A piece of furniture that has a high-quality old frame combined with high-quality fabric and good workmanship is a stunning piece of furniture. However, there are a few things to know when looking for high quality upholstered furniture. Here are some features that let you know that your furniture needs to be reupholstered or restored.
Here’s what to look for when recognizing a high quality upholstered piece of furniture:
- Eight-Way hand tied coil springs placed underneath the deck. This is when an array of coils are tied from all directions: front, back, side-to-side, and diagonal, a total of eight times to create comfort, support, even spacing, and resistance to pressure.
- Lined skirting twice the ware. Make sure that the cushions are reversible.
- Loose back cushions (so that the filling does not settle).
- Check to see if the frame is furniture grade wood.
- Be sure that the corners and arms of the chairs/sofas have thick padding.
- Make sure all cushions have zippers aligned with the fabric for removal.
- The pillowcase stuffing has to have compartments for minimal setting.
- The floral patterns must flow from one part of couch to next.
- Firm foam block has to be wrapped in padding.
- A Protective inner cover has to be within the furniture. This helps avoid scratches when transporting your furniture.
In addition, all fabric should be a high grade, 120 rub fabric, aligned with the pattern, and the skirts should have lining or weights.
Reupholstery is used to fit sofas and chairs with covering, padding, springs, and webbing. At Foxwood Furniture Restoration, we refurbish your antique furniture to bring it back to its original state. With over 70 years of experience, we offer complete and thorough furniture restorations on antiques. If you are looking to have your furniture restored or repaired, we do furniture upholstery in Brighton, MI. Contact Foxwood Furniture Restorations today for our furniture restoration services!
Features of quality typically found in furniture that is at least 10 years or older;
Here is some more helpful information when you are trying to recognize upholstered furniture for either purchasing or deciding if you should reupholster it.
Wood Furniture Composition:
- Softwoods Are made from coniferous trees: pine, fir, redwood, and cedar wood. Softwoods require more care due to being more prone to scratches and dents.
- Hardwoods Are made from deciduous trees: oak, maple, teak, mahogany, cherry, walnut, and birch. Hardwood is dried to remove moisture.
Furniture Joint Construction:
The construction of a piece of furniture can tell you about the quality of the piece, look for these;
- Dovetail, Mortise & Tenon are the oldest ways furniture makers put furniture together.
- Reinforced corner blocks seen from the inside add to the stability and strength of a piece of furniture.
- Dowels and Screws
Furniture Drawer Structure:
- Dust panels are thin sheets of wood between drawers in a chest or desk of drawers.
- Floating Bottoms are not affixed to the sides of the drawer, instead, they float in the groove of the drawer.
- Metal glide rails drawers run smoothly and have stopped to make sure the drawer does not pull out.
- Springs hand-tied springs, close together even resistance.
Upholstered Furniture:
- Cushions are firm foam / wrapped in padding, protective inner cover, and reversible cushions.
- Fabric high grade 120,000 rub fabric, aligned pattern, skirts with lining or weights.
Revised 08/2024
Posted In: Upholstered furniture, upholstery
Tags: high quality upholstered furniture, recognizing high quality furniture, recognizing upholstered furniture, reupholstered furniture
