To Upholster or Not to Upholster?

To Upholster or Not to Upholster?

It is one of the questions we come back to time and again with antique seating: should you restore it, reupholster it, or leave as much of its history visible as possible?

There is no single right answer.

Sometimes the original upholstery is exactly what gives a chair its character. Faded velvets, old ticking, worn linens, exposed stitching and softened edges can carry a richness that is difficult to recreate. The fabric may be imperfect, but those imperfections are often part of what makes the piece interesting.

In other cases, it is the structure beneath the fabric that deserves to be seen.

Deconstructed upholstery can be a beautiful way of celebrating the quality of an antique frame. Stripped back to reveal hessian, webbing, hand-tied springs, timber and upholstery tacks, the construction itself becomes part of the design. It gives you a much clearer sense of how the chair was made and allows the craftsmanship to remain visible rather than hidden beneath a new covering.

This approach works particularly well when the frame has a strong shape or especially good proportions. Once the excess is removed, the chair can feel lighter, more architectural and surprisingly contemporary.

But preservation is not always the answer.

There are times when an antique chair needs a completely new chapter. A tired or damaged covering can be removed entirely and the piece rebuilt with fresh upholstery, allowing it to work naturally within a new interior. This might mean a quiet linen, a textured wool, a bold stripe or something more unexpected depending on the room.

Done well, reupholstery does not have to erase the character of the antique beneath it. The original frame, proportions and craftsmanship remain; only the surface changes.

That is really the balance we look for.

We do not believe every antique needs to be restored back to perfection, nor should every sign of age automatically be preserved. The most interesting result usually comes from looking at the individual piece first: what is worth keeping, what is worth revealing and what could be improved.

Sometimes the answer is to leave the old fabric exactly where it is.

Sometimes it is to strip everything back.

And sometimes it is to start again completely.

For us, good upholstery is not about making an antique look new. It is about deciding which part of its story should be allowed to continue.