Signs That You Should Reupholster Your Couch or Chair

reupholster your chair

Has your furniture seen better days? The main feature of your living room is your couch and chairs. A place where you can gather with friends and family; enjoying their company throughout the year. Unfortunately, wear and tear accumulate over time and even though you may love your furniture, something needs to be done. That begs the question; at one point do you consider reupholstering your beloved furniture? The experts at Foxwood Restorations can give you some signs of when you should reupholster your couch or chair!

Fabric is Worn Out

One of the first indicators that you need some reupholstery is worn fabric. Between guests sitting down, pets lying down, and other daily activities, your furniture’s fabric can be stained, torn, and so much more! After all, the furniture is being lived with. Once your furniture starts gathering unremovable stains and unraveling in certain areas, it might be a good time to get it reupholstered.

Furniture Sagging

Is your body sinking into the furniture or it continues to sag after someone gets up? Sagging is a sign that the internal springs are losing their integrity. While there are some DIY tricks that you can use to stop the sagging, the best option is to get your furniture looked at for fixing and reupholstery.

Seams Are Visible

Seams are what hold the fabric together. Most pieces of furniture use special stitching that hides the inner seam inside. However, as the seam becomes loose, it will become visible. The foam cushion insides can also result in visible seams. Depending on your cushion filling, this could be an easy fix or it might need extra care.

Wood Shows Signs of Damage

The fabric of your furniture is not the only part of the piece you should  be concerned about. The legs of your couch and chair can also show wear and tear. People constantly kick their legs or accidentally scuff them. Also, if you have a puppy or kitten, you probably have the damage from the unavoidable teething phase. If you are lucky, you can fix up most of that stuff with wood polish. But if it’s got significant damage, you will need to get it replaced.Couch showing extreme signs of damage

Reupholstery Services at FoxwoodCouch after reupholstery and repair

While replacing your furniture might be the easier option, most furniture produced today lacks the same quality and longevity as older pieces. Instead of throwing away your current furniture, you can bring it into Foxwood Restorations! Our shop offers a variety of services and repairs to help return your old furniture back to perfect condition. We will even help you choose the fabric for the upholstery process! Contact us today to see what we can do for your distressed furniture!

Reupholstery for 3 Generation Family Couch

before couch reupholsteryDo you have a couch that needs to be reupholstered? 

That is what one of our clients, Patty, needed for her antique couch. This couch had been Patty’s family for three generations. She recalls having many fond memories of sitting on the couch as a little girl. However, time had taken its toll on the furniture. The fabric was worn and lost its vibrant color. The couch’s seams are falling apart with the filling spilling out. The back cushion of the furniture was distorted. This family couch needed some special attention. Fortunately, Patty came to the right place! Foxwood Furniture Restorations was more than ready to restore this couch!

Getting New Material

This couch needed completely new upholstery due to the state of the fabric. Patty wanted the couch to feel and look similar to the original fabric. In order to restore this family heirloom, we directed our client to our upholstery fabric website. After Patty picked out six different samples, we sent the samples directly to her home. Our client chose the red fabric that felt similar to the couch’s original texture.

With the new material, Foxwood could finally get to work on restoring this sentimental heirloom!

Complete Couch Reupholstery

after couch reupholstered

In order to breathe some life back into this couch, our team stripped the old material away so we could start the furniture reupholstery process! We put new filling to return the couch to its original shape. Afterward, we covered the entire piece with the new vibrant red material that Patty selected! We added a beaded tack strip to add an extra touch of class to the antique couch. Our specialists polished the wood to give the couch a new shine as well. Patty was very happy about the transformation of this family heirloom!

All Types of Furniture Repairs and Restorations

In addition to traditional furniture reupholstery, Foxwood provides a variety of furniture restoration services including:

  • Spring Repair
  • Respringing and Frame Tightening
  • Chair Caning
  • Chair Part Replacement
  • Toll Top Deck Repair
  • And so much more! 

Foxwood Restorations is a premiere full-surface furniture restoration company that can upholster your chairs and couches as well as touch up all the wood under one roof! We have been serving the 3 county area for over 25 years. Whether you live in Dexter, Fenton, Howell, or Novi call Foxwood for all your furniture repair, refinishing antique and furniture reupholstery, and recovering needs!

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What to hear about other restoration projects? Check out our blog!

Spring and Re-upholstery Work In Ann Arbor

Looking for spring and re-upholstery work in Ann Arbor? That is what Samantha and her three children were looking for when they came to Foxwood. Samantha came in with a chair with outdated green vinyl. Although the chair was structurally sound and joints were sturdy, the springs and cushioning need a lot of attention. So, how does Foxwood handle springs and cushioning for older chairs?

Spring and Re-Upholstery Work

For older chairs, the springs sticking out from the bottom is not new. Over time, the ties uphold the strings give way. Furthermore, upholstery webbing will disappear. As a result, older chairs need extra care when fixing. The first step of spring work is removing the upholstery webbing, which can be salvaged depending on its condition. Afterward, you need the strings (preferably twine) to the chair. You can secure it by running it through the initial nail or staple for string and then nailing or stapling a new one on. You repeat the process with a minimum of 4 strings, wrapping around the strings and making sure it is tightly secured. After re-tying the strings, you install the upholstery webbing by stapling or nailing the fabric to the frame. Finally, your spring work is done!

Furniture reupholstery always you to take outdated or damaged upholstery with a new one. During the re-upholstery process, the cushion foam is replaced and the new fabric is selected for the furniture. This gives antique and older furniture an updated and new look. For Samantha, that meant taking off the outdated green vinyl for a fabric of her choosing!

Restoration Services at Foxwood Furniture Restorations

Foxwood’s spring and re-upholstery work in Ann Arbor are the best in the area. Whether you are looking for chair restoration like Samantha or other services and repairs, Foxwood covers them all! Testimonials agree that Foxwood’s services are the best in Ann Arbor. So, contact us or stop by our facility to schedule your furniture restoration today!

Process of Reupholstery

Process of Reupholstery

The process of reupholstery is a interesting one. When it comes reupholstering a chair or other furniture, Foxwood has years of experience. After all, it one of our primary services. Over these years, Foxwood has created blog posts about reupholstering furniture. However, we have never discussed what goes into reupholstering. In few of our recent jobs, we took a lot images of the process. So, let’s talk about the reupholstering process.

Reupholstering

First of all, let’s do a quick refresher on reupholster. Reupholstering is a process in which you take older more worn-out furniture and replace the upholstery once all the repairs are made. Although there is ongoing debate between buying new furniture or getting it reupholstered, there are benefits to choosing the latter. This process is great for restoring family heirlooms or furniture with sentimental value. You can reupholster a variety of furniture, including sofas, chairs, stools, and more. There are many things to consider when reupholstering an item. That is because the process of reupholsterty takes effort.

The Process of Reupholstery

So, what does the process entail? We will be using a few different images to display how the process would look like at each step.

Remove Old Fabric

removing old fabric

The first step of reupholstering is removing the old fabric. In order to remove this fabric, you might have to disassemble certain parts of the chair. In addition, you will be removing the upholster pieces. It is important for you not to rip or break these pieces. This is because they will help you remember the pattern for the previous fabric and apply it correctly. Furthermore, they can be references for new parts like welting and tack strips.

Replacing Batting

batting and reupholstery

Batting is used to soften the edges of furniture, creating a crowned look. In addition, it can prevent slippage and be used to give cushions some insulation. Over time, batting can become worn and stained. If you remove the old fabric and see these signs, you need to remove the batting. Afterwards, you should check any springs and webbing for damage (as seen above). This will need to be fixed before you can put on the new batting.

New Pattern and Attaching It

process of reupholstery

In order to replace the old fabric, you will need to make pattern from new material. After picking out the type of fabric you want, you need to cut a new pattern from the old upholster. Once these pieces are created, you need to attach the base of the fabric. At this time, you need to sew in the new welting into the new fabric and attach it. At the end, you will have a completely new and refreshing appearance for your furniture. For that green chair and ottoman, it was transformed into a classy furniture piece.


Foxwood Restorations can do upholstery and so much more! So, contact us today!

Leather Reupholster at Foxwood

20 years can create a lot of memories. When it comes to furniture, it is rare for them to last two decades. Even for a great couch, the life expectancy at most is 15 years. However, when you love the furniture you have, it feels impossible to let it go. Most people, don’t think about furniture repair or restoration as a viable option. After all, most people associated the word restoration with repairing furniture that belongs to another era. Furniture restoration can be done to modern furniture too. Why give up on a beloved couch, when you can have a couch restoration done at Foxwood?

Doug’s Story

For 20 years, Doug loved his couch. However, like all things, time was taking its toll. Its firm cushions were becoming soft and plush, causing people to sink in. The wear and tear of constant use were showing in the leather. Doug’s couch was showing its age. Maybe it was time? But Doug didn’t want to give up his couch. But Doug couldn’t spend $800 a hide to replace the leather on his couch.  That’s when Doug found Foxwood Furniture Restoration.

Leather Reupholstery

leather reupholster

At Foxwood, we understand exactly what Doug’s couch needed. With over 30 years of experience, Foxwood has been returning antique furniture to its prime with integrity. When it comes to leather, preserving or restoring the old leather is impossible. During the restoration process, the leather is removed is replaced with a new leather hide. For Doug, he chose to replace his old leather with faux leather. Although the wear and tear leather were gone, the couch was not back to its prime.

The cushions were still showing their age. Without firm cushions, the couch would not be properly restored. That’s why Foxwood took the time to restuff every cushion, so every aspect of the couch was revitalized. With new leather and firm cushions, the couch returned to how it was 20 years ago. When Doug saw his restored couch, he was amazed to see it look and feel good as new.


While Doug’s couch needed a leather reupholstery for its restoration, each piece of furniture is unique. At Foxwood, we are prepared to handle your furniture repair and restoration needs. Do you have a piece of furniture that needs some care? Contact us today to see what we can do for you!