Re-upholstery Department - FAQs

Material Things has the proud distinction of having the largest display of fabrics in the south. With thousands of beautiful fabrics from the finest suppliers throughout the World to choose from, it’s the perfect place to visit when choosing materials for your home. With fabrics starting from as little as £15 per metre, we have huge collections from World famous brands including Sanderson, Harlequin, Villa Nova, Romo, Kirkby Design, Colefax & Fowler, Jane Churchill, iLiv, Prestigious, Ashley Wilde, WIlliam Morris, Warwick, Linwood, Jim Dickens and many many more…!

We certainly can! Regardless of the design, whether it has buttons, studs or braid, we are specialists in all aspects of re-upholstery.

Absolutely. We can re-upholster a leather suite in fabric, or a fabric suite in leather, and in any combination! The tolerances between both material types are different, but we will explain this difference in our free, no obligation, home visit.

The lead time for re-upholstery varies throughout the year. Generally, we collect your items 6 weeks after you place your order and place a deposit. Once we’ve collected your items, they are returned 10 working days later (2 weeks).

We offer 5 different types of filling, each with its own individual characteristics, and each offering soft, medium or firm feels.
Each suite will differ on the types of fillings available, but we will explain which are available in our free, no obligation, home visit.

Certainly! We can remodel your suite to look like a new one. Remodelling is limited to cosmetic changes, not changes to the size or shape of the suite.

I.e. you can change a suite from having a skirted finish, to one with a plain finish and wooden feet. Or a pleated arm, or a plain and piped arm. It varies on each suite what changes can be made, but we will explain which are available in our free, no obligation, home visit.

Definitely! We supply over 10,000 fabrics from all the major fabric design houses, but we sometimes ask for a fabric we can’t source. In that case, you can certainly provide your own material. However, to comply with fire retardancy laws, we must use a schedule 3 interliner material underneath your material to ensure it is fire retardant. This does mean, in essence, we have to upholster your suite twice. Therefore this will be calculated in to the cost of your re-upholstery estimate.

With all re-upholstery work we undertake, we strip the furniture down to the bare frame and springs, and rebuilt it completely. All fillings we replace will all be fire retardant, and so are all the fabrics we use. Therefore your newly re-upholstered suite will be fully compliant to UK fire retardancy laws.

For the money, why not just buy a new suite? The old saying ‘Things aren’t what they used to be’ is especially evident in some modern day upholstery; mass produced with little care and attention. When re-upholstering a suite using traditional techniques, the older the furniture the better. With a solid foundation, our master upholsterers will restore your furniture to its original appearance and feel. We can tailor to your individual needs, making it a little softer or firmer or a different type of filling, just let us know and we can accommodate. So why bother with all the hassle of trying to buy a new suite that’s the right quality, size, shape & comfort when it’s even easier to just re-upholster your old suite.

The cost of re-upholstery varies dramatically depending on the style of the suite, and the fabric you choose. There are over 10,000 fabrics available, which can vary from £15 per metre to £250 per metre.

We offer a free, in-home, no obligation quotation where we show you a selection of our finest quality materials, then give you an accurate quotation.