Upholstery & reupholstery
in Doncaster East

One of the things we like about Doncaster East is that people bring us the small job before it becomes a big one. A split seam on a chaise cushion, a sagging seat on one dining chair, a recliner that has started to grind. Fixed early, these are quick and inexpensive. Left for a year, the split spreads, the foam crumbles and the job doubles. So we take small repairs from Doncaster East as readily as full recovers, and a lot of our customers here started with one.

It is a suburb of family homes from the 70s, 80s and 90s with newer townhouses filling in, and the furniture in them was mostly bought to last. That is the second thing we notice: a good frame, decent foam that has finally given up, and an owner who would rather repair it than buy something disposable. That is our favourite kind of customer.

As this page was being written a chaise from Doncaster East was in the workshop for a split cushion cover. Nothing else wrong with it: good frame, good foam, a seam that had finally let go on the side that gets sat on. The fix is to open the seam back to sound fabric and re-sew it properly, or if the fabric itself has gone, to remake that panel or that cushion cover. It goes home in days rather than weeks, and the chaise gets another decade.

That is typical of the area. We do full recovers here too, lounges and dining suites and the occasional antique, but the repair-first habit is what Doncaster East does well.

For venues, the nearest example is the Veneto Club in Bulleen, where we rebuilt and recovered the seating. Booth and banquette work for cafes and clubs across Manningham is the same trade at a larger scale.

Split seams and worn cushion covers are the most common Doncaster East job, and the honest question is whether the original fabric can still be matched. Sometimes it can. When it cannot, the options are to recover the cushions in a complementary fabric, or to recover the whole piece so it all matches. We will lay both out before you decide, with the trade-offs.

Leather cushions raise a different point. Leather is bought by the hide, not the metre, so a single cushion can mean buying a whole hide. For one-off leather repairs a close-match vinyl is often the practical answer, and we will say so rather than sell you a hide you do not need.

When a whole lounge is being recovered for a family room we recommend a fabric rated at least 25,000 Martindale rubs, and more with large dogs, so the new cover lasts as long as the frame under it.

A restorer and French polisher with fifty years, a machinist with thirty and an upholsterer with twenty-two, all in one workshop in Eltham North, so nothing waits on anyone else. Frames are repaired before anything goes back on. Seats get Dunlop HR35 foam, 200 density for a firm seat and 165 for softer, backed by Dunlop's ten-year warranty, with nine-way hand-tied springs where the frame was built for them. Hardwood frames we build carry a thirty-year guarantee, and we are fully insured.

You are welcome to visit the workshop and see fabric in person. Call first, as it is a residential address.