Our designers here at Sydney Upholstery have a keen eye for completely changing how your space looks and feels with simple fabric swaps and upgrades.

A perfect example of this change is evident in our recent design – one that modernises home furniture using different colours and textures.

Are you ready to see more of our work? Keep reading as we explain what makes these designs unique, uplifting a tired space.

Reviving a tired armchair

This armchair was tired and wasn’t adding anything to the space – it looked worn, slightly outdated, and didn’t spark a need to nestle into it. The clients wanted a new modern look without getting rid of their armchair and buying into the fast homewares culture that has seeped into the world of home decor.

The armchair’s structure and shape are comfortable and unique, but the cowhide fabric was stained, worn, and needed a refresh.

We prioritised a clean, minimal, and comfortable look to renew and refresh this armchair. When we stripped the old fabric from the chair, we noticed that the chair’s foam padding was mouldy. So, we applied enduro medium-density foam and a supersoft wrap, making the chair softer and removing any mould caused by dampness over time.

To create an entirely new look and feel to this armchair, we reupholstered it with Warwick Linda Fabio Ivory fabric. The fabric’s pure white colour elevates the space and adds earthy, modern, and minimalist appeal.

And the sherpa-like texture of the bouclé fabric is perfect for making the armchair more snug, comfortable and suitable for long hours of reading or watching.

Adding tonal style to a dining set

The dining chairs in this living space were outdated. Modern trends favour neutral colours and woody tones, avoiding the stark and vibrant hues of the 90s and 00s. The armchairs were upholstered in an embellished red fabric, and they had worn down over time.

To modernise the look of this dining room, we decided to switch out the vibrant red fabric for a more neutral cream fabric –  Mokum Sahel 10522 Seasalt 811.

The padding on the dining chairs had grown weary with overuse, so we replaced the foam and elastic webbing for a firmer feel. Firmer chairs are less likely to become creased, indented, and worn over time.

Once we finished the project, the whole dining room area had a new and refreshed feel. The minimalist and clean look of the new chairs made other details in the room stand out more, like the paintings and window trim.

All the fabric we use has a 15-year warranty, so this family can enjoy their dining chairs and new armchair for many years.

Popular Fabric Selections For Modern Interior Design

If you’re looking for a cleaner and more modern look in your home, it is helpful to know about the most popular and trending fabric selections for modern interior design. This project utilised two of our current favourites:

• Bouclé fabrics – This fabric has a similar look to sherpa, only it is made using loops of fabric to create a rustic, textured, and soft look. It’s more robust than sherpa, and it can have a firmer or smoother feel depending on the density of the loops.
• Neutrals – In today’s age, minimalism is the cornerstone of interior design. If you furnish your home in neutral colours, you can ensure your fabric doesn’t distract from other statement pieces in the room. Instead, you can use neutrals to compliment the key features of your home and create a colour palette for your rooms.

Summary

If you’re looking to create a modern, soft, and minimal design for your home with renewed upholstery, you can put your faith in our team of designers here at Sydney Upholstery. We love refreshing spaces without throwing away perfectly suitable furniture. Contact us today to speak to our design experts.

We are proud of Sydney Upholstery’s latest feature in House & Garden, with an impressive and stunning spread of upholstery seen alongside vibrant wallpapers, textured rugs and nuanced artwork.

Want to learn more about the design innovation and inspiration behind the spread?

Keep reading as we discuss our design considerations, the spread, and how you can make the best upholstery choices for your own interiors.

Seeing Green

The green Lorenzo Castillo fabric featured in the House and Garden spread is earthy, retro, and timeless – we are thrilled with this interior’s stunning and unique feel.

Green velvet sofas have been a trending topic in the design sphere lately. This spread brings together varied textures and patterns to create a vintage aesthetic that nods to the popularity of green sofas in the upholstery world.

The armchair boasts a rich green velvet fabric – Warwick Lovely Moss with white piping. This rich colour creates a soothing and sumptuous atmosphere, while the piping adds sophistication with a hint of retro.

The standout fabric in this piece is the Domestic Textile Lorenzo Castillo Bermudo LCT1005-004 Verde. This fabric creates depth in this design spread, upholstering the mid-century rectangular lounge. The brilliant houndstooth pattern with varied shades of green adds an eclectic yet rustic feel to the selection.

The fabrics in this spread are excellent for those looking to create an earthy, bookish, or vintage feel in their home.

A Lesson in Blue

This spread featuring Warwick Plymouth Abyss is a masterpiece in Hamptons-style design with a cosy and warm feel. While the design creates a clean atmosphere with cooler colours, the softer beige ensures that the design looks warm, welcoming, and comfortable.

The Warwick Plymouth Abyss-covered armchair includes textured No Chintz trimming – an elegant and vaguely nautical fabric. The stripe creates a clean finish, while the trimming adds a level of warmth that adds a homey feel.

For this spread, we wanted to demonstrate that a refined look does not need to come at the expense of utility. We used Domestic Textiles Aldeco Prive Melange Bleu Royal to upholster an ergonomic desk chair. The darker blue creates depth and interest within the room, demonstrating that a desk chair doesn’t have to interrupt the elegant design.

Consider applying this mindset to commercial office space design – so often, office spaces are stiff and unwelcoming. Upholstering office chairs can create a more homely and comfortable atmosphere, and the opportunities are endless! You can give any furniture a new vibe or a new lease of life with upholstery.

We were impressed by how this design emulates the classic and sophisticated style of willow-pattern china; the colder and warmer shades seamlessly intermingle for a welcoming yet stately space.

How To Choose Your Fabrics

Choosing your fabrics is a matter of personal taste; only you will know which materials are to your liking.

However, creating a mood board for the types of colours, patterns, and styles you love best might help. By building this with the design elements you like best, you can curate the pieces that go together in colour and tone, creating a cohesive look. Or, you could take a dynamic and multicoloured approach for a maximalist design!

If you’re not a design aficionado, you might consider enlisting the services of an upholstery expert and discussing your vision for the project, along with your preferences. They will give you the best advice to create the interior design you love with high-quality fabrics that fit with the context of your design.

Sydney Upholstery – We Love Fabrics And Design!

We are thrilled with the spreads featured in House & Garden, representing our genuine love for upholstery and unique interior design. Reupholstering your furniture can give you a truly unique piece – no more carbon-copy furniture!

If you’re interested in revamping your furniture with chic upholstery, why not reach out to our fabulous interior designers and upholstery experts at Sydney Upholstery?

How do you know your upholstery fabric will last, or any material for that matter? If your upholstery fabric shows signs of wear-and-tear early on, this can make your home look scruffy and unkempt.

If you want to learn a sure-fire way to ensure your upholstery lasts, keep reading. This guide will teach you all about rub testing and how to ensure your upholstery fabric has high abrasion resistance.

What Is Martindale Rub Testing?

Martindale is a type of abrasion testing that determines the level of fabric abrasion resistance. The fabric abrasion resistance dictates how well the fabric will stand up over time with everyday use and wear-and-tear. If a material scores highly with the Martindale rub test, you will likely be able to enjoy the fabric for a long time.

The Martindale rub test will tell you how durable a fabric is by determining the rub rate. The rub rate is the number of rubs required to cause wearing or mark the material. The higher the rub rate, the more abrasion resistant the fabric will be – which is what you need to look for when choosing a fabric in many upholstery cases.

Why Should You Choose Fabrics With A High Abrasion Resistance?

Whether you’re choosing an item of clothing, a backpack, car upholstery, or home decor, you need to know that the fabric you select won’t wear out quickly. If the material wears quickly, you must replace the item or reupholster your furniture. It doesn’t matter how good the fabric looks if it’s going to wear rapidly and look undesirable within a short period of use.

Fabrics with a high abrasion resistance also tend to retain their shape for longer and look great for longer.

Martindale Rub Testing Vs Wyzembeek

There is another rub test called the Wyzembeek test, which uses a different machine. The process involves abrading the fabric using two rub materials – cotton duck and wire mesh. When the rub material traces back and forth one time over the fabric, this constitutes a single rub. When there are two broken threads or strands in the fabric, it has hit its breaking limit, which will reveal the rub rate.

On the other hand, Martindale rub testing uses a wool fabric, performing rubs in a figure of 8 motion instead of back and forth. When two consecutive yarns break, the material has reached its limit. 

There is no way to compare or draw correlations between the two test types. However, both tests work well to determine how durable a fabric is. 

Before investing in furniture or upholstery fabric, you need to know how highly the material scores on the Martindale rub test. This way, you can determine whether the fabric will be long-lasting or not and how much you will get from your upholstery investments.

Summary

When you invest in furniture or upholstery, you need to know that it will last. The Martindale rub test indicates how durable a fabric is by testing the number of abrasive rubs the fabric can withstand. If the material scores well on the Martindale rub test, this is a good indicator that it will last. Speak to the experts at Sydney Upholstery to learn more about the Martindale rub test and find abrasion-resistant fabrics.

Embrace SNAPTEX Upholstered Walls with These 3 Ideas

Have you noticed the upholstered walls trend overtaking design blogs and Pinterest at the moment?

Particularly regarding commercial spaces, upholstered walls are certainly enjoying a fresh moment in the sun. But this trend was around long before it caught the internet’s attention afresh. Upholstered walls bring the luxurious touch of modern maximalism into our homes, playing on the romance of boutique hotels and elegant European estates.

Specialists have historically been required for upholstered walls in order to stretch fabric over battens attached to the wall. With a wide range of fabrics at your creative disposal, there’s no limit to the patterns, colours and textures that can be used to bring spaces to life. New technology is leading the way in wall upholstery, so there’s now even more potential in truly making your commercial space unique.

SNAPTEX acoustical fabric-wrapped panels are designed to bring the elegance of wall upholstery to ceilings and walls alike. With no limits to the size or shape of the panel and a site-installed nature, SNAPTEX panels ensure perfect fits through their specially designed interlocking jaw. This reduces the risk of fabric sagging or coming out of place, which is common in alternative friction-fit systems. With so much flexibility at their core, SNAPTEX panels can even be used to wrap around curves, bringing damage-resistant upholstery to rooms of all designs.

Here are our top tips for how to incorporate upholstered walls into your workspace, hospitality venue or home.

Try a single, statement upholstered wall

Upholstery doesn’t need to wrap around the entirety of a room in order to make an impact. Embrace the power of a statement wall in order to draw attention, create contrast or add a touch of luxury. This is also a great way to incorporate wall upholstery if you’re working with a smaller budget, or if you’re looking to incorporate multiple textures and materials into your design choices.

Treat your walls as works of art

Who said artwork needed to be contained to framed pieces? Upholstered walls bring a wealth of opportunities for artistic expression with them. Whether you’re looking to embrace the old-world charm offered by specifically patterned textiles, to play with colour and light, or to use contrasting patterns for dramatic impact, upholstered walls can set your creative desires free.

Bring SNAPTEX into your commercial office

Not only do upholstered walls look fantastic, but they bring practical benefits with them that make them perfect for commercial offices. Upholstered walls work as powerful insulation and also provide sound-deadening acoustics. Within commercial office settings, SNAPTEX’s acoustical fabric-wrapped walls can reduce the impact of noisy conversations, foot traffic or office activities, enabling employees to focus within a quieter environment.

Commercial offices can also make a statement about their company through the use of upholstered walls. By incorporating a wide range of fabric choices, every kind of company aesthetic can be embraced to create an elegant, personalised impact the moment a client steps into the office space.

If you’re looking to bring a breath of fresh air to an existing room or new build, upholstered walls are the creative canvas you need to create distinct, inviting spaces. With SNAPTEX’s acoustical fabric-wrapped panels, the sky’s the limit when it comes to size, shape and design. Contact us today to find out more.

2022 Interior Trends Guide: Advice on Fabric Selection

2022 is well upon us, and with it, a wealth of interior trends to feast our eyes on (and to fuel our creative daydreams!).

Fabrics are powerful ways to elevate large and small spaces alike. Even a simple shift in bedding or pillowcases can refresh a space entirely, utilising colour, texture and tone to transform the design intentions. Whether worked into rugs, curtains and soft furnishings, or creating the dramatic focal point of a room in beautiful lounges, fabrics continue to lead the way in interior trends across all manner of design uses.

Looking to shake up your interiors through some of-the-moment inspiration? Here are the 2022 interior fabric trends that have our creative juices flowing.

Neutrals are traded for nature-inspired hues

While neutrals have long led the way in both our homes and our Pinterest boards, leading interior designers are forecasting more experimentation with colour in 2022. However, this palette will be one that stays close to hues found in nature – think rich terracotta tones, monochromatic leanings and earthy brown hues.

This creates a huge opportunity for leather in these earthy shades to make its mark, and for other natural fabrics to pick up on this nature-inspired tonal lean. Details such as cowhide rugs and pillows can complement earthy leather lounges for a heightened natural impact.

Outdoor furniture gets an elevation

Now in our third year of pandemic living, outdoor furniture has never been so important to the rhythms of our domestic lives. Outdoor furniture is forecast to receive continued sophisticated refinements as verandahs, decks and patios become further extensions of interior decors. 

Hard-wearing, weather-resistant fabrics serve a pivotal role in this outdoor furniture glow-up, enabling beautiful, rich textures and comfortable seating while practically serving the needs of an outdoor lounging environment.

Texture takes a front seat 

Spaces continue to see new depth added through the use of textures. We’ll see more experimentation with patterned jute, rush and abaca, with rugs providing an opportunity for light pattern play and elegant textural additions. 

With mohair, velvet and patterned prints breaking up the sea of neutrals, our love for linens can find contrast in these fun, engaging and spirited textures that bring a more tactile nature into our everyday surroundings.

The Grandmillennial movement continues

Forget less is less: with the ‘grandmillennial’ movement, more is more. This look was making its way through the design choices of influencers and tastemakers throughout 2021, and it shows no sign of abating. This design aesthetic sees the embrace of floral patterns, a 1940s-esque updated chintz tonality, and the incorporation of contemporary palettes to offset this jump back in time. 

Here, soft furnishings can add unexpected touches of glamour and luxury, with fringe and piping playing a role in this fun, fresh take on your grandmother’s prized sitting room.

Get in touch with Sydney Upholstery to explore our diverse fabric options. Update your space with an artful reupholstered piece. 

Wondering why we use Joyce foam products for all our upholstery work that requires foam? You’re about to find out.

Joyce is the name that’s synonymous with foam products in Australia. In fact, Joyce is the leading provider of foam products to companies in various industries, all over Australia. They’re number one because they have built up an excellent name for themselves in providing foam to furniture, bedding, industrial, automotive, and medical companies.

Joyce has been in business for a long time – since 1954 to be exact. With over 60 years experience in making foam products, they certainly know what they are doing.

One of the things that we admire about Joyce foam is their dedication to environmentally friendly manufacturing processes. This means that you are getting a final product that is better for the environment than using other brands’ foam. Joyce has GECA certification – Good Environment Choice Australia – meaning that their products comply with the ISO 14024 standard which applies to worldwide best practices for eco-labelling. Having the GECA certification makes Joyce industry leaders when it comes to environmental sustainability.

Their Variable Pressure Foaming (VPF) technique for producing foam products is the most environmentally friendly method available to produce foam products, and Joyce uses this technique to produce all their products.

Because Joyce is an Australian company with an Australian manufacturing plant, we keep jobs and money within our country, doing our bit for the economy, too.

Joyce products all come with the CompriShield shielding system to help protect your foam from nasties like mould, dust mites, and bacteria – things that can quickly work their way into foam products of inferior quality. If you are concerned about germs, then the CompriShield system that is embedded into each and every one of their foam products should bring a sense of relief.

We are proud to say that we use Joyce foam products for all our furniture upholstery. Sydney Upholstery is dedicated to bringing our customers the best quality upholstered furniture, which we believe means choosing Joyce for all our foam needs. We want our customers to be 100% satisfied with the materials we use for construction – which for us means Joyce.

Do you have some furniture that you would like upholstered or reupholstered? Get in contact with us to obtain a quote for our services as well as to find out about our turn around times. We offer competitive rates with best in class service.

Almost every one of us has an older piece of furniture in the house that’s looking worse for wear. Whether it’s an old armchair that’s been used for generations or a threadbare sofa that you’ve stored away for some use in the future, there’s no need to worry about parting ways with these pieces due to their age or shabby condition. Refurbishing some of your older furniture is a worthwhile and cost-effective way to keep those pieces functioning and attractive for years to come. Here are a few of the many reasons to restore.

The Importance of Restoring Old Furniture

Sentimental Value

Certain pieces of furniture hold sentimental value. Perhaps you have a piece that belonged to a grandparent or even a great-grandparent and has earned a special place in your home. Or maybe you still have some of the furniture you purchased when you first moved into your home, and they feel like an irreplaceable part of the house. Whatever the case may be for you, if you have a sentimental piece that you’d like to continue using or displaying in your home, restoration and upholstery repair is a great option to keep the piece looking great well into the future.

Valuable Antiques

Whether it’s a family heirloom or an antique that you sought out or stumbled across, a piece of furniture that dates back a century or more is definitely worth restoring or reupholstering. Unless the piece was made by a world-renowned furniture maker, restoring the piece can add to its value if you might be interested in selling the piece, and it makes it more inviting to take a seat if you plan to continue using the piece in your home. Restoring or reupholstering furniture is best done by professional furniture upholsterers, and this is especially true for antique pieces that cannot be replaced.

Cost-saving

Buying a brand new good-quality sofa or armchair can be quite expensive, so reupholstering or restoring an older piece can be a very cost-effective way to renew your furniture. If the piece you have has a high-quality frame that is still in good condition, or if it has a unique shape that would be difficult to replace, it’s definitely worth looking into reupholstering or restoring the piece, as the cost will likely be less than buying a brand-new piece of the same quality. This is especially true if the foam and any interior elements of your piece are still intact, as you can directly recover the piece in new fabric or have a slipcover made at relatively low cost compared to a complete restoration.

The cost-saving benefits of reupholstering old furniture make it easy to update the look of a room in your home by changing up the fabric of your sofa. It is also a worthwhile option if you are looking to pass on furniture to a younger family member or friend who is furnishing their first home.

The first thing that comes to mind when you are thinking about buying upholstered furniture is what colour fabric to choose. But while the colour you choose for your chair upholstery IS important, there are other things to consider that are just as important.

Things you need to consider before choosing the right fabric

Durability

The durability of the fabric will depend on the piece of furniture you have chosen, where the furniture will be used, and if you have children or pets.

• Chose a fabric based on who will be using your sofa – if pets will be sharing the sofa with you, consider leather or a microfibre fabric as these will withstand the extra wear and tear.
• Woven patterns hold up longer than printed fabrics, so do tight weaves and fabrics with a high thread count. Thread count refers to the number of threads per square inch of fabric – with denser fabrics lasting longer.
• Durability is important if your chair or sofa is going to be used every day.

Style

Try choosing a chair upholstery or fabrics that complement the décor of your home.

The fabric you choose should blend in with the character and style of the piece it is covering. For example, a traditional style of fabric is perfect for a traditional style of frame. If you have an *adventurous* sense of style and you know how to merge different styles together – go for it!

An approach such as this will add originality to your space. For example, a classic wing backed chair with a bold geometric design. This will work well in a contemporary style room – the wing-back chair is the accent and the print connects to, or compliments the rest of the decor in the room.

Remember that some fabric can look quite formal, while other fabrics are more casual. Choose a fabric that echoes your own sense of style and the mood of the room.

Colour

The colour is often the first choice made when buying furniture, it will have an impact on the decor of the room, especially if the sofa is large and will dominate the room.

Make sure the colour you have chosen is one you can live with, avoid bold colours if the room is small. Neutral colours are often the safest since they tend to suit a room for a long time. If you have children or pets, try and avoid lighter colours.

Other considerations

• Choose a chair upholstery that is fade resistant – this is important if your sofa is going to be in a room that is exposed to a lot of sunlight, or, it will be placed by a window.
• If you live in a humid area, opt for a fabric that is mildew-resistant.
• Consider fabrics such as microfibre if anyone in the house suffers from allergies, this material is lint free and doesn’t attract dust.
• If you have pets, avoid choosing delicate fabrics such as silk or fabrics that have lots of texture. Look for an upholstery fabric that is pet-friendly instead.

We Understand Why Prompt Service Is Vital

At Sydney Upholstery, we understand that life is moving fast these days. New businesses are hustling to recoup their investments, companies are moving online to be more accessible to consumers, and homeowners are crunched for time to complete home-improvement projects among all of their other commitments. That’s why we strive to always provide prompt service and work around our customers’ schedules to complete our job to the highest quality within the fastest time frame possible.

Enquiries

Our service begins with a quick response to your enquiry. We encourage domestic clients to send along photos of their furniture so we can get a sense of their upholstery and installation needs. For larger projects and commercial jobs we’ll generally request elevations or plans, and whenever necessary we will go to the project site to take measurements and discuss the project with the client. Once we have the necessary information we’ll send along an accurate quote within 24 hours so that you can have a look, ask any questions, and we can begin your project immediately.

Turnaround Time

We can turn around an upholstery project as fast as the client needs it. In the past we have picked up furniture in the evening or after a business closes and delivered it back within 24-48 hours.  If you have a restaurant and your banquette seating is ripped the day before a big event, leave the upholstery repair to us. If you’re selling your home and require furniture reupholstery before showing the house to potential buyers, we can work within your time frame. We understand the need for fast turnaround to avoid interruptions to your home or business, and we work hard to always honour our deadlines.

We also know our fabrics very well and have an excellent relationship with all major fabric wholesalers, making it easy to select the perfect fabric for your needs even when working on a strict deadline. Our experts can quickly advise on fabric suitability for the application and can point you in the direction of what you are looking for.

Prototyping Larger Projects

For larger projects and commercial jobs we’ll generally request elevations or plans, and depending on the project we may work with designers and architects to produce prototypes that capture the desired vision of a product. Whenever necessary we will go to the project site to take measurements, discuss the project with the client, and bring working prototypes in to check their suitability. We work hard to always complete our drawings and prototypes promptly, as we understand that a holdup on one part of a large project can put the whole thing off schedule.

When working onsite with designers, our employees are in uniform and maintain a high level of professionalism. They are on time, conduct themselves in a polite manner, and always clean up after the work is complete. We know that time is of the essence on these projects and our employees work hard to meet your needs and deadlines.

For more information on our upholstery in Sydney, contact us by phone (02) 9599 3382 or email info@sydneyupholstery.com. You can also stop by during business hours to our location at Unit 31/17-21 Henderson St. in Turrella.

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The Importance of Fabric Suitability And Selection

Why Choose Snap-TEX?

Why Furniture Restoration Is an Artform

There are plenty of things that come to mind when you think of art. Paintings, sculpture, music, dance. Furniture restoration probably isn’t something that even crosses your mind. But if you think about it, there is no denying that taking an old, worn piece of furniture and transforming it into something that looks amazing and different is definitely artistic, taking time, care, patience, love, and craftsmanship.

Why is furniture restoration an art form? Well, it is easy to get wrong and stuff up. You’ll see restored furniture that’s been taken on by amateurs, and it just doesn’t look quite right. Maybe someone has taken an antique wooden chair and repainted it or recoated it themselves. Often the effect just cheapens the furniture, instead of what should happen – making it look better.

Furniture restoration takes patience to learn and practice to perfect. It is a craft that we have honed over many years, a craft often passed along, down the generations of a family.

Our furniture upholstery in Sydney is our craft. Others restoring furniture might update wooden pieces, mirrors, or even bring old and interesting machinery back to life. Most people who do furniture restoration concentrate on just one area of furniture restoration – just because it is such a specific art form to learn.

When you take the furniture that we encounter and then see how it turns out after we’re through with it, you’ll be blown away. We can truly transform pieces into something that looks very different. We can add new cushioning to furniture, plumping it up, change fabrics and styles of sewing to update that rapidly ageing couch, or we can modernise the furniture in a whole hotel. With our experience and skills, you will be able to see the expert care that goes into what we do.

And that’s why you shouldn’t settle for anything but the best when it comes to furniture upholstery. It is an art form, and if you choose a business that doesn’t respect or hasn’t yet adequately learnt the craft, then you’ll have an inferior piece of furniture – one you’ll either need to reupholster sooner or relegate to the corner of the room.

Leave your furniture in the hands of the artists over here at Sydney Upholstery. Our team of professional furniture “artists” will ensure that your furniture has another life full of use ahead of it. Not only that, you’ll have a quality finish, the work of an expert craftsperson. Call us or email us to find out more about our services, book in for a consultation, view some of our previous projects with other clients, or to just have a chat about what we can do for you.

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We Thrive on Quality Service

Why Choose Snap-TEX?

What Our SNAP-TEX Service Offers

Do you love the look of fabric panelling on the walls or ceilings of a room design? Or maybe you need an attractive and functional way to improve the acoustics of a room with a sound absorbing material? SNAP-TEX is a great system that can fulfil either of these needs functionally, aesthetically, and economically.

SNAP-TEX is a commercial, site-installed, and highly customised process that allows us to tightly stretch fabric over acoustical or other substrate material on the walls or ceilings of a room. Because we install it on-site, it will fit perfectly into adjacent walls or other building features with no gaps or ill-fitting panels. Our custom work will also prevent the fabric from sagging, a standard issue among pre-manufactured panelling.

Before installing the SNAP-TEX panels, we first secure a track around the perimeter of each panel section either on the walls or ceilings. From here, affixing the panels to the track is easy, and the durability and damage-resistance nature of SNAP-TEX ensure that it will last and last. Better yet, when the time does come that your SNAP-TEX starts to look stained or shabby, its specially designed jaw and hinge can be opened for easy fabric cleaning or replacement without damage to the wall or mounting surface.

SNAP-TEX is a great option for sports halls, cinemas, studios, industrial enclosures, and plant rooms looking to effectively reduce echoes and provide consistent sound absorption while maintaining an attractive fabric exterior. In fact, SNAP-TEX panels covered in eye-catching fabric (especially if the panels are an interesting shape or hung in an interesting pattern) can even act as artwork in a space, becoming both a functional and fashionable aspect of the room.

The SNAP-TEX process offers significant flexibility in design and cost-saving options, making it stand out from other acoustical and fabric wall treatments. Almost any fabric can be used in the SNAP-TEX process as well as any substrate material of any thickness. The limitation on the size and shape of a SNAP-TEX panel depends only on the length and width of the selected fabric. As long as the fabric size can accommodate the size and design you have in mind, we can custom create almost any shape of a panel for you. A variety of edge detailing for the panels is also available to ensure that they blend into the surrounding design and architectural features.

We can work with all thicknesses and levels of acoustic insulation available; however, the most commonly used thickness is the 25 or 50-millimetre option, and the most common shape panel we create with SNAP-TEX is the square profile.

Our main supplier for the acoustical substrate material is Martini Absorb, which is manufactured from the thermally bonded polyester fibre with up to 80% recycled fibre content from post-consumer packaging such as empty drink bottles. The product is 100% recyclable and has very high reuse potential as insulation so that you can feel good about the environmental impact of the final SNAP-TEX product.

To request a quote for your SNAP-TEX project, contact  Sydney Upholstery by phone (02) 9599 3382 or email info@sydneyupholstery.com. You can also stop by during business hours to our location at Unit

31/17-21 Henderson St. in Turrella.

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The Importance of Fabric Suitability And Selection

We Thrive on Quality Service

When kitting out your house with furniture, you have a few different selections to make. One of these selections is the decision to go with either all new furniture or do some reupholstery on old pieces of furniture.

While the buying new is certainly the easier option, it can often leave your home feeling like it lacks a little in personality and originality. Reupholstering old or antique furniture is a choice that can give your home a lot more character.

When upholstering your furniture, the most important thing to consider is the suitability of the fabric you’re interested in and making sure that you make the right selection overall. Going with a piece of fabric that’s not quite right will inevitably mean upholstering it again, way before its time.

So how do you choose the right upholstery fabric in Sydney? Well, for a start, you need to make sure that it is a fabric that’s fit for purpose – fabric that’s designed for upholstery. It’s no good just heading down to Spotlight and picking out a material there that you think looks great. Upholstery fabric is hardwearing and robust, resistant to staining, whereas other fabrics are not.

If you are unsure whether a fabric material is suitable for chair upholstery (or whatever other types of upholstery you’re doing), then it’s ok to take a swatch into  Sydney Upholstery so that we can let you know whether it’ll be suitable for your piece of furniture.

The other thing you need to keep in mind apart from the material is your colours. Will the colour/s that you are picking fit in well with the rest of your room? Are you looking for it to blend in or to be a feature piece? Think about what will be around it. The same goes for different patterns. If you have a particularly messy household and pets or small children, then darker colours with more intricate patterns help to hide small spots more easily.

Even though you might only be getting one piece of furniture upholstered, you might like to get more of the fabric – in case you want to do the same thing again, or if you’re going to add some more matching pieces to your setup. Many people reupholster the one piece and then when they want to do more they discover that they can no longer find the same type of fabric available.

Sydney Upholstery can take care of all your upholstery needs with our team of expert staff. We will have your furniture looking like new, and a comfy new experience for when you take it home. If you have any questions about our services, make sure to call us or send through an email.

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Why Choose Snap-TEX?

The Importance of Restoration

Another successful snaptex project completed by Sydney Upholstery. This was a very large project spanning across 15 floors and involved intricate detailed wall covering upholstery using multiple fabrics from Kvadrat Maharam and specialised screen printed fabrics from Sparkk. All patterned fabrics were matched with precision some spanning across three to four panels of a diagnal pattern.

We recently completed a large scale snaptex wallpanelling job for Lend Lease at Barangaroo. The project was managed by Cubic. This job entailed months of planning and preparation. The works were completed over a number of floors and rooms using mainly Kvadrat Maharam fabrics. The works were quite detailed and complicated with upholstery of the panels having to be flush with AV and speakers and to accomodate for large TV screens and joinery. We were very happy with the finish and detail and it was a pleasure working with Cubic and Lend Lease.

Sydney Upholstery was approached by Endemol Productions to assist in the renovations at Chez Pascal and Rocksalt Menai for there new hit TV series The Hotplate. With great pleasure we took part in both of the restaurants 72 hour renovation. Sydney Upholstery undertook the banquet seating and dining chair reupholstery at Chez Pascal using Warwick fabrics. At Rocksalt we did the entire banquet seating reupholstery using Warwick fabrics.

It was a fun and exciting job for us and David enjoyed his cameo on The Hotplate!

Purple

Purple in its darkest values is rich, dramatic, and sophisticated. It is associated with luxury as well as creativity, and as an accent or secondary color, it gives a scheme depth.

Lighter versions of purple, such as lavender and lilac, bring the same restful quality to bedrooms as blue does, but without the risk of feeling chilly.

Red

Red is the color of energy. It’s associated with movement and excitement. People surrounded by red find their heart beating a little faster.

Red is the symbol of life and, for this reason, it’s the color worn by brides in China.

Red is popular in living rooms as it brings people together to have energetic conversations. It is also said that red stimulates appetite so it a good colour pallet in the dining room as well.

Green

The color of growth, nature, and money. A calming color also that’s very pleasing to the senses. Dark forest green is associated with terms like conservative, masculine and wealth.

Hospitals use light green rooms because they too are found to be calming to patients. It is also the color associated with envy, good luck, generosity and fertility. It is the traditional color of peace, harmony, comfortable nurturing, support and well paced energy.

Use green to feel more relaxed and ease your anxiety.  If offers a sense of renewal and harmony.

Green is a very soothing colour to use in the bedroom as it promotes rest and relaxation.

Blue

The color of the sky and the ocean, blue is one of the most popular colors. It causes the opposite reaction as red. Peaceful, tranquil blue causes the body to produce calming chemicals, so it is often used in bedrooms.

Blue is said to bring down blood pressure and slow respiration and heart rate. That is why it is considered calming, relaxing and serene, and it is often recommended for bedrooms and bathrooms.

Velvet Brocade Fabric

We recently upholstered a diamond button chair with silver studs using this fabric and as the picture shows it is stunning!

A brocade fabric extinguishes elegance and style and is best used on a feature piece in a lounge room or bedroom.

Enquire at info@sydneyupholstery.com for a large range of colours.

The internet has made it very easy to choose fabrics. Gone are the days where you would need to book for an upholsterer to come to your house and spend hours sorting through sample books. The internet has revolutionised how customers can browse through fabrics and request for cuttings to be sent by post. This works well for our time poor society.Websites like Warwick have a very easy navigation panel where all you need to input is the colour you are after, the style you want and the rest is done for you! If you need inspirational ideas you can browse there large range of collections online as well. You can then contact Sydney Upholstery and we will request the samples to be sent out to you. Whilst the wholesalers like Warwick, Zepel, Mokum and Kvadrat do not sell to the public they have gorgeous showrooms and very helpful staff that will assist you to choose the right fabric if you do decide to visit a showroom. Sydney Upholstery is also more than happy to visit you at home with sample books as well as we have a large range of books in stock in our showroom. Also if you see a fabric you like online and cannot contact the supplier please email through a photo so we can source the fabric or find something similar to what you want. Our list of fabric supplies is on our website under the tab “Choose your fabric”.

Have you bought leather furniture in the last few years and this is how they look now?

The reason is because unbeknown to you what was actually purchased is reconstitued leather. Reconstitued leather or bonded leather is a term used for partially synthetic leather. It is a synthetic material made of varying types of plastic such as vinyl that may be spread over ground-up leather and other substances, mechanically processed to give the appearance of leather, but at reduced cost and with less wastage compared to natural leather. Technically the retailers and wholesalers can sell the product and advertise it as 100% leather. It’s the same as McDonalds advertising there juice as 100% orange juice when in reality it’s reconstituted orange juice. Majority of the major retailers selling this type of leather are fast earning a bad reputation within the furniture market as the leather they sell is peeling and customers have had enough of paying money for bad quality products. What is disappointing is even Australian branded manufacturers are contracting work out to South East Asia where competition is high with great demand to keep manufacturing costs low. This results in substandard products. Reconstituted leather is sold less than what actual leather costs however it doesn’t last anywhere near as long as leather and the finish product is very disappointing.

Sydney Upholstery only uses genuine cow hide analine or semi analine leather imported from leading tanneries in Europe mainly Italy and Spain, USA and South America which adhere to Australian Manufacturing Standards. We have established a respectful relationship with all the leading leather suppliers and only stock the best quality hides.

This is a question asked quite often by customers. Is it cheaper to buy new furniture rather than upholstery the existing furniture we have? There are several variances to look at in response to this. Many manufacturers are producing bulk produced products overseas and importing them to Australia. Bulk produced products are done quickly and rushed as they have a large quantity to get through therefore quality and craftsmanship is lacking in the final product. The products used inside the furniture are also of substandard quality and do not last long resulting in a worn out look generally once the two year warranty has expired. When we upholster goods or custom make products we use Australian made products such as 10 year warranty commercial grade foam, commercial grade elastic webbing and only use upholstery grade fabrics. Our leather is either imported from Italy or the USA. Our work is completed by qualified tradesmen who are highly skilled and have 60 years combined experience in upholstery. Sydney Upholstery strives and delivers high quality furniture. Sydney Upholstery has an excellent relationship will all the leading upholstery fabric wholesalers and we can source just about any fabric you are after. Upholstering your old furniture means you are not limited to the small range of fabrics large retailers stock. We have such a large range to choose from or you can visit any leading fabric wholesaler listed on our website. Although they don’t sell to the public they have beautiful showrooms open to the public who can help you choose the fabric you want. Sydney Upholstery can order the fabric for you.

So is it cheaper to buy new or reupholster? In the short term it may be cheaper to purchase brand new but when you need to upgrade your tired worn out lounge every few years it doesn’t end up being cheaper. Email through a picture of your furniture or call our office to organise a quote. It’s as simple as that!

David and the team at Sydney Upholstery have completed the upholstery fit out for San Churro restaurant at Darling Harbour, Penrith and Terrigal.  The upholstery work consisted of banquet seating. We only use the highest grade commercial foam which is fire rated. This ensures that the longevity of the foam will last the test of time. Working with tight deadlines with the project managers we have completed the fit outs in a timely and professional manner.

This week we have an exciting project working with gorgeous screen fabrics from Signature Prints and Kvadrat Maharam. The Randwick Racecourse if preparing for its big derby day on the 13th April and we are making all the cushions for the VIP lounge. Photos to come shortly!!

David brought his artistic flair and quality workmanship to two of John McGrath’s residences over a one year span. David has been the mastermind behind the snaptex wall panelling projects on both of the apartments of John McGrath’s. The first time the job was initiated through designers however when John moved premises he used project managers and requested David do the entire wall panelling of his apartment. With great pleasure David undertook the project and the results were magnificent. The joinery was custom made incorporating the living space such as cupboards, bedheads; light switches to produce a flawless finish.

Margarita Sampson-Zsa- Zsa Chair

Margarita Sampson works predominantly in soft sculpture & contemporary jewellery. Her work is strongly influenced by her Norfolk Island background, referencing natural forms, patterns & textures, in particular underwater life forms. Margarita approached David to assist her to apply her design to the frame. The design and sewing was done by Margie. David could see where Margie wanted to go with the design and helped her to achieve her creative masterpiece which is in the finals competing for the Waterhouse Prize at the South Australian Museum.

As Margie put it:

” i had to find just the right upholsterer to work on such an unusual project, one who could bring their own skills and imagination to the table. It was a pleasure to work with David, and I\’d bring future work to him without any hesitation. He is meticulous, inventive and he has a real passion for his work. I was delighted by the final result and look forward to future collaborations.”

TABCORP

All the TAB outlets are being redesigned changing the colour scheme of the furniture and décor and Sydney Upholstery has been reupholstering the stools, chairs and banquet seating with beautiful smart commercial designs from Instyle and Warwick fabrics.  We are proud of the relationship we have with TABCORP and will continue to provide them with excellent customer service and quality workmanship.

Canberra airport-Virgin lounge

Client: Built Construction

This project required us to construct 4 meter high 100mm MDF strips of leather to be installed onto the walls of the executive lounge. There was 100 lineal meters of upholstered wall which was completed in four weeks.

Sydney Upholstery was approached by Pim Group to custom make four diamond button wing chairs. We had to find the perfect purple leatherette to match the campaign and all wing chairs were made accordingly to customers specifications. These were placed at Sydney International Airport for the Chivas Regal Campaign.