Your sofa has seen better days. The fabric's worn on the arms, there's a mystery stain from a 2024 dinner party, and the whole thing is starting to bring the room down. Now you're stuck at the fork in the road: reupholster it properly, or cover it and move on?
It's a genuinely tough call, and the internet is full of confident but contradictory advice. So let's do this properly — with real UK costs, realistic timelines, and a clear framework for deciding which route makes sense for your sofa, your budget and your patience.
The Quick Answer
If your sofa frame is solid and in good nick but the fabric is tired, a good-quality stretch sofa cover will solve 90% of your problem for £20–£45 and 10 minutes of your time. Reupholstery is the better answer only when the sofa has real value (sentimental or financial), the frame needs structural work, or you want a permanent, tailored finish and you're prepared to pay £300–£800 for it.
Now the detail.
What Reupholstery Actually Involves
The process
Proper reupholstery is not "putting new fabric on the sofa." A professional upholsterer will:
- Strip the sofa back to its frame
- Inspect and repair the frame, joints and webbing
- Replace or top up the foam, fibre or feather fillings
- Re-spring the seat if needed
- Cut, stitch and hand-fit your chosen fabric — typically 12–18 metres of it for a 3-seater
- Re-attach everything with tacks, staples and hand-stitching
This is genuine craft work. It takes a skilled professional 15–30 hours for a standard 3-seater.
Typical costs in the UK (2026)
| Sofa type | Reupholstery cost (labour + standard fabric) |
|---|---|
| Armchair | £250–£500 |
| 2-seater | £350–£700 |
| 3-seater | £450–£900 |
| Corner sofa | £700–£1,500 |
Add £20–£60 per metre for premium fabric (velvet, wool, leather), and you'll quickly see why reupholstery is often described as "buying a new sofa's worth of work for your old sofa."
The timeline
Most UK upholsterers quote 3–8 weeks from drop-off to collection, and you'll be without a sofa for that entire window (or paying extra for a loan unit).
What a Good Sofa Cover Does
The process (spoiler: 10 minutes)
You measure your sofa, pick a size and fabric, and order. The cover arrives, you pull it on, tuck it in, smooth it down. Done. Our full step-by-step fitting guide walks you through it, but honestly — once you've done it once, the second time takes 8 minutes.
Typical costs
| Sofa type | Quality stretch cover cost |
|---|---|
| Armchair | £15–£28 |
| 2-seater | £20–£35 |
| 3-seater | £25–£45 |
| 4-seater / corner | £35–£60 |
The timeline
Order to door: 2–4 days standard UK delivery. Fitting: 10 minutes. Sofa downtime: zero.
Head-to-Head: Covers vs Reupholstery
Cost
A 3-seater stretch sofa cover costs roughly 5–8% of what reupholstering that same sofa would cost. Even if you replace the cover every 2 years for a decade, you'll still spend less than half of a single reupholstery job.
Time and convenience
Cover: order today, fitted by the weekend, no sofa-less fortnight. Reupholstery: a month or more of sitting on dining chairs. If you have kids, pets, or just a normal busy life, this difference alone is often decisive.
Durability
This is where reupholstery genuinely wins. A professional reupholster with a good fabric will last 10–15 years of daily use. A quality stretch cover lasts 2–4 years with regular washing (the elastic eventually relaxes). But here's the honest counterpoint: you can buy 8–10 replacement covers for the price of one reupholstery, so longevity doesn't actually translate into better value.
Style options
Covers win on flexibility. Reupholstery is a one-shot, permanent decision — you'll live with that fabric for a decade. Covers let you switch from sage green in spring to charcoal in autumn for the cost of a takeaway. If you like redecorating, covers are a feature, not a compromise.
Resale and rental considerations
If you're renting, reupholstering a landlord's sofa is money you'll never see again — a cover protects both the sofa and your deposit. If you own the sofa and might sell it, a well-fitted cover preserves the original fabric underneath, which can actually help resale value on a quality frame.
When Reupholstery Is Genuinely Worth It
To be fair to the upholsterers of Britain — there are real situations where reupholstery is the smarter call:
- The sofa is worth saving. Solid hardwood frames, proper coil springs, feather-filled cushions — quality like this is rare in modern flat-pack furniture, and worth investing in.
- It's a sentimental or heirloom piece. Granny's wingback chair, the first sofa you bought together — some things aren't about the maths.
- You need a specific fabric. Genuine wool, linen, leather or a bold patterned weave that no stretch cover can replicate.
- The frame or springs need repair. A cover hides fabric damage; it does nothing for a broken spring or a cracked frame.
- You want a perfectly tailored, permanent look. A reupholstered sofa looks like a new sofa. A cover always looks like a (very good) cover.
When a Sofa Cover Is the Smarter Buy
- The sofa is a standard high-street or flat-pack model — reupholstering a £400 sofa for £600 makes no financial sense.
- You're protecting a new-ish sofa from kids, pets or renters, and want to keep the original fabric pristine underneath.
- You like changing your room's look more than once a decade.
- You're in a rental and can't (or shouldn't) permanently alter the furniture.
- You want a solution this week, not next month.
- The sofa has a tear, stain or faded fabric but the frame is perfectly sound — the classic cover use case.
A Real Cost Example
Take a standard 3-seater from a UK high-street retailer, bought 4 years ago for £550. The fabric is worn and there's a coffee stain on the seat cushion. Options:
Reupholster: £450–£900 (with 4–6 weeks without a sofa, plus collection and delivery fees — often £50+ each way).
Replace: £550–£800 for a similar-quality new sofa, plus the hassle and carbon cost of disposing of the old one.
Cover it: £28 for a jacquard stretch cover, fitted in 10 minutes, delivered in 3 days.
Unless that sofa has a solid hardwood frame worth saving, the maths is not subtle.
Recommended Products
If you've landed on Team Cover, here's where to start:
- Stretch sofa covers (all sizes) — the full fitted range
- Jacquard covers — the most hard-wearing option for high-traffic family sofas
- Velvet covers — the closest you'll get to a "reupholstered" look without the invoice
- Pet-friendly covers — if claws and hair are why you're here
- Waterproof covers — for households where spills are a certainty, not a risk
Not sure what size you need? Our 3-minute size guide has you covered. And if you want to understand fabric options before you buy, our sofa cover fabrics guide breaks down every material we stock.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to reupholster a sofa or buy a cover?
A cover is dramatically cheaper — typically 5–8% of the cost of reupholstery. For a 3-seater, a quality cover is £25–£45 while reupholstery runs £450–£900. The only scenario where reupholstery wins on cost is when you'd otherwise replace a valuable sofa entirely.
How much does it cost to reupholster a sofa in the UK?
In 2026, expect £350–£700 for a 2-seater, £450–£900 for a 3-seater, and £700–£1,500 for a corner sofa, including labour and a mid-range fabric. Premium fabrics and frame repairs push the price up further.
Can I reupholster a sofa myself?
A basic refresh (new fabric stapled over a simple frame) is DIY-able with a staple gun and patience. Full reupholstery — replacing foam, re-springing, hand-stitching — is skilled work that takes professionals 15–30 hours. Most DIY attempts on quality sofas end up costing more to fix than the original quote.
Do sofa covers look as good as reupholstery?
Honestly, no — a professional reupholster gives a sharper, more tailored finish. But a well-fitted stretch cover in the right fabric gets surprisingly close, especially in a textured weave like jacquard or velvet. Most guests won't notice the difference unless they look for it.
How long does a sofa cover last compared to reupholstery?
Reupholstery: 10–15 years. A quality stretch cover: 2–4 years of regular use and washing. But since you can buy 10 covers for the price of one reupholstery job, total cost of ownership still favours covers for most households.
Will a cover hide a damaged sofa?
Yes — for fabric damage like stains, tears, pet scratches and fading, a fitted cover completely hides the problem. It won't fix structural issues though: broken springs, sagging frames and collapsed foam still need repair or replacement.
Can I cover a leather sofa?
Absolutely — this is one of the most common reasons people buy covers. Fitted stretch covers work well on leather (add a gripper pad to stop slipping), and they're a fraction of the cost of re-covering a leather suite, which starts at £800+.
Conclusion
The choice between sofa covers and reupholstery comes down to three questions: Is the frame worth saving? Do you need a permanent solution? And are you happy to spend £500+ and wait a month? If the answer to any of those is no, a quality stretch cover is the faster, cheaper, more flexible answer — and for most UK households, it's the one we'd recommend.
