Danny’s Upholstery
Your One Stop Upholstery Shop
4940 Rutherford Rd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23455
dannysupholstery@gmail.com
757-363-5889
Danny’s Upholstery in Virginia Beach offers a How to Guide to Reupholstering Your Furniture
If your furniture is looking like it has seen better days, you may be thinking about giving it the boot in favor of some newer pieces. But before you kick that old chair or couch to the curb, consider renewing that old furniture with some brand new upholstery. Like sanding and refinishing, reupholstering an old chair, couch, or cushion can really give new life to some of your older pieces. And, it can give you a chance to express some of your own creativity, in a hands-on fashion! Here are some of the essential tips that you will need to reupholster your own pieces of furniture or at least get a feel for the steps an upholstery shop takes to reupholster your furniture pieces.
As always, Danny’s Upholstery in Virginia Beach is Your One Stop Upholstery Shop, for a free estimate call us at 757-363-5889 or email dannysupholstery@gmail.com.
Why Reupholster?
Reupholstering can be a great alternative to buying new furniture for your dining room, living room, or bedroom. You can reupholster almost any type of furniture that has been covered in fabric, and, if you are up to the challenge, you can save some money by doing it yourself. Many people decide to have furniture reupholstered because it:
• saves time spent on ordering custom furniture
• allows you to choose the exact type of fabric you want in your piece
• allows you to salvage antique furniture or furniture that has sentimental value
Choosing a Fabric
Before you can reupholster, you will first need to decide on the type of fabric you want your chair, cushion, or sofa to have. It is important that you choose upholstery-quality fabric, and not regular fabric. Upholstery fabric is much more durable and will stand up to the test of time, unlike regular fabric. Most upholstery fabrics are stain-resistant too, which means that you don’t have to worry too much if you spill that cup of coffee! When you aren’t sure, try looking for a thicker fabric or look for a nice chenille.
Danny’s Upholstery is a full service upholstery shop and has a full showroom of fabric samples. Customers are always welcome; so feel free to stop by and see for why they are Your One Stop Upholstery Shop. Danny’s is open Monday thru Friday 8:00 to 5:00 PM and Saturday, 8:00 to 1:00 PM, additional hours available by appointment.
Be sure to choose a fabric that you like and that will match the other furniture in the room. However, the thicker and stiffer the fabric is that you select, the more difficult the re-upholstery process will be. It is typically not recommended that amateur upholsters try to reupholster leather or suede furniture. Danny’s Upholstery is open to the public, and they can provide you with a great selection of fabrics.
Necessary Tools
In order to begin your re-upholstery project, you will need to collect a few re-upholstery supplies. It is important that you have:
• a pair of needle nose pliers
• a staple gun (with staples) or upholstery tacks
• a rubber mallet
• a pair of sharp scissors
• welting (cloth used to trim along the edges of furniture)
• glue gun
• cotton batting (to make the furniture soft to sit on)
• sewing machine for cushions (You don’t have a sewing machine? Danny’s Upholstery can make cushion covers for you!)
Danny’s Upholstery Tip: They also recommend a pair of side cutters and staple remover to ease the tear down.
Depending upon the piece of furniture that you are reupholstering, you may also want to find a friend to help you out. It can sometimes be tricky to tackle reupholstering on your own. For a free estimate for your projects, call Danny’s Upholstery at 757-363-5889. Check out their facebook for pictures and videos of completed projects, www.facebook.com/dannysupholstery.
Reupholstering a Chair Cushion
Reupholstering a chair cushion is a relatively easy job and is perfect for beginners. Practice on your cushions before you head straight to that loveseat or sofa bed!
• Unscrew the seat cushion from the chair frame. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: remember to keep all the screws
• Remove all of the staples or tacks in the fabric using the needle nose pliers. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: be careful to remove them all to avoid injuries later.
• Remove the fabric. If it looks worn out, remove the old batting from the cushion too. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: We sell batting by the yard.
• Most chair cushions are made out of a single piece of wood. Take this piece of wood and lay it on top of your new fabric. Cut around the piece of wood with your scissors, leaving at least two or three inches extra overhang on each side. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: If your chair or sofa has removable cushions that need to be sewn, Danny can make a new cushion covers for you with a zipper to close for your convenience. For a free estimate stop by their shop or call 757-363-5889.
• Replace the stuffing with new batting. Lay the seat board on top of the batting, and pull the sides of the batting tight over what will be the bottom of the seat. Staple the batting down with your staple gun. Trim off excess batting. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: We can custom cut foam, sell batting by the yard at $4.95 per yard and do frame repairs.
• Lay the piece of wood, batting-side down, over your fabric. Pull the sides of the fabric and stretch it over what will be the bottom of the seat. Staple the fabric down on all four sides. Be careful to make the corner edges neat. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: this would be a good time to have a friend help, pull the fabric tight to avoid creases and puckering.
• Trim the excess fabric! You now have a new seat bottom!
Reupholstering an Armchair
Reupholstering an armchair is a little more challenging. Depending upon its size and decorative features (as found in wing chairs or scroll back arm chairs) you may require extra fabric and a little more patience.
Preparing the Fabric
• Remove all staples or upholstery tacks with your needle nose pliers. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: be careful to remove them all to avoid injuries later.
• Remove all fabric and batting. Try to remove the fabric without ripping it, because you will use these pieces as templates from which to cut your new fabric. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: Keep all pieces until the project is complete.
• Lay out the old pieces of fabric on top of your new fabric. Cut around each template, leaving at least two or three inches overhang on all sides. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: When creating the templates, remember not to stretch the fabric and use sewers chalk to avoid ink bleeding through the fabric.
• Place new batting over the bare pieces on the chair, particularly the seat, back, and arms. Staple or tack down with your mallet. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: We sell batting for $4.95 a yard.
Upholstering the Chair Back
• Lay your fabric over the back of the chair. Tuck the fabric into the sides of the chair, and pull through to the back. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: Need buttons for tufting, Danny’s can make them for you.
• Holding the top of the fabric taut, staple the fabric to the back of the wood frame.
• Pull the bottom of the fabric up along the back of the chair and staple to the upper bar on the wood frame. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: this would be a good time to have a friend help, pull the fabric tight to avoid creases and puckering.
• Pull the sides of the fabric taut along the back of the chair. Staple to the sides of the wood frame.
Upholstering the Seat
• Drape your fabric over the seat of the chair. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: Danny’s has a full showroom for you to choose your fabrics and if ordered before 3:00 PM, they can be shipped for next day delivery. Most chairs need 7-9 yards of fabric, most sofas 14-16 yards of fabric.
• Pull extra fabric through the frame and underneath the seat.
• Pull the front of the fabric taut beneath the seat frame, and staple.
• Pull the back of the fabric taut beneath the seat frame and staple
• Pull the sides of the fabric taut beneath the seat frame. Pleat and staple down.
Upholstering the Arms
• Lay your fabric over the chair’s arms. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: this is where keeping all the pieces will come in handy. You may need to re-upholster certain pieces torn off the chair or sofa.
• Fold one-third of the fabric (the part closest to the chair back) forwards.
• Pull the fabric taut on either side of the arm and staple to the chair frame.
• Locate the center of the folded part of the fabric. Cut a slit along the center of the fold, right to the end of the fold. This will allow you to wrap the end of the fabric around the arms.
Finishing the Arm Chair
• Attach welting on along the seams, as desired. Danny’s Upholstery Tip: can’t find welting to match? Danny’s Upholstery can. Call to find out how, 757-363-5889.
Let Danny’s Upholstery in Virginia Beach, be Your One Stop Upholstery Shop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HDae2JbEzA
Danny's Upholstery is located in Virginia Beach and is Your One Stop Upholstery Shop for your auto, home, office, marine and business. Owned and operated by master craftsman, Danny White, who has over 30 years experience meeting the upholstery needs for the Hampton Roads community. For a free estimate call 757-363-5889. Gift certificates are available.
