Reupholstering at Home: A Do-It-Yourself Manual for Turning Old Furniture Into New Showpieces

This book is great for anyone from total beginners on up. I have used it for several upholstery projects for nearly 15 years now, starting with my very first upholstery project. It took all the nervousness out of that first project, and I've used it ever since. It is a step-by-step guide to reupholstering almost any kind of chair, but it doesn't just cover the cloth and stuffing; it covers repair all the way up from the bottom, including re-doing old seat webbing, etc. It offers several alternatives for repairs, as well (for example, changing old webbing to a piece of plywood for the bottom of a seat--or changing from one type of webbing to another). Photos are all in black-and-white, making images less distracting than color photos (as pointed out by another reviewer). The front of the book offers a basic list of upholstery tools you will need; a guide on how to select fabric; a 7-page spread of pictures of chairs giving yardage estimates for each chair type; and a glossary with pictures. The rest of the book is a very detailed yet easy-to-follow upholstering guide for just about every kind of chair imaginable including difficult chairs (those with quilted backs, etc.). I highly recommend this book and am glad to see it still in print. Despite its age, it is still very useful and completely applicable to modern projects. Great buy.

This book is excellent! The author shows you step by step what you need to do to reupholster your piece of furniture. I used this book and was able to quickly learn what I needed to do to reupholster an old chair I own and looked like I bought a new chair from the store when I was finished. Since then, I have had family and friends asking me where I bought the "new chair!" I recommend this book to anyone wishing to do the same.

Although a book could never substitute seeing first hand, how upholstery is done, this book provides very detailed information. The photos are dated, but the process of the work is not and very clearly explained. Definitely a good reference book to have for anyone learning upholstery who might need additional information.

This book is well written, concise, and easy to follow. It is especially good for first-timers as the authors take you through many steps most beginners do not consider.