ALL THE STRIPE SOFA DETAILS
Back in 2021, we bought this sofa secondhand on eBay. I knew that the secret to getting an expensive, stylish, quality sofa on a budget was to go secondhand, so I set up alerts for a Conran sofa and bagged this one for just over £150; the buyers were selling their property so wanted a quick sale, and organised a pick-up via Shiply (this cost a further £90).
And then the sofa sat in our living room for 3 years. We haven’t really used it as our living room has been a makeshift warehouse for the last few years with matches and office storage. It was in an okay condition, some marks and a few tears in the fabric, but I knew I wanted to do something with it that felt more ‘us’. I’d been eyeing up striped sofas for years, I always loved Lucinda Chambers’s striped sofa and Sophie from Cote de Folk is often styling dreamy multi striped cushions and sofas.
We had to wait until we had enough money saved, but also time to research if we wanted to do it more affordably. I was quoted roughly £1,000 for the stripping and upholstery, but then fabric would still be on top of that. I still think this is decent value for a ‘bespoke’ sofa that no one else will have and the point of reupholstery is making something last – it’s still more economical (and environmentally friendly) than buying a new sofa, however, we needed to shop around.
I decided to look further afield (mainly outside of London) and came across Collins Upholstery based in Haywards Heath. I remembered Jess Hurrell used them a few years ago and they came back with a quote of £550. The quote was without fabric and there would be an extra collection and delivery cost (I would add here that this was a standard quote – we contacted them anonymously, not as an Influencer and didn’t negotiate price through offering coverage). The great thing about contacting an upholsterer first is that they can give you a rough estimate of how much fabric you’d need; we were told roughly 12-14 metres, which helped us budget the next step.
I started to research fabric. I adore brands like Colours of Arley and Designers Guild but at £75 – £125 per metre I had to keep looking. I decided that the sofa is a great shape, and the stripe will be a statement in itself, so I needed to trust that it would still look good if it didn’t cost the earth. And realistically: I’ve never not liked anything striped in my home or wardrobe! I went classic and found St Agnes wide stripe from Just Fabrics – it was £19.51 per metre. I then bought 14 metres to be really sure we had enough.
Disclaimer: I did not check if it was suitable for sofas and to be honest the site just says suitable for curtains and cushions – I waited to see if the upholsterer mentioned anything but all I heard was how good it looked when it was finished! We didn’t get it restuffed or anything, I think from just putting it all back together it looks plumper, but they did fix one of the wooden feet which had come loose.
And all I can say is how much I LOVE IT! It makes the room feel pulled together and brighter (I find velvets suck light out of any area!). I know it’s not super practical with kids but I try not to get myself too worked up about it. The fact I look at it every day and love it outweighs my worry for it to get dirty – I’d rather use and stain something I truly love, tbh.
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