How to Reinvent AND Recycle with Harlequin Upholstery

Reupholstering a piece of furniture is the perfect opportunity to express yourself in interiors with the beauty of upcycling a previously loved piece, cocooning it in new life. As an act of design preservation and reinvention, what’s not to love?

In light of our recent collaboration with Vinterior, where select vintage pieces have been reupholstered in fabrics from Harlequin x Henry Holland collection, here are some ideas and tips to get you thinking about which fabrics are perfect for your first upholstery project, big or small.

So, before you reach for the staple gun – halt – and read on.

Why should you upholster?

Upholstery goes beyond just practicalities. Of course it means: your furniture can last longer and be reinvented through upcycling. But more than that, you could even say upholstery is an almost radical expressive act of design. When there’s a deluge of encouragement to consume, use and move on from products and objects, there’s something almost soothing about being able to at once retain the integrity of a chair and its history, as well as to invest in your furniture’s future.

Upholstery, or reupholstery is also a creative act. It’s a means of self-expression. The colours, or textures you choose for an upholstery project don’t ever operate in isolation, they’re always in conversation, either complementing, contrasting with the arrangement of surfaces, colours, and light within the space. Reupholstering a piece of furniture means you can create new compositions within a room, changing the space’s atmosphere entirely.

The Ikigai fabric for example, an embroidered running stitch of slowly shifting ombré colours, will have a different energy, to maybe a more subdued Nerikomi in its gentle linear markings.

Chair? Chaise? Sofa? What can you upholster?

More than you may realise. Of course, sofas, cushions, ottomans, footstools, armchairs are some of the most popular. Then you have headboards, pelmets, maybe a curule seat, or perhaps a folding screen? Wardrobes are absolutely on the list as well. Use free will to your advantage.

image of person sorting through henry holland fabrics to pick one to use for upholstery

What fabric should you select?

Before you even start looking, first think: How do I use this room? What is the purpose of this piece of furniture. How much use will it get? The sofa you sit on to watch TV, might have more use, than an accent chair in a guest bedroom.

Once that’s clear in your head, look at the fabric’s ‘Martindale’ number. This is a standardised testing/assessment of the fabric that gives you a number to gauge.

So: a 10,000 Martindale rating or less: Think decorative use, like cushions.10,000 to 15,000: Light domestic use, think accent chairs or bedroom furniture. 15,000 to 25,000: General domestic use, perfect for the day-to-day furniture like sofas and chairs in a living room. 25,000 to 30,000: This is for heavy domestic use, suitable for high-use furniture and light commercial applications Then past 30,000 or more: This is commercial grade, so great for hotels or restaurants.

Loopy Spot, and Bonseki, have both a 50,000 rating, whereas Blenets Check has a 20,000 rating. All fabrics within this collection, and across the entire Harlequin portfolio, list the Martindale rating, so you can decide what’s right for you.

Image of chair being upholstered with Henry Holland fabric

How to choose your fabric: the perfect pattern

Let’s start with the bones of the furniture. What shapes and lines emerge? Do lines curve, or are they resolutely right-angled and straight?

Perhaps it’s a piece of furniture that is sparse and straight in its linearity. A fabric like Blenet’s Check, with its embroidered bouclé texture, could beautifully emphasise the structural geometry of the furniture.

If your piece of furniture has serious curve appeal; maybe it’s Art Nouveau or in the Swedish Grace style, fabrics like Ludaix Velvet or Marble, could work.

How to choose your fabric: what’s your interior palette?

How does the furniture exist in the context of the room – is it the focal point, or more of a supporting act?

Colours coexist with one another: a visual sensation called simultaneous contrast, where putting two colours next to another can actually change in your brain the perception of each colour. Take in the colours of the room, the wood surfaces, how the light moves in the space across the day or whether you go to this room more in the evening or the morning, and think about how it all interplays with another. Perhaps you might have piping on your armchair, this could be set as a complementary contrast?

You can also think about the wood colouring – perhaps a darker wood, like walnut, or charred or burr veneered, all the patterns, shades and striations come into play. A mahogany sofa could pair brilliantly with Blenets Check Mini in Atlantic?

Curious where to begin? Browse the Henry Holland x Harlequin fabric collection or explore the Henry Holland x Vinterior edit to get inspired. Don’t forget to show us your complete projects by tagging us on Instagram.

HENRY HOLLAND X HARLEQUIN: THE VINTERIOR EDIT