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Interior Design vocabulary · Furniture, Fixtures & Furnishings

Upholstery

Meaning in interior design, with examples

/ʌpˈhəʊlstəri/nounCore term

In interior design, upholstery means: The padding, springs and fabric or leather covering on sofas, chairs and headboards; also the craft of making and covering such furniture.

In Turkish: döşeme, döşemelik kumaş, döşemecilik

How it is used

Designers choose upholstery fabrics, check how hard-wearing they are (the rub count, often measured with the Martindale test) and send pieces to an upholsterer. The verb is upholster; a sofa can be fully upholstered or reupholstered.

Example sentences

  1. For the hotel chairs we need an upholstery fabric with a high rub count.

  2. The old armchair has a great frame; it just needs new upholstery.

Common collocations

  • upholstery fabric
  • leather upholstery
  • upholstery foam
  • reupholster a chair
  • soft furnishingsThe fabric items in a room, such as curtains, cushions, throws, rugs and bed linen, which add colour, comfort and texture.
  • bespokeDesigned and made specially for one client or one space rather than bought ready-made from a catalogue.
  • swatchA small sample of fabric, paint colour, wallpaper or another material, used to check how it looks and feels before ordering.
  • loose furnitureFurniture that is not fixed to the building and can be moved, such as sofas, chairs, tables and beds, as opposed to built-in joinery.

More terms: Furniture, Fixtures & Furnishings

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