Would you choose this sofa again?
Take the romance out of the first five minutes. Sit in the sofa if its condition allows, look at it from the doorway and measure it against the room. Are the arms useful? Is the back at a height you like? Can you get it through the entrance? If the answers are wrong now, a costly cover is unlikely to make them right.
A rebuild makes more sense when the hard-to-replace qualities already work: an unusually good size, a frame you enjoy looking at, a useful seat arrangement or a piece with personal meaning. Those are legitimate reasons to spend. They are different from an expectation that restoration will automatically raise its resale value.
Three projects hiding inside “reupholster the sofa”
| Project | What you want to keep | What must be confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Loose-cushion renewal | Frame, fitted upholstery and sound support | The support works; covers and filling are measured for this model. |
| Support repair with selected cover work | Usable original layers and the overall form | The upholsterer can reach and repair the failed layer without promising to preserve material they have not examined. |
| Complete strip and rebuild | The accepted frame and agreed silhouette | Structural work, support, filling, seams and final cover are all described. |
Use the sagging-sofa Guide if you still do not know which layer has failed. Here, the useful question is how much of the sofa you need to buy again in labour and materials. A maker service can narrow that question: ercol offers ReCover for a limited set of models and directs owners to its identification guide. Its existence does not mean every old ercol sofa is covered.[2]
A published price is a starting point, not the invoice
Checked on 10 September 2026, studio kerjeus in Kortrijk publishes €790–€2,200 for dismantling, rebuilding and upholstering a two- or three-seater. It indicates 13–20 running metres of fabric; its prices include VAT but exclude the fabric, which starts at €50 per running metre. These are one workshop’s indications, not European averages or a quote for your sofa.[1]
At that stated starting fabric price, 13 metres adds €650 and 20 metres adds €1,000. Combining the endpoints gives €1,440–€3,200 for that service-and-fabric arithmetic alone. Do not treat €3,200 as a ceiling: your textile, frame condition, details, transport and exact scope can change the result. Ask the workshop what its published service includes before adding separate support or filling charges.
A €450 sofa can become a €3,450 project
The following is a planning example, not a real quotation or completed restoration. Suppose you are considering a €450 sofa. You enter an assumed €1,500 service price, 16 metres of fabric at an assumed €65 per metre, €220 for the necessary transport and a separately agreed €240 frame repair that the service price explicitly excludes.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Purchase | €450 |
| Defined upholstery service | €1,500 |
| Fabric: 16 × €65 | €1,040 |
| Transport for the project | €220 |
| Separate accepted frame repair | €240 |
| Complete planned commitment | €3,450 |
If the frame repair is already included, remove that extra line. If tax or delivery is unclear, the total is incomplete. Compare this commitment with an actually available sofa you would be happy to own, including its delivery and any immediate work. A restored project need not be the cheaper choice, but its advantage should be something you can name.
Specify the result you will sit on
Ask for the proposed seat height, cushion arrangement and filling feel, not simply “new foam”. Agree which exposed wood, seams, buttons and old labels stay. A tidier silhouette can still be the wrong silhouette if the arms become bulky or the cushions erase the frame detail you liked.
An inspection may reveal additional work after opening. Agree the examination charge, what pauses the job, how extra work is authorised and what happens if the project no longer makes sense. Keep enough room in your budget to make a decision; a generic percentage reserve is not permission for unlimited repairs.
Message to the upholsterer
I am considering this [sofa/model] and want to retain [shape, frame and details]. Please compare [cushion renewal/selected support work/full rebuild] for the attached dimensions and photographs. Which frame, support, filling and cover work is included, what needs examination, how much of this exact fabric is required, and what are the tax, transport and extra-work terms? Please identify any separately priced item so I do not count it twice.
Choose the project when the scope, result and complete cost fit. Pause when its success depends on a hidden frame being sound or an unpriced job being cheap. Keep the sofa because it earns its place in the room, not because you have already bought the fabric.