5 Tips on Choosing New Furniture Upholstery
5 Tips on Choosing New Furniture Upholstery
Revitalizing your home begins with the right textile choosing furniture upholstery. For smaller items like dining chair seats or an ottoman, the selection process should be systematic. Unless you’re a veteran home-furnishings maven, the sheer variety of colors, textures, and weights can be overwhelming.
Follow these five steps to ensure your newly upholstered piece looks stunning and stands the test of time.
1. Assess Your Daily Environment
Before looking at swatches, analyze how the furniture will be used.
High-Traffic Homes: If you have active kids or pets in a New York or New Jersey household, durability is your top priority. You need fabrics with a high “double-rub” count (over 30,000).
Entertaining Spaces: Do you host frequent gatherings? Look for fabrics that are treated for stain resistance so a spilled glass of wine doesn’t ruin your investment.
Sun Exposure: Many apartments in Boston and DC have large windows. If your piece sits in direct sunlight, choose fabrics with high UV resistance to prevent premature fading.
2. Match the Fabric to the Frame’s Geometry
The physical build of your choosing furniture upholstery dictates the pattern.
Curvaceous Pieces: A plump, overstuffed chair will look odd with rigid geometric patterns. Opt for solid colors or patterns with natural, curving lines.
Linear Pieces: Conversely, stripes and linear abstracts perfectly suit the straight contours of a sleek retro couch or an upright dining chair.
The Scale Rule: A massive sectional upholstered in a tiny, busy pattern can feel visually “noisy.” For large pieces, stick to larger scales or sophisticated textures.
3. Consider Specialized Material Needs
Sometimes “off-the-shelf” fabric won’t cut it. In professional furniture circles, we look at:
Performance Fabrics: Brands like Crypton or Nanotex offer industrial-grade protection with a residential feel.
Bespoke Options: DR. Sofa crafts bespoke furniture designs where the fabric is chosen specifically for the room’s dimensions and the user’s specific comfort needs.
4. Prioritize Texture and Comfort
choosing furniture upholstery isn’t just for looking at—it’s for living on. Think about how the fabric feels against the skin. A beautiful wool might look great but feel “itchy” in a humid summer. Consider how the texture complements your existing room décor while providing the tactile experience you desire when you lean back to relax.
5. The “In-Person” Lighting Test
Never commit to a fabric based on an online image.
Swatch Testing: Always view your samples in the actual room where the furniture will live.
Light Shifting: Fabric colors change drastically between natural morning light and evening lamplight.
The Big Picture: Place the swatch next to your flooring and wall colors to ensure a cohesive aesthetic before the first cut is made.
Furniture Upholstery: A Complete Guide to Revitalizing Your Home Décor
1. Assess your lifestyle. This can be a series of questions you pose to yourself about how the newly choosing furniture upholstery will be used. Live alone or are you a family? Are there active kids in the house or pets that will be using the furniture? Do you like to entertain? Do people gather to watch games or movies on the widescreen? What’s the indoor/outdoor environment like – hot and humid, chilly winters, city air pollution, lots of daylight?
2. Look at the furniture itself. The piece to be covered will tell you a lot about what will look best on it. If it’s curvaceous, like a plump overstuffed chair, it will look odd with geometrics; give it a self color, or pattern with curving natural lines. Conversely, geometric or linear abstracts will suit the straight contours of an upright dining chair or a sleek retro couch. Scale counts too; reupholster a couch like a big sectional in a small, busy pattern and it may look like a measles outbreak.
3. Look at the room. Do you plan to renew furniture piece by piece or as part of a whole room re-do? In other words, will the new covering need to fit into an existing color and style scheme? Where will the newly upholstered piece or pieces sit in the room?
4. Consider comfort. DR. Sofa crafts bespoke furniture tailored to your taste and space. Elevate your interiors with our exquisite custom-made furniture designs. Think about fabric texture; what makes you want to lean back and relax?
5. Look at fabrics in person! Local, mail-order or online retailers should provide swatches or larger samples. Look at them in the room in different lights. It’s the only way to choose!
How do I choose the best upholstery for a sofa?
A: Focus on the “Double Rub” count for durability and ensure the pattern scale matches the size of the sofa frame.
Q: What is the most durable fabric for reupholstering furniture?
A: Synthetic blends like polyester or specialized “Performance Fabrics” are generally more durable and easier to clean than 100% natural fibers like silk or linen.
