Reupholster existing suite or replace?

If you have a solid wood frame preferably hand made then yes it’s probably worth the extra expense.
We had ours done 12 years ago, the sofas had cost us about 5K 25 years ago and were hand made in the UK so we felt it was worth the expense.

Do you mean loose covers, Jules? Thinking that when you say they advertise in newspapers lol - you're right, it's cheaper to buy a new sofa which is such a shame

My friends had their 3 piece re-upholstered and covered. It was fairly expensive, but the suite had been in the family and was of great sentimental value to them..
In my case, my son gave me his much used cream leather sofa, which I had re-upholstered and re-coloured and polished in a lovely rust colour (done locally). Cost me £250, looks like new. A new leather sofa would have cost me a couple of thousand, I guess.

I was going to say the same as Sago - if it's well built, the right size and shape and comfortable it's worth paying for the recovering. Many modern ones are not that strong unless you pay lots for them and materials can be cheap. Comfort levels might change of course if it's fully refurbished.

I had a chair recovered some years ago and it wasn't cheap but I loved the fabric and it's different to what was in the shops. Still going strong.

if you've contacted the company that rhymes with thumbs it might be worth looking at whether you have any local upholsterers as this is what that company do anyway, they outsource

£250 is incredibly cheap for a recover of a sofa

JaneJudge, the upholsterer just added a bit more ‘filling’, and then just stained and polished the existing leather. Yes, I considered it very reasonable. It was more of a hobby for him.

Apologies, I shouldn’t have said ‘re-upholstered’….basically, he added a bit more ‘filling’.

Oh ok that makes sense

We used ‘thumbs’ for our sofa suite but the luxury tailored covers shrunk and we were not impressed. They cost £3,000. Ended up giving it all to charity, with covers taken off, and buying a new Gplan set.

JaneJudge

if you've contacted the company that rhymes with thumbs it might be worth looking at whether you have any local upholsterers as this is what that company do anyway, they outsource

They did a cover for a chair I had. I’d stupidly bought it because it was reduced but didn’t like the fabric. The cover was very expensive and the cushion bit doesn’t fit as well with the original cushion cover. It’s permanently covered in a throw anyway because the dog sits on it! One of my many furniture buying disasters.

Both examples are why it is worth employing a local upholsterer who will meet you and see the furniture and measure and fit everything properly

If it’s G Plan you can often buy covers specially designed to fit. Total agree Plumbs is very expensive….go local!

We have the same dilemma Jules and I’ll follow all the comments in this thread closely.
Our suite is G Plan - 6 years old - but still unsure if new covers are our best option. ?

We had loose covers made by that company but were really disappointed. The next time we needed our sofa reupholstered we went to a local company. Brilliant job and cheaper.

I had some loose covers made by 'thumbs' a good few years ago, probably upwards of 20, and wasn't at all pleased. They didn't fit well. The suite in question wasn't great anyway and we eventually got a new one which is much better quality and it would definitely be better to get that re-upholstered (not by thumbs) than replace. One thing I have noticed from thumbs's flyers is that if a patterned fabric is used it's never matched properly. That would drive me up the wall.

I am horrified at the thought of sending furniture to landfill which could be rescued. Modern furniture, unless high quality, will not be of the same quality and will need replacing much quicker. Our forty year old sofa has just been reupholstered and is perfect, and our assorted upholstered chairs have also taken on a new lease of life. Cost more than buying new but much better in every way.

We had our two 20yr old sofas reupholstered by a local well recommended person and had two sets of loose covers made. It wasn’t cheap. We did look at “new” alternatives but didn’t find them comfortable. It took us over a year to bite the bullet to have them done and definitely don’t regret it.

I must be getting old. So many of the new sofas and chairs don't look at all supportive, unless you go for the obvious granny-style ones. My back's bad enough as it is!

We know a local upholsterer had he quoted approximately £8k to recover our two very large tetras sofas. We bought two new ones for half that. The charity shops wouldn’t take ours because they don’t have the required labels.
So now we have one in the study as a spare bed and persuaded a relative to take the other because we couldn’t let them go to be broken up. He’s young and flexible, I’m afraid the support wasn’t great for DH’s back so they had to be replaced.

Yes it is ‘thumbs’ and quote is for reupholstering not loose covers. Two sofas and a footstool quote is £3500+. It is 17 years old but if the cats hadn’t got to it it’s still in excellent condition. We find it very comfortable. Sounds like it will be stripped back to the wood so will be like new.
I’ve started looking at a few local firms but they all seem to be more geared to antique type furniture online. I’ll make some phone calls tomorrow.

ask on your local facebook? it generally depends on how much space upholsterers have to reupholster in as to whether they do can do sofas etc. so just ask for recommendations and call around the person working for thumbs might pick up

I have a two seater and a 3 seater sofas.
The 3 seater which hubby uses, the leather as stretched and the cushions have dropped. It is effecting the mechanism of one of the seats.
We had thought about purchasing another settee but couldn't find anything which would go with the 2 seater so we got an upholster in to give us a price for making the sofa as good as new.
We are so please with the result, we no longer sink into the sofa and it was a fraction of the price we would have paid for a new sofa.

I have a 1970s Parker Knoll swivel egg shaped armchair which I had reupholstered by a firm called Reloved upholstery which is based in Manchester, it cost £700 but a similar new chair would be £1200. I also have a Danish 1960s sofa which had been reupholstered when I bought it from 20th Century Vintage, much better quality than a new sofa I would have got for the same money. Maybe ask Reloved for a quote.