Starting the bench upholstery project
To start the bench upholstery project, we remove all the coverings to examine what is underneath. The top cover is faded curtain fabric and we will update this fabric to tie in with the customer’s new colour scheme for their home. We strip back to the bare wooden frame and rub it with furniture oil to clean and feed the wood and restore the natural shine. It is interesting to see the multiple layers under the old fabric: a tapestry, an old blanket and heavy rubber matting. Obviously, this needs replaced but it was interesting nonetheless.
Replacing the seat stuffing
We create a panel of two inch foam which we measure and trim by hand. Next, we tie this foam down in place using a layer of fire retardant calico. It is absolutely essential that all upholstery meets the fire safety standards so we are very careful to make sure that all upholstery fabrics used are fire retardant.
After that, we fix layers of different sized wadding in place to give a smooth, rounded finish to the seat of the upholstered bench. Following this, we fix the layers in place using a staple gun, we take particular care when shaping the material the corners to give nice neat uniform pleats.
The top fabric
The client provided us with the lovely blue and silver top bench upholstery fabric. We measure the fabric, centre it and fix this carefully in place, taking care to centre the striking design along the centre of the upholstered bench. We hand-trim the fabric in order to reduce bulky fabric at the corners and create tidy and symmetrical corner pleats.
Finishing off the bench reupholstery
To finish off, we give the wooden frame another coat of oil and wait for it to dry. Lastly, we cover the underneath of the base with a panel of fire retardant calico. We stretch it and fix it in place with tacks and staples. Then we reassemble the bench and deliver it to our client.
This is just one of the chairs, benches and stools which we have reupholstered recently. Click on the link below to see some of our other projects.