A significant part of the updating your home is changing the look of your furniture. This may involve adding a slipcover or reupholstery that favourite chair or sofa. As reupholstery involves a reasonable investment of money the question that I receive the most is, "How can I tell if my piece of furniture is a gem or is it junk?" In order to answer this you first need to ask yourself a few questions to help you determine if your piece is worth recovering.

Is it a good quality frame? The most important part of the furniture is the frame and unfortunately this is the part you cannot see. High quality upholstered furniture frames are made of kiln-dried solid hardwoods such as oak, cherry, maple, and alder. Tip: check the weight; heavy = quality wood and springs. Try to wiggle the arms and back to see whether anything is loose. Also, just as you would look underneath the hood of a car, check out the bottom of the sofa. Good quality pieces have the back legs as part of the frame.

If a sofa or chair has a good solid frame it's usable. The springs and innards can be replaced if necessary. Old furniture is generally better made than most low- to medium-priced furniture available in today's market.

Other more subjective questions you may want to ask yourself are: do you love sitting in the chair, does it have special sentimental value, do you like the way it fits into your room, would you buy it all over again? If the answer is yes to one or more of these questions then it is worth recovering.

Now that you have found that special piece or have decided to recover the piece you currently own the next step is to choose your fabric. To do this, take a good look at the piece itself. Your furniture, like yourself, has a unique personality. It is important to choose a fabric that compliments your furniture’s own personality and style. A big, bulky sofa wouldn’t suit a dainty print; similarly a small antique can be overwhelmed by a large print.

Secondly, when choosing fabric you should have an idea of the life expectancy you want from the fabric. Some people want 15 – 20 years, although I have found today that due to the frequency of moves and other lifestyle changes most people are happy with 7 – 10 years before wanting a colour or texture change in their décor.

There are also practical considerations of the type of use the furniture will receive in your home that may influence your fabric choice. Will the fabric be used on furniture that will experience high traffic and heavy use or will it be used infrequently? For light to medium use your options are pretty wide open including cottons, cotton blends and even silk.

When more durability is required you will want to check out chenille’s, velvets and the latest in micro fibres' and faux suede’s. Faux suede continues to be popular with the wide range of colours available, soft touch, and rich look they provide. What I also like about these fabrics is that they are easy to clean and colourfast. These kid, cat and dog friendly fabrics will let you remove ball point pen, red wine, coffee tea, and even grape juice with just a little soap and water.

Remember, transforming an old piece of furniture can be very rewarding, just like getting reacquainted with an old friend.