Guide · upholstery in Melbourne
Sometimes, and the brand will not tell you. A label gives you the price bracket a lounge sold in, not the frame inside it, and frames inside the same brand changed over time. In our Eltham North workshop we test every sofa before quoting: lift-out cushions, a frame you cannot lift easily, and a maker who no longer sells the cushion are the three signs a recover is worth it.
Last updated: October 2026
Get a free quoteCall 0425 832 619A brand verdict is a guess, because a furniture retailer is a shop, not a factory. In our experience the big Australian lounge brands sell ranges from more than one maker, and budget and premium frames sit under the same logo. The only honest verdict is model and year, confirmed on the bench.
When we open a sofa, the label under the dust cover is the least useful thing in it. What matters is whether the rails are hardwood or ply, the joints dowelled with corner blocks or stapled, the seat sprung or strapped, and the cushions loose or stitched in. Two lounges from the same retailer, five years apart, can score differently on all four.
So when someone asks "is it worth reupholstering a Freedom sofa", our answer is "which one, and what year". The label sold the lounge; the frame decides whether it is worth saving.
Three questions decide whether a retail lounge earns a recover: can the cushions lift out, can you lift the frame, and will the maker still sell you a cushion. Yes, no, no is the ideal answer. Three yeses or a frame you can lift easily usually means buy new, or do a smaller repair only.
Our advice on a particleboard frame is not to recover it, and we say so before you have spent anything. We quote from photos and firm up once fabric is chosen; the cost guide explains what moves the figure.
Freedom, Plush and Nick Scali lounges range from well worth recovering to not worth the fabric, and the deciding factor is the model and year, not the logo. Of the retail pieces we open, a good share have frames worth recovering, many need only a cushion or strapping job, and the rest get an honest no.
What we see most often from these three:
We never say a brand uses chipboard; we have opened the same model name with two different frames in it. Retailer FAQs call soft seats and stretched leather "natural settling" with no repair path; on the bench, soft is foam, stretched is a cover, and both are repairable on a frame that deserves it.
A 10-year-old King Living or a Koala sofa is usually a cushion and cover job, not a frame job, because the parts that wear are the foam and the fabric. King Living sells on a steel-framed seat, Koala on a modular, flat-packed build with zip-off covers. On both, the frame is rarely why the lounge feels tired.
The typical 10-year-old King Living arrives with "sunken" seats, flattened foam and a cover worn on the arms and seat fronts. What we typically find is a frame still square, with the strapping or clips under the cushions stretched and the foam gone with them. New Dunlop HR35 inserts and a recover bring the seat back, and because the fabric and insert are usually discontinued long before the frame fails, that beats buying new at 10 years. A failed modular mechanism is a different conversation.
"Koala couch sagging" is our most common online-brand enquiry. Koala's modulars use a lighter build and foam seats, so sag within 2 to 4 years is almost always foam losing height, not the frame letting go. Those cushions can be refoamed at a higher density than they were sold with, and the zip covers make it clean. A section you can lift one-handed will not justify a full recover, so we do the cushions only.
An IKEA sofa is worth recovering only when the frame is better than the cover, which is true for a minority of models. The flat-pack lounges with ply or solid timber rails and loose cushions can take a recover; the lightweight, foam-block or stapled-frame pieces cannot, and a slipcover or new foam is the only sensible spend.
When we open an IKEA lounge the first check is whether the frame bolts together as a rigid box or flexes at the joins. The timber-framed, loose-cushion models, Ektorp and Kivik above all, are the ones asked about most. If IKEA still sells the cover or insert for your model, buy it; a recover rarely beats a cover the maker still sells. When the cover is discontinued and the cushions have gone flat, new Dunlop HR35 inserts are usually the whole job.
Sofa beds such as the Friheten are a mechanism and mattress question; the cover is secondary. The general rule for cheaper flat-pack frames is on is it worth reupholstering.
| Sofa as sold | Typical wear at 5 to 10 years | Usual verdict on the bench |
|---|---|---|
| Timber-frame, loose cushions, discontinued fabric | Flat seat foam, worn arms | Recover plus new Dunlop HR35 cushions |
| Steel or heavy timber frame, maker still sells inserts | Flat seat foam only | Buy the insert, keep the cover |
| Modular, lightweight, zip covers | Foam sag in 2 to 4 years | Refoam cushions only |
| Stitched-in seats, light or stapled frame | Sag, creak, loose joints | Honest no, buy new |
| Recliner suite, any brand | Mechanism, then seat foam | Service mechanism first |
Yes, we make replacement cushions for lounges whose maker no longer stocks them; it is our most common retail-brand job. A seat cushion is a pattern, a foam insert and a cover, and none of those needs the brand to still exist. We pattern from your old cushion, cut new Dunlop HR35 and cover it in your fabric or vinyl.
On a loose-cushion lounge it is a small job relative to a full recover: the frame is untouched and the old cover gives the exact pattern. If only the foam has gone, we can refoam into your existing covers while the fabric has life; sofa cushion refoaming explains when a cover is too worn to reuse.
Ask any workshop two things: what density and firmness are going in: Dunlop HR35 at 200 firm outlasts the original in most retail lounges, which were built to a price; and whether the foam carries a manufacturer warranty, since Dunlop's is 10 years. Feather and fibre wraps are a separate conversation and we confirm the approach with you when we quote.
A recover on a retail lounge takes about a couple of weeks in the workshop once fabric has arrived, and fabric lead time is the variable, anywhere from in stock to several weeks. Set that against the made-to-order lead times customers tell us showrooms quote them, and the recover is rarely the slower option.
The cost drivers are the same as any recover: fabric choice is the biggest, then size and shape, then the condition of frame, strapping and foam, then hand detail such as piping or pattern matching, then surprises once the lounge is open. The frame is the one thing a photo cannot show, so we quote from photos and confirm on the bench before any fabric is ordered. Pickup and delivery across Melbourne metro are by arrangement, and workshop visits to see fabrics are welcome; call first, it is a residential address.
On warranty: Australian consumer guarantees cover goods of acceptable quality, and the retailer, not the manufacturer, is your first port of call. That is general information, not legal advice. Retailer warranty pages often call soft seats normal wear; a fair share of the lounges on our bench are under 3 years old and were refused on that line. Get the answer in writing before choosing between a claim, a repair and a new lounge. A seat that has lost 3 centimetres of height in two years is not settling, it is foam that was never dense enough.
Good to know
Often yes for the older timber-framed, loose-cushion models, and usually no for lightweight modular pieces unless it is a cushion-only job. Freedom ranges changed supplier and construction over time, so we do not give a brand verdict. We run the three-question test on your model: cushions lift out, frame too heavy to lift easily, maker no longer sells the cushion. Two or three of those and it is worth recovering.
Frequently, because the common Plush faults we see are soft seat foam and worn or bonded leather on the arms and seat fronts, with the frame usually sound on the mid and upper ranges. Those are cover and foam problems, which a recover in leather or Austex vinyl plus new Dunlop HR35 inserts fixes. We test the frame before quoting because construction varies by model and year.
If it is a static lounge with loose cushions and a frame that is awkward to lift, reupholster; the sagging most people describe is foam and strapping, not the frame. If it is a recliner suite, have the mechanism serviced first and recover only if the surrounding frame passes. If the seats are stitched in and the frame is light, buy new. We confirm which on the bench, not from the label.
Reupholster, in most cases. The steel frame is rarely the problem at 10 years; the worn parts are the seat foam, the fabric on the arms and seat fronts, and the clips and strapping under the cushions. New Dunlop HR35 inserts and a recover restore it, and because the original fabric and insert are usually discontinued by then, a local recover is the practical path. A failed modular mechanism changes that answer.
Yes. Koala cushions that sag within 2 to 4 years are almost always foam losing height, not the frame failing. We refoam them in Dunlop HR35 at a higher density than they were sold with, and the zip-off covers make it a clean job. The lightweight modular frame does not justify a full recover, so we keep it to cushions, and the lounge sits noticeably firmer than new.
Yes, but it is only worth it on the models with a proper timber seat frame and loose cushions, and only when IKEA no longer sells the cover or insert for yours. If a cover is still available, buy it. If the cushions have gone flat, new Dunlop HR35 inserts are usually the whole job. A Friheten is a sofa-bed mechanism and mattress question first; the cover is secondary.
Rarely as a full recover, sometimes as a small repair. A lounge that sags inside a year is telling you the foam or strapping was light, and on a budget frame a new cover costs more than the lounge earned. Check the frame first: if you can lift a corner easily and the far side creaks, do not spend on fabric. Within the first year, the retailer is also your first port of call under consumer guarantees.
Yes, and it is the most common retail-brand job on our bench. We take the pattern from your old cushion, cut new Dunlop HR35 foam (200 firm for seating, 165 medium where a softer sit suits) and cover it in your chosen fabric or vinyl. The brand does not need to exist for this to work. If your existing covers still have life, we can refoam into them instead, which keeps the job smaller.
The ones built on hardwood or good plywood rails with dowelled, corner-blocked joints, which describes most Australian-made lounges from the small factories and the older ranges of the bigger names. We do not publish a brand list because frames inside the same brand changed over time. The reliable tell is weight and joinery, not the label: a lounge that moves as one piece when you lift a corner has a frame worth keeping.
Yes. An online brand's warranty process is remote, but the sofa itself is foam, fabric, strapping and a frame, and any good local upholsterer can work on all four. Replacement cushions, refoaming and recovers do not need the maker involved. The same frame test applies: modular, lightweight pieces get a cushion job, heavier timber or steel frames can justify a full recover. We confirm on the bench from your photos first.
Because they are built to a price, and the first things trimmed are foam density and the suspension under it. Lower-density seat foam loses height fast under daily use, and light elastic strapping or clipped springs stretch or let go at the clips. The frame is usually not the cause at two years. The short version is that foam and strapping are replaceable, and on a frame worth keeping, a refoam in Dunlop HR35 with new strapping fixes the sag.
Send a photo or the dimensions of your booths, banquettes or venue seating and we'll come back with a rough price and turnaround.
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