When we talk about upholstery, we are referring to the casing on furniture which generally consists of the springs, padding and fabric covers. Choosing to either buy brand new furniture or re-upholster old or second hand furniture can sometimes be rather expensive and should be considered a big investment. Picking the right upholstery fabric for your home is an important decision with a couple of points you should take into consideration. You don’t want to re-upholster your sofa and realize down the line that you should have chosen a different fabric or regret the color you chose. You need to think about whether your option is durable and if it will stand the test of time and of course, you should want it to match your home décor. Whilst this may seem like it’s a lot to think about, it really isn’t and choosing the right fit you and your home should be fun and enjoyable so this article should help put you at ease.
The significant factors that need to be taken into account when deciding on an upholstery fabric are durability, style, color, thread count, comfort and fade resistance. One of the points of upholstery and furniture in generally, apart from functionality, is that you’d want to increase the beauty of a room or a certain space in your home. The fabric you choose should obviously suit the furniture. The color will determine if the fabric is susceptible to stains and it sets the feel of the space.
Durability is vital as you would want the fabric to last for as long as possible. A fabrics thread count allows you to know the strength of the fabric and fade resistance lets you know whether or not continuous exposure to sunlight will cause fading. However, fade resistance may not be that big of an issue if the room has sufficient protection from harsh sunlight via your window blinds.
With all of that taking into consideration, you will be able to evaluate any fabric for your upholstery needs. The three basic types of fabrics you’ll run into are: natural, synthetic and a blends. Then there’s also leather which is another great option. All four of these choices have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Generally, going with the option to blend natural and synthetic will give you the best of both worlds.
Cotton probably being the most popular and the most natural for upholstery. It is durable and offers great resistance against wear and tear, however it stains easily especially if you go with a light shade and it can also be a little difficult to clean so if you know the furniture is going to be used a lot, pure cotton is probably not the way to go. A cotton blend is much more sturdy fabric and would be suited for everyday use. Leather depending on the type, is also very durable, will last a long time and might even get better with age. Leather tends to change color ever so slightly and can get really hot so as mentioned before, if you have the right window treatments to filter the sunlight your home, you may never have to worry about such things happening to your furniture.
With plenty of stylish fabrics out there, there are also a variety that are equally as durable as they are beautiful.
So, before spending a pretty penny on a home investment like upholstery, do your research and take your time to consider these things and you want have to re-upholster your furniture for years and years to come!
