common.

It looks very beautiful and original, and the practical benefits of such armrests are obvious - they get less dirty.

Sintepon as a filler

A synthetic winterizer as a sofa filler is most often used.

When buying finished furniture, it is extremely difficult to assess its quality, but if you buy this filler for your own sofa upholstery, use some tips.

First of all, pay attention to the color - it should be as white as possible. This indicates the high quality of the product.

But the presence of even the slightest shade should warn you that, most likely, toxic raw materials of not the best quality were used in the manufacture.

The smell also speaks of quality - a good synthetic winterizer should not spread a sharp specific aroma around it. Rather, it should smell neutral.

And finally, strength. It is very difficult to break a high-quality synthetic winterizer with your hands. It will take some effort, and even then it will not always work out.

But if in your hands the filler fabric delaminates or it seems that the product seems to slip between your fingers, calmly refuse to buy.

And no matter what kind of sofa you had, simple or corner, upholstered in fabric or leather, the work in the end will be done with high quality and will bring satisfaction.