The Upholstery Forum

Hello everyone, I am embarking on the difficult journey or reupholstering my grandma's vintage/historical couch. I am actually not sure how old it truly is. The craftsmanship on this piece is phenomenal, the pattern even repeats perfectly on each of the buttons in the tufted back.
I know this is an ambitious project, but I don't have a couple of thousand bucks laying around to get it professionally done, so I'll try my luck.




As the back and the arms are mostly intact, I am considering only upholstering the seating area in a uni-colored offwhite/beige, and removing the ruffled skirt to give it a more modern feel, but I am not sure if that is possible without damaging the rest of the upholstery, considering the age.

Now to my questions:
1. In general I would love to know the age and origins of the couch. I am assuming end 19th of beginning 20th century, but it could be newer, too. I am living in Germany by the way, as was my grandmother. Any ideas?

2. And as for the choice of fabric, if I choose to reupholster the entire piece, it would probably be best to choose a more lightweight fabric, right? I am worried that if the fabric is too thick, it would crease and pucker especially around curved edges and arms.
I am considering a Velours with 300g/m2 or a structured Chenille with 450g/m2. Would the Chenille be too thick?

Chenille:
https://www.stoffundstil.de/moebelcheni ... ei-824178/

Velours:
https://www.stoffundstil.de/moebelvelou ... au-824042/

Third option, and what I would go for if I was only upholstering the seating, would be a simple polyester with a soft-linen look:
https://www.stoffundstil.de/moebelstruk ... ge-826218/


3. How do I best go about deconstructing the couch, if I want to only redo the seating? Do you think it is possible to only remove the fabric on the seat?

Thank you very much in advance,
Anna

You have many years experience?

I have upholstered several smaller/easier pieces over the past couple of years, but none of them were as old like this, most of them were mid-century modern pieces. I am aware the back of the couch and the armrests are a whole different level of craftsmanship, which is why I am hoping to preserve them and only exchange the seating.

Wow! you got your work cut out for you!!

For me it would depend on the degree of disassembling it will require...well that's not exactly true, i'd run like hell from this project i hate doing furniture, but i digress. You may have to also remove the back and armrest material to get the seating replaced. At that point, you may as well re do the whole thing. Not sure i'd be too keen on poking more holes in fabric that old