Should I Reupholster or Purchase New Furniture (Spoiler Alert: Buy A Barcelona Chair)

It is something that crosses our minds from time to time: Reupholster or buy brand new pieces?. Nevertheless, the rising evidence is each time more conclusive: Reupholster our furniture is more expensive than purchasing a new one, or it has a considerable price (So, the best option is to buy a brand new Barcelona Chair, and we’ll explain why).

Barcelona chair
The Barcelona Chair

It’s true, reupholstering tends to be expensive, and sometimes can even be more expensive than buying an original piece. The main reason has to do with the manufacture/ craftsmanship process.

Automatized manufacture Vs Artisan processes 

Nowadays, most of the furniture is manufactured through industrial processes, at massive scales of output. This turns down sharply the costs per unit. On the other hand, to reupholster a single piece is a craftsmanship work, paid to an artisan. If the specific fabric is not easily available the cost of production will rise. That person should allocate resources for a single piece, and that always turns the upwards the costs. Let’s see with more detail:

  • Maybe the fabric or some supplies are out of the market or are not quickly available.
  • Maybe it will require the purchase of a large quantity of material, just to use a small amount of it. 
  • Besides, you will have to pay for the service of upholstery, a cost that sinks when it comes to automatized manufacture.
  • There are some complexities too, related to the world of upholstery that makes this like a craftsmanship work that requires expertise and experience. This skills are well rewarded.

For all this, upholstery has become something more related to unique pieces, expensive pieces that are originally manufactured through artisan processes, too.

The Market of Replicas: A combination of automatized and artisan processes

Additionally, the quality reached by some manufacturers, specially in the market of replicas, where automatized and manual processes are combined, has made almost not significant to use this kind of service for pieces that are at the same price,  or very near to the same price of a brand new replica. 

A very high quality piece of design, like the Barcelona Chair, for example, combines the industrial manufacture of its stainless steel chromed frame, with the manual, artisan process of sewing its leather into its support. The process is manual, but the scale of operations is big, and the costs for buyers are very much smaller. That’s why you can get a brand new piece of furniture for an affordable price, even comparing it with a reupholstering. 

In the Barcelona Collection, all leather used in each item (The Barcelona Chair, Barcelona Loveseat; and Barcelona Sofa; the Barcelona Ottoman and the Barcelona Bench and Daybed) is treated and sewed individually. That is the final seal in the look and feel of the pieces as a high quality design. 

You can trust in Manhattan Home Design, the specialized dealer in the market of Mid Century Modern Style furniture, with excellence products as the Barcelona Chair, and the Barcelona Collection, as the provider of furniture solutions for your home.