Guide · upholstery in Melbourne
Almost anything with a frame and a staple line can be recovered. Sofa beds, modulars with consoles, office chairs, rockers, cane-back chairs, bed frames, ottomans, lamp shades and one-off props are all yes. The real question is whether the mechanism, mattress or gas lift inside is worth the labour around it. Car seats, boats, caravans and blinds belong to a different trade: motor and marine trimming.
Last updated: October 2026
Get a free quoteCall 0425 832 619If a piece has a frame to staple into and a hand-fitted cover, an upholsterer can take that cover off and fit a new one. That covers roughly 9 out of 10 things people photograph and send us. The exceptions are about what is bolted to the frame underneath.
On the bench we look at three things: frame, support (springs, webbing or a deck) and foam. A hardwood frame with good joints is worth almost any cover. A particleboard frame rarely justifies the labour, and we will tell you so when we quote. Everything between is decided by a part that is not upholstery: a bed action, a recliner motor, a gas lift, a cane panel. The mistake we see in other quotes is pricing the cover without testing that part first. So the honest list is yes, yes-if, and refer.
| Piece | Verdict | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Sofa bed | Yes, if | Action folds cleanly, mattress worth keeping or replacing |
| Modular with console and cup holders | Yes, if | Each motor and action works, console is a timber box |
| Office or task chair | Yes, if | Gas lift and tilt sound, shell not cracked |
| Rocking chair | Yes | Runners and joints solid, or a timber repair first |
| Cane-back chair | Yes | Seat and arms recovered, the cane itself is a caner's job |
| Upholstered bed frame or base | Yes | Slats and rails sound |
| Ottoman, piano stool, bar stool, chaise | Yes | Frame condition only |
| Lamp shade | Yes | Wire frame straight, fabric chosen for heat |
| Prop, wall panel, odd box | Yes | Any substrate we can staple or glue to |
| Car seat, boat, caravan, blind | Refer | Motor trimmer, marine trimmer or blind maker |
The cover is the easy part; the hardware under it is the quote.
A sofa bed can be reupholstered; the cover work is the same as a lounge. What changes the job is the fold-out action and the mattress. The action comes out so we can staple the deck and inside arms, and a flat mattress is a replacement. If the action is bent, we tell you before we touch fabric.
When we open a sofa bed we unbolt the action first, usually 4 to 6 bolts into the side rails. Then it is a lounge: strip, check the frame, replace the foam with Dunlop HR35 (200 firm on seats), fit the new cover. The cost driver is time: the inside faces that a lounge hides are visible when the bed is open, so they are covered properly too.
Modulars with a console, cup holders and power recliners are the same story multiplied by seats. Each recliner unit has its own motor and action, tested before we quote. The console is a timber box with a lid; the cup holders are inserts that lift out and go back after the cover, the easiest part of the job.
What makes a modular not worth it is a motor that has died on a brand with no parts, or a chipboard sub-frame under a low-cost unit. Motor replacement is a service job, covered on the recliner page; chipboard usually ends it, and we confirm that with you when we quote.
A power modular is five jobs that happen to be bolted together.
An office chair is worth reupholstering when the gas lift, tilt mechanism and shell are sound and the chair was good from new. A quality task chair with a worn cover and a tired seat pad is a good job. One whose lift sinks and whose shell has cracked is not: the labour around a seat pad outweighs the pad.
The recover itself is small: the seat and back come off the mechanism as two pads, the old cover is stripped, compressed foam is replaced, and a new cover fitted. The honest test is to sit in it and lift the lever. If it sinks within a minute, the lift is a parts job, and a 10 to 15 year old chair on dead castors needs those too.
Rocking chairs are a straight yes. The seat and back are upholstered like any armchair, and the runners and joints are timber. A rocker that creaks or sits lopsided has its joints reglued before the cover goes on. Our restorer and French polisher has 50 years on timber like that, so a rocker is often two trades on one piece.
Cane-back chairs confuse people because cane and upholstery are different crafts. The upholstered seat, arms and any padded panel are recovered normally and sound cane stays. A woven cane panel that has broken through is re-caned by a caner, a specialist we refer to. A cracked panel can also be replaced with an upholstered one, which changes the look but saves the chair.
If the gas lift sinks, the chair is a parts job before it is a fabric job.
Upholstered bed frames, ensemble bases, ottomans and lamp shades can all be recovered. A bed frame is a timber or ply carcass wrapped in fabric over thin foam, the simplest cover there is. Size sets the job: a queen surround runs about 2 metres down each side, more fabric than a two-seater, with long straight seams that show every flaw.
Bed heads we build to measure as well as recover; a hardwood frame we build carries the same 30-year frame guarantee as a lounge. A bed base is a slatted or sprung frame with a fabric skirt and top. Cracked slats or a bowed centre rail are fixed first, because a cover over a bowed base sags with it.
Ottomans are the best value recover on the list: small, square, no mechanism. A piano stool is an ottoman with a nicer frame; bar stools are the same job in volume.
Lamp shades are not stapled at all; the fabric is stretched and stitched or glued to a wire frame, with a lining chosen for heat. What matters is a straight frame and a fabric that takes a warm globe without discolouring.
An ottoman is the smallest job on the bench and the one most people put off longest.
Yes to props, wall panels, padded boxes and one-off cushions, because they all come down to a substrate we can staple or glue to. A theatre prop, a studio wall panel, a fabric-wrapped plinth: the same tools as a lounge with none of the springs.
Give us a ply shape, or let us cut one, and the fabric follows. The jobs that go wrong are stapled into plasterboard, polystyrene or hollow-core board, usually by a shopfitter on a deadline. We build on 12 mm ply or timber, pad with foam cut to shape, and fit the cover with mitred corners so it hangs straight.
One-off cushions are the quietest big category we do: bench seats, window seats, a dog bed to match the lounge. Foam is the decision there: a window seat gets 10 cm of 200 firm so it does not bottom out, and the foam guide explains 165 medium against 200 firm.
If it has a flat face and a back we can get to, we can cover it.
Car seats, boat seating, caravan upholstery and blinds are a different trade. Motor trimming and marine trimming have their own apprenticeships, machines and materials, and a furniture upholsterer who says yes to a car seat is doing you a disservice. We refer those out, and so should anyone with a staple gun and a conscience.
A modern car seat often carries a side airbag that deploys through a tear seam in the bolster, so the cover must be sewn to split on cue; seat heaters and sensors run through the foam.
Boats and caravans are marine trimming: UV-stable vinyl, thread that does not rot, foam that drains, covers that fit a hull rather than a room. Blinds are a blind maker's trade. We will tell you which trade you need.
Our tools stop at the garage door.
We quote unusual pieces from photos first, the same way as a lounge, then firm it up once fabric is chosen and the mechanism tested on the bench. Send a photo of the whole piece, one of any mechanism or damage, and tell us what is wrong in your own words: sinking, sticking, flat, torn.
For sofa beds, modulars and office chairs the quote has two halves, kept separate on purpose: the cover and foam, and the hardware. If the hardware test fails, you know before any fabric is cut. For odd jobs, send a sketch with measurements in centimetres. Visitors are welcome at our Eltham North workshop to look at fabric; it is a residential address, so call first.
An ottoman or office chair seat can be fast once fabric is in hand; a sofa bed is about a couple of weeks, subject to fabric arriving; a multi-motor modular is quoted on its own timeline once each unit is tested. Pickup and delivery are by arrangement. The cost guide explains what moves a quote.
Fabric lead time sets the timeline more than the piece does.
Good to know
Yes. The cover work is the same as a lounge; what changes the job is the fold-out action and the mattress. The action is unbolted and set aside so the deck and inside arms can be stripped and recovered, then refitted. A mattress that has gone flat is replaced, not repaired. If the action is bent or will not fold cleanly, a careful workshop tells you before any fabric is cut, because a new action can outweigh the cover.
Yes. The console is a timber box with a lid, and the cup holders are plastic or steel inserts that lift out and go back in after the new cover is fitted around the holes. Each power or manual recliner unit has its own action and motor, and each is tested before we quote. The piece is not worth it when a motor has died on a brand with no parts, or when the sub-frame under the seats is chipboard.
It is worth it when the chair was good to begin with and the gas lift, tilt mechanism and shell are sound. The seat and back come off as two pads, the compressed foam is replaced and a new cover fitted. It is not worth it when the lift sinks within a minute of lifting the lever or the plastic shell has cracked, because the parts and labour around a small seat pad outweigh the pad itself.
Yes. The seat, back and arms are upholstered like any armchair. The runners and joints are timber, and a rocker that creaks or sits lopsided has its joints reglued before the cover goes on. That makes a rocker a two-trade piece, upholstery and timber restoration, and the order matters: cover last. A rocker with a split runner is a timber repair first and an upholstery job second.
Yes, with one distinction. The upholstered seat, arms and any padded panel are recovered normally while the cane stays. The woven cane itself is a caner's craft: if it has broken through, it is re-caned by a specialist, which we would refer rather than pretend to do. A damaged cane panel can also be replaced with an upholstered panel, which changes the look but saves the chair. A good workshop names which of those it recommends before quoting.
Yes. A bed frame is a timber or ply carcass wrapped in fabric over thin foam, one of the simplest covers there is; the size and the long straight seams are what set the job. A bed base is a slatted or sprung frame with a fabric skirt and top. Cracked slats or a bowed centre rail are fixed first, because a new cover over a bowed base sags with it. Bed heads are also built to measure.
Yes. A lamp shade is a soft furnishing, not a stapled piece: the fabric is stretched and stitched or glued to a wire frame with a lining chosen for heat. What decides it is a straight frame and a fabric that takes a warm globe without discolouring, which is settled at fabric choice. Most soft furnishings, from shades to bench cushions, are a yes for the same reason.
Yes. A chaise is an armchair stretched long, with a hardwood or ply frame, a sprung or webbed seat and one long cushion or a fixed seat. The cover uses more metres than its footprint suggests because of the long outside face and the scrolled end. Antique chaises are usually hand-tied springs and horsehair, and we keep what is sound. A modern chaise with a chipboard frame is the one we usually advise against.
Because it is a different trade: motor trimming. A modern car seat often carries a side airbag that deploys through a tear seam in the bolster, so the cover must be sewn with the right thread and seam to split on cue. Seat heaters, occupancy sensors and headrest wiring run through the foam. A motor trimmer quotes per seat, driven by factory cover type, foam condition and electronics. A furniture upholsterer saying yes to that is doing you a disservice.
A marine trimmer or a motor trimmer, not a furniture upholsterer. Boat and caravan work uses UV-stable vinyl, bonded polyester thread that does not rot, foam that drains, and covers built to fit a hull or a van wall rather than a room. Search for motor trimming or marine trimming rather than upholstery and you will find the right trade. We will happily take the lounge and dining chairs from the same house; our tools stop at the garage door.
Yes, as long as there is a substrate to staple or glue to. Props, padded wall panels, display plinths and fabric-wrapped boxes use the same tools as a lounge with none of the springs. We build on ply or timber, pad with foam cut to shape, and fit the cover with mitred corners so it hangs straight. The jobs that fail are the ones stapled into plasterboard, polystyrene or hollow-core board.
Yes, easily. A piano stool is a small hardwood frame with a drop-in or screwed-down seat, and a hinged storage lid on older ones. Bar stools are the same job repeated, and a set is recovered together so the fabric matches across every seat. On a swivel bar stool the swivel plate and gas lift are checked the way an office chair mechanism is. Loose stool legs are reglued before the seat goes back on.
Send a photo or the dimensions of your booths, banquettes or venue seating and we'll come back with a rough price and turnaround.
Send us the drawings or details and we'll come back with a straight quote, no clout needed, just a great job.
Enquire about a job Call 0425 832 619