A thorough room update during renovationwill be incomplete if you do not take care of its furnishings. Of course, you can buy a completely new set to match the new image of the room. But is it worth it to categorically refuse an old chest of drawers or grandma's sofa if they are dear to you and can still serve you faithfully?
You can make a stylish, bright sofa from an old sofadesigner item, you need to paint the base and re-upholster the soft part. However, this will require some effort on your part. You will probably have to decide right away how to update it, since this item is one of the most common pieces of furniture for any home. Therefore, it is quite natural if the transformation of a somewhat outdated interior in a new way begins with the sofa.
Materials and tools required for work
The following materials, tools and devices will help you to update your sofa quickly and efficiently. It is advisable to stock up on them in advance:
To reupholster furniture you will need: a drill, a screwdriver, a ruler, a knife, scissors, a hammer, a stapler, and furniture nails.
- flat and cross-type screwdrivers;
- a set of locksmith keys;
- pliers;
- side cutters;
- Nippers;
- mounting stapler;
- a hammer for shoemaking work;
- sewing machine;
- scissors;
- marker (chalk);
- needles and threads;
- Furniture nails.
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Preparatory operations: disassembly, checking of springs, pattern
To carry out a full cycle of restorationthe old sofa should first be disassembled. Moreover, the disassembly should be carried out in a certain order in order to perform the work with high quality. In many cases, this will not be difficult to do, since manufacturers most often make sofas in case form, which significantly simplifies repair and restoration operations.
Sofa design.Remove any cushions, backs, ottomans and other overhead elements from the item. Then remove the old upholstery with a screwdriver and side cutters (pliers). This should be done very carefully, as worn fabric can tear from a careless movement, and you will need it whole later. After “exposing” the interior, it is imperative to check the integrity and functionality of the wooden frame, springs and filler. Cracked or rotten frame bars are replaced with new ones. Also, metal springs (if they are present in the sofa, of course) are replaced without repair in case of severe wear, weakness or cracks. When restoring upholstered furniture, it is advisable to change the filler, regardless of its appearance. The fact is that foam rubber, which is most often used as a material for the specified sofa component, is a very short-lived raw material. Since in recent years the industry has developed a variety of modern materials for furniture production, it is recommended to use one of these materials instead of foam rubber, such as latex or polyurethane foam. For our case, these polymers are valuable because they are designed for a long service life and perfectly "hold" the given shape. At the same time, dense and cheap material (burlap, cotton fabric, etc.) will be used for auxiliary upholstery of the internal elements of the frame, hidden from the human eye. Now you can start making a pattern for the new upholstery. The fabric of the old upholstery is used as a kind of template for it. It is for this reason that it should be treated especially carefully when removed from the frame.
It is better to mark where the removed upholstery iswas located, and using it to cut out a new one. It is strongly recommended to mark all the removed upholstery fragments, where exactly on the sofa they were located, and carefully lay them out on the floor. This will make it easier to determine the total volume of new fabric that will have to be purchased for re-upholstery. After the fabric is purchased, a pattern of new blanks is made from the old scraps. Subsequently, they will need to be sewn together, preserving the pattern and paying attention to the quality of the stitches. Return to contents</a>
Pulling over old furniture: the procedure
To update means to make itre-upholstery. This term refers to the complete replacement of the outdated fabric "cover" with a new covering, observing all the technological nuances that were used during the initial assembly of the sofa. By the way, experts advise doing this periodically every 5-10 years. Over approximately this period, the fabric and frame wear out significantly, and the owner of the said item begins another rearrangement in his apartment. And if he does not get the feeling that the sofa is morally outdated, then a new zigzag of fashion will force a person to take up updating his furnishings.
Wooden ones are used to renew the framebars of the same size, they are nailed in several places. The re-upholstery process begins with the installation of new elements of the rigid frame - bars and springs. To replace damaged wooden elements, new bars must be cut in strict accordance with the dimensions of the old ones. Metal fasteners and furniture glue are used during installation. It is better to select suitable springs without special skills with the help of specialists. The cut new fabric fragments along the edges must first be stitched on a sewing machine. After that, they are placed in the places where their previous "doubles" were previously located. Then they are nailed to the frame with furniture nails or a stapler, all the time bending the edges of the fabric inward so that rough, unsightly seams are not formed. At the same time, the fabric should be constantly pulled. Another option for re-upholstery is to sew original covers from fabric blanks, the shape and size of which correspond to the upholstery of the seats and the back of the sofa. When the covers are ready, they are simply put on the specified structures and sewn up. Finally, the individual removable parts of the sofa are assembled in the reverse order of disassembly. Restored or new decorative overlays and pillows are attached to the updated furniture. Return to contents</a>
Choosing the fabric upholstery for the sofa
Upholstery fabric must be durable, butat the same time soft and pleasant to the touch. Another serious problem for those who are updating a sofa with their own hands is what kind of fabric to choose to qualitatively upholster their old upholstered furniture. And here you will have to use not only an aesthetic sense, but also practical common sense. After all, upholstery fabric should not only please the eye with its ideal color scheme. It must also have excellent strength, otherwise the life of the material, which is subject to daily loads and stretching, will be short-lived. For this reason, coarse fabric and synthetics, prone to rapid and strong stretching, are undesirable. You should be extremely careful if you have an idea to upholster a sofa with leatherette. Its quality is far from always identical to the quality of genuine leather, and a strong and often unpleasant smell makes leatherette of little use in living rooms. The most common and proven materials include cotton tapestry, jacquard, velour, and microfiber upholstery. In any case, when choosing fabric for a sofa cover, you should consider that it should not fade during use, smell bad, and have a strong pile. And the color and pattern, naturally, should stylistically harmonize with the surrounding interior. Return to contents</a>
Some useful tips
A stapler is used to attach fabric tobody. To make it easier to understand how to renew a sofa without making mistakes, it is recommended to take photos and videos of everything that is happening before disassembling it and during the re-upholstery. In this case, it will be possible to see what a particular element of the structure looked like before disassembling. If the upholstery and frame condition allow them to be used further without dismantling and re-upholstering, furniture renovation can be limited to cleaning off dirt and stains. In the first case, use a vacuum cleaner and damp cloths. In the second case, you will have to use special chemical stain removers and a soft brush (sponge). If you do not have the necessary experience in re-upholstering upholstered furniture, it is recommended to first practice on simpler objects, for example, on an old stool. It is better to take the cheapest material possible. In any case, whether the master has the relevant experience or not, preference is advised to give to simpler patterns. Thus, having learned the basics of renewing upholstered furniture better, you can take on the restoration of an old sofa with greater confidence. This is a painstaking but fascinating task. It will definitely bring a lot of pleasure to a creative person.</ ul>
