The Sneaky-Good Upholstery Trick Designers Swear By

Whether you have a piece of furniture from a big-box store that could use a bit of a refresh or simply don’t want to spend months tracking down the perfect vintage sofa to reupholster, I have a sneaky, expert-approved hack for you. It turns out many interior designers purchase items like sofas, ottomans, and accent chairs from affordable, direct-to-consumer retailers and then recover them using high-end fabrics to give these mass-market items a custom look.

So if you’ve fallen in love with your across the street neighbor’s sofa and plan to order the same one — but don’t want your piece to look exactly the same as theirs — consider this your permission to get creative. You don’t even have to have an interior designer or upholstery workroom on speed dial to pull off this trick. Often, you can bring a piece or two to a local upholsterer, and the process can be much faster and affordable than going the full custom route. 

Recently, designer Sarah Henley, the founder of Henley Design, purchased and then recovered a trio of counter stools from CB2 for a modern loft project, which is pictured just above. “We went this route because we wanted a quick-ship frame that had solid construction that would be comfortable and had solid joinery versus rickety vintage options,” she says. “We did not have the timeline or budget to wait for custom.” 

To spruce up the stools, Henley covered them in a textured performance fabric from Zak + Fox. “The irregular stripe made the piece feel elevated, funky, and fit with the aesthetic of the space,” she says of the upholstery selection.

Not only can this trick be budget- and timeline-friendly, but customizing something off-the-shelf with fabric also allows for more interaction with the item over going the custom route. Henley, for example, loved that her clients had the opportunity to test out the stools in person at their local CB2 store before she got too far into the design process. “We loved that this approach checked all the boxes for our clients — budget, timeframe, aesthetic — and that they ended up with a one-of-a-kind piece even though it was value engineered,” the designer says. 

Designer Kristine Irving, the founder of Koo de Kir Architectural Interiors, has also used this upholstery idea several times in her own projects. In the dining space pictured just above, she recovered head chairs from Pottery Barn and side chairs from Arhaus using a mixture of ​​Holland & Sherry wool plaid and a Maharam leather in caramel.

While sourced from different retailers, the chairs now make up a nicely unified set. “We made our client happy and remained true to our commitment of custom interiors by customizing a piece that already was in stock,” Irving says. 

Keep in mind there’s no need to go super high end with your fabric, as designer yardage can be quite pricey. That said, if you do have your heart set on a particular brand name pattern, it’s always worth scoping out sites like eBay, Etsy, and even Facebook Marketplace, where you can come across discounted offerings from designer houses. Happy customizing!