One arm is up; the other has dropped almost level with the seat. In Asnew’s photographs of an antique sofa, that small change turns a neatly enclosed place to sit into something much more inviting to stretch out on. Red and cream leaves cover the back, the seat and the long curve of the lowered arm. The fabric gives the piece a new surface without disguising its rather splendid shape.

Asnew’s finished drop-arm sofa in William Morris Willow Bough jacquard, with one arm lowered. Photograph: Asnew.

The Oxfordshire workshop identifies the cloth as William Morris Willow Bough jacquard. The pattern is handsome, but the more interesting quality is the sofa’s unusual shape. Asnew shows the finished piece, not its condition before the work, and gives no project bill. It is a reason to consider keeping something distinctive, not evidence that restoring it was a bargain.

A new covering is only one part of a sofa. If you already like how yours fits, sits and looks, finding out what is worn beneath the fabric may be worth the trouble. If you have always fought its proportions, fresh upholstery can leave you with an expensive version of the same inconvenience.

Before looking at fabric, sit where you usually sit. Is the problem a shabby arm, a hollow in the cushion, a sagging base or a seat that has always been too deep? New cloth can solve the first. It will not, on its own, solve the others.

An upholsterer can assess the frame, joints, springs or webbing, padding and cushion interiors separately. A worn cushion is not proof that the frame is failing; equally, a lovely outside can conceal expensive work. Send photographs for an initial estimate, but ask what can only be confirmed once the old covering is removed.

A frame being worked on in Asnew’s Oxfordshire workshop. This is a separate piece of furniture, not the antique drop-arm sofa. Photograph: Asnew.

Then look at the room. If the sofa fits an alcove, clears the doorway and offers exactly the seat height you like, those are useful qualities to preserve. If everyone has to squeeze past it, recovering the same bulky frame will not improve the route across the living room. Changing the sofa’s dimensions is a different, potentially more costly commission.

A project in Lewisham, south-east London, shows why that inspection matters. Hill Upholstery & Design was commissioned to recover a customer’s sofa and armchair and replace their cushion interiors with foam wrapped in feathers. What began as a covering job became a repair job when the workshop found that the inside of the armchair was in poor condition.

The team sent the customer a video explaining the problem and how it proposed to put it right. Hill does not give a cost for that extra work, and it does not say the sofa itself had a defective frame. The important detail is the interruption: someone had to look beyond the new fabric and explain what the furniture actually needed.

The finished sofa and chair were returned to the Lewisham home. In a testimonial published by the workshop, the customer, Mr Harrington, praised being “kept fully appraised”. That may be the most valuable thing to arrange before handing over your own sofa. Agree how hidden damage will be assessed, what repairs are included and at what point the upholsterer must obtain your consent to spend more.

It is also a reminder that reupholstery can buy more than a changed colour. In the Lewisham job, new seat interiors formed part of the work. There is a practical difference between furniture that merely looks new and furniture that feels sound when you sit down.

The following prices were checked on 15 October 2026. They show the scale of the decision, not quotations for the two reported projects or a ranking of equivalent sofas. The workshops describe different jobs; the new sofas have different designs, fillings and specifications.

At Richard Williams, the published £980 labour charge plus ten metres at the guide’s lowest £25-a-metre fabric price comes to £1,230 for those two elements. It is arithmetic, not an all-in quote. A patterned cloth may need more metres; repairs, additional fillings and transport may cost extra. The guide says the upholstery labour prices include VAT, but you still need the workshop to confirm the complete VAT-inclusive figure for your own job.

Compare that starting point with two very different new sofas. IKEA’s £449 EKTORP is a complete, relatively compact standard model. The £1,199 John Lewis Wilber is another complete two-seater, with a different construction and a listed free UK mainland delivery service. Neither is an exact substitute for Asnew’s antique or for the sofa already in your room. That is the point: the right comparison is the new sofa you would genuinely be happy to keep, not whichever price makes restoration look cheapest or most expensive.

Asnew’s own medium two-seater guide begins at £740 to strip and re-cover, or £800 with re-foaming, both before the approximately 14 metres of fabric listed for that size. Replacement cushion interiors remain extra. “Re-foam” therefore does not promise that every loose cushion will be renewed. Ask what will actually change beneath the new fabric.

Start with a replacement you have tried, measured or otherwise established as suitable. Find its price ready to sit on: the correct size and cover, VAT, delivery, any assembly and old-sofa removal you would genuinely pay for. In the restoration column put upholstery labour, fabric, frame or spring repairs, new seat interiors, transport both ways, finishing and VAT. Separate items that both routes would require, so you do not count them twice.

If the £1,199 Wilber is a replacement you would happily own, and its listed free mainland delivery applies to you without another necessary charge, that £1,199 is a real cash benchmark. Every pound needed to collect the old sofa, repair its frame or remake its cushions leaves less for the fabric and upholstery before restoration costs more. The same method applies with a different, properly specified replacement price. This is the break-even point, not a prediction of what your old sofa should cost to repair.

If the full restoration quote is higher, keeping the old sofa may still be the choice you prefer. A better-fitting shape, a particular sitting position or a frame whose quality has been assessed can be worth paying for. Just call that a preference for the piece rather than a cash saving. If the frame has hidden damage, the seat has never been comfortable or the required alterations are extensive, ask whether you are paying to preserve something you still want.

A sensible written quote should also say what happens after stripping. A provisional allowance for unseen faults is not the same as a fixed price; agree the limit and the point at which work pauses for your decision. That small agreement matters more than a cheerful claim that old furniture always lasts longer.

A sound sofa can need a very small intervention. IKEA’s compatible EKTORP cover is £129 against £449 for the complete model, a £320 difference between listed goods prices. It makes sense only if you already own the matching sofa and its frame and cushions are sound. It is not a universal £320 saving once delivery, condition or a different model enters the picture.

If the upholstery looks good but the seat has collapsed, ask separately about renewing the cushion interiors or repairing the base. There may be no reason to strip a sofa whose fabric still works. Equally, a washable loose cover may be more useful in a busy room than an expensive new fixed fabric that is difficult to clean.

Comfort comes with upkeep, too. Asnew recommends regular plumping for feather-filled cushions, whereas foam wrapped in Dacron needs occasional turning. Try the filling where possible and ask who will stand behind the result. A softer-looking cushion is not necessarily the easiest one to live with.

Finally, let the upholsterer check fabric suitability before you order a bargain roll. The cloth, filling and any required interliner must work as a safe combination. Great Britain’s furniture fire-safety rules cover businesses supplying reupholstery and re-covering services; Northern Ireland has a separate regulatory position that needs checking locally. The workshop should explain the compliant materials and the warranty it offers, especially if you supply your own fabric.

Both arms raised on the same finished sofa. These are two positions, not before-and-after restoration photographs. Photograph: Asnew.

With both arms raised, the antique looks almost formal. Lower one and there is room to stretch out along its length. The leaf-patterned fabric catches your attention, but that second way of sitting is what makes this sofa hard to replace.