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How Does Reupholstering Compare To Buying New?

We've put together this handy guide to help you decide whether you should try chair or sofa reupholstery or buy new.

Should you reupholster, or buy new?

If your old furniture is looking a little lacklustre and you’re exploring the idea of something new before you jump online or head out to the furniture stores, consider what might work best for you, chair or sofa reupholstery or buying new?

Both options can be beneficial for different situations; chair or sofa reupholstery is often a much easier process than buying brand new – it can save you time, hassle, and in many cases, cost – whereas buying new can be a better option if your current suite isn’t of a high quality and you want to change the size or style of sofa.

It’s probable that the furniture you bought several years ago is much better quality than the mass produced one you can currently get from a modern retailer. Typically, furniture frames that were made ten to fifteen years ago are generally better quality, so you can guarantee it’ll last. You also know that the furniture you already have fits perfectly in your home, so with chair or sofa reupholstery, you needn’t worry about measuring up, or squeezing in a new piece.

Reupholstering V Buying New

If you’re looking to update and refresh your home’s interior without the hassle and inconvenience of buying new, then reupholstery is definitely the option for you.

 

How much will it cost to reupholster a sofa or chair?

With chair or sofa reupholstery, you can expect your money to travel that bit further. If you buy new, you can almost always expect to buy again a few short years later, so it’s actually more expensive in the long term.

The price of chair or sofa reupholstery is generally influenced by size, style, fabric, and whether or not your furniture is antique. You can expect reupholstery to cost from around £800, and that price will cover you for years to come. With chair or sofa reupholstery you’re making an investment so we want to ensure that it’s something you’ll feel proud of, and that’s why we’ll go that extra mile to replace any damaged springs or padding, completely free of charge. Unlike other companies who may just replace the fabric on your furniture we virtually rebuild your treasured piece from the inside out.

We’re passionate about providing the best possible chair or sofa reupholstery service – we want to give your furniture that “wow!” factor back – and our prices reflect that. The price will vary dependent on the suite, but we’ll be able to provide a more specific price once we’ve seen your sofa or chair during one of our free home consultations.

Reupholstery is a traditional craft, so if you’re investing in the service, you’ll be supporting traditional British workmanship by local craftsmen and women, too.

Chair or sofa reupholstery isn’t the only option for you if you’re looking to revive an old suite… Our made to measure sofa covers are great value for money, and still give your suite that brand new look. Our covers, including chair covers and sofa covers, start from around £200 – about a quarter of the cost of a new quality sofa! Most chair covers or sofa covers are machine washable, so you can keep the fabric looking fresh and clean all year round. Our consultants will advise of any fabrics that are dry clean only.

 

What's more convenient?

Sofa reupholstery is a relatively speedy service, the whole process takes around 12 weeks with your sofa collected, reupholstered and back with you in 4-5 weeks. When buying new, you can typically expect your furniture to arrive within 12-16 weeks.

Chair or sofa reupholstery is a convenient option if you have a quality piece of furniture that fits perfectly within your home. If not, then it may be more convenient to look for a replacement.

 Why Is Reupholstering Convenient

With Plumbs’ professional sofa reupholstery service, a member of our helpful team will visit you in your home, for free, to chat with you about your particular furniture tastes and requirements. Plumbs’ home consultants will take a look at your furniture and provide you with a quote right there and then. We’ll talk you through what materials and fabrics are on offer, providing large swatches and samples, so you can see exactly how it’ll match your home.

Our home consultancy team are committed to making the process as easy and stress free as possible. From taking all the necessary measurements to advising on the durability of different fabrics, we’re here to ensure your furniture looks beautiful again, providing you with an outstanding reupholstery service.

 

What's the environmental impact of reupholstering and buying new?

Building furniture from scratch has a huge impact on the environment – it takes around 1000x more CO2 to make a new piece of furniture compared to refurbishing an old piece. The UK would save around 1.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions if we re-used our old furniture instead of throwing it away.

Reupholstering and reusing furniture is hugely beneficial for the environment – it reduces the effects of global warming, helps save our plants, trees and forests. As it stands, only 17% of furniture is being recycled, and UK landfill sites are filled with hundreds of thousands of old furniture pieces each year.

According to Wrap UK, reusing and recycling our old sofas avoids 52,000 tonnes of CO2 eq per year. Not only that, but households benefit by over £320 million per year as a result of the sale of items through reuse exchange and avoiding the purchase of more expensive, or brand new, items.

 Furniture Waste

So, it’s safe to say that reupholstering has many more environmental benefits than buying new furniture does.

 

What level of quality can I expect?

All of Plumbs’s customers receive a 3 year quality guarantee, which covers every item that leaves our factory and workshops throughout the UK. Plumbs have over 60 years of trust and experience in the sofa reupholstery business, so quality craftsmanship and expertise are at the heart of what we do. Our extensive network of over a hundred master upholsterers means that your furniture couldn’t be in safer hands. Reupholster with Plumbs and there’s a good chance the fabric will outlive that of a brand new sofa.

 Reupholstery Craftsman

Our reupholstery experts are dedicated to the trade. Plumbs ensure that every piece of reupholstered furniture has been beautifully restored to its full potential, with no detail overlooked. The best quality service is what we aim to provide for all of our customers.

As a family business, we understand the feelings of nostalgia and warmth that a piece of furniture can evoke, and how hard it can be to dispose of something that’s been a part of your home for many years.

 

What fabrics are available?

Shopping for a new sofa or chair, whether it be online or in-store, can be an overwhelming task, with considerations such as; size, style, shape, fabric, and colour/pattern, as well as how it’ll look in your home. With reupholstering you only need to think about what fabric will suit your home.

If you’re a little unsure what fabric and style to opt for, Plumbs have a huge range of styles to match any kind of décor, and with 800 fabrics on offer, there’s bound to be one that’ll make you fall in love with your old sofa all over again!

After a quick catch up on the telephone, Plumbs’ home consultants will get to grips with your style, tastes, and requirements. We’ll then carefully curate a few of our beautiful fabric samples and bring these along on your home visit. As well as pattern and colour, there’s also fabric durability to consider. Our home consultants will work together with you to determine what kind of fabric you’ll need, so you can get as many years out of your new, reupholstered sofa as possible!

 

Choose in the comfort of your own home

Choose in the comfort of your own home

We have experts across the country who can help you create the perfect look.

UK-wide service
UK-wide service
Family business
Family business
Made-to-measure
Made-to-measure
Free in-home consultation
Free in-home consultation
Over 800 fabrics
Over 800 fabrics
Quality guarantee
Quality guarantee

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We'll go through our fabric collections and offer advice on colour and designs. There's no pressure to buy anything.