Simply Upholstery: Step-by-Step, Renewing Your Favorite Furniture [Paperback]

Editors of Sunset Books (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

More involved than constructing a slipcover, upholstering furniture means giving an item a new identity that it will wear like skin. Understanding the layers of fabric, trimming, padding, and webbing that give a chair or a sofa its curves and contours can seem like learning a new language. How do you handle the practicalities of repairing the old innards, calculating new yardage, cutting pieces to fit properly, and achieving smooth coverage, let alone the aesthetic considerations of determining the appropriate fabric and trim choices? Simply Upholstery takes the guesswork out of all these problems and more, in straightforward, thorough, step-by-step instructions, supplemented by excellent color diagrams. Since individual furniture pieces vary so widely in design and dimension, the general directions are geared toward solid basic technique that can be applied to many styles of sofas and chairs. To show the entire process in action, the final section offers detailed color photos tracking all 50 steps of reupholstering a traditional wing chair. Like other volumes in Sunset's winning how-to series format (see also Simply Window Treatments and Simply Slipcovers), this pragmatic, careful approach brings a somewhat complicated subject down to a level that even newcomers can understand. --Amy Handy

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Oxmoor House; 1 edition (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0376011858
• ISBN-13: 978-0376011855
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 0.4 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #674,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Interior Design > Upholstery & Fabrics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

119 of 119 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Beginners, June 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Simply Upholstery: Step-by-Step, Renewing Your Favorite Furniture (Paperback)

This book won't leave you wondering if you have all of the information. This book is an excellent book for beginners. It explains everything from what tools you will need to tips from the pros. You dont need another book when you buy this one. Great Find for my first upholstery book.

109 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, February 21, 2000

By 

Apeweek (Dearborn, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simply Upholstery: Step-by-Step, Renewing Your Favorite Furniture (Paperback)

This book is not, and does not claim to be, the last word on all aspects of upholstery. But it is loaded with most of the basic information and step-by-step instructions that a home do-it-yourselfer would need. It is lavishly illustrated with numerous clear full-color illustrations and photos. I found it extremely helpful; excellent for the do-it-yourselfer as well as for the more serious student of upholstery who's looking for a place to start. (Its only shortcoming was not listing any sources for buying supplies.)

62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than adequate for the do-it-yourselfer, June 14, 2006

By 

Amalfi Coast Girl (Mid-Atlantic, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simply Upholstery: Step-by-Step, Renewing Your Favorite Furniture (Paperback)

An avid do-it-yourselfer that loves to work on decorating projects around the house writes this review. I purchased this book after I finished my first upholstery project. About 3 years ago I got a bug to try my hand at upholstery and prompted stripped a loveseat down to its frame. I used only a few short guides from the Internet as my directions. Surprisingly it worked, but it was not the easiest way to learn to reupholster something. I purchased this book when I decided to reupholster a wing chair. This book has been invaluable.

The book is subdivided as follows:

PART ONE: Be Creative
Thinking Creatively
Upholstery Design
Choosing Fabric
Choosing Trim
Into the Workroom

PART TWO: Techniques
Analyzing Your Furniture
Tools and Terms
The Parts of the Cover
The Fabric Treatment
Measuring and Estimating
Stripping the Old Fabric
Repairing the Innards
Cutting the New Cover
Basic Construction Techniques
Putting on the Cover

PART THREE: The Process
Watching the Process Unfold

The book covers all the tools that you will need to get started. They also tell you how to replace the webbing and reattach the springs. They do a nice job of showing you how to determine yardage for the piece you are going to recover.

The book spends a lot of time on the recovering of a wing chair. Since I started with a loveseat and moved to a wingchair. In my experience the wing chair is much more difficult because it has more pieces and those pieces are curved. I feel that once you can recover a wingchair everything else is a piece of cake. My next project is an antique loveseat that needs to have its underlying structure reinforced. After reading this book twice, I feel comfortable that I can handle the task.

For those of you that are new to upholstery I will warn you about a couple of things:
1. It takes much longer than you anticipate.
2. The people that originally construct furniture seem to get paid by the staple, I know I pulled at least 1000 out of the first piece I reupholstered
3. Make certain the frame is sturdy before you consider recovering a piece of furniture
4. Consider a solid fabric for your first project so that you don't have to match any patterns
5. Save and tag the pieces as you remove them to use as a pattern
6. Pick up a few basic tools before you start: a tack puller, a web stretcher and a pneumatic nail gun.

If you have patience and time, you will enjoy the process.