A chesterfield is the hardest couch to re-cover well, and the easiest one to spot when it’s done badly. The buttons pull the fabric into dozens of diamond pleats. The arms roll outwards, so the cover has to wrap a curve without bunching. And if the studs along the front wander by a few millimetres, you see it from the doorway.
Drag the slider above. That brown pillow-back couch went back to its lounge as a grey velvet chesterfield, buttoned across the back and studded along the arm.
What a customer graded us on
Stanley Shabalala didn’t just leave stars. The review reads like an inspection report, with a grade for each part of the work:
Nailhead Trim Alignment (Grade: A+): Studded trim along rolled arms is notoriously difficult because any slight wave or uneven spacing is immediately noticeable. Here, the stud lines along the front facings and lower bases are crisp, straight, and evenly spaced.
Stanley Shabalala, Google review, 2 months ago
The same review gives an A for “Complex Arm Roll Craftsmanship”, describing leather wrapped around the rolled arms “without gather folds or unsightly bunching”. Those are the 3 things to check on any chesterfield: the stud lines, the arm rolls and how tight the cover sits across the back.
Chesterfields we’ve re-covered
- Red-and-black to teal velvet. A tired two-tone chesterfield, re-covered in one deep teal. The main photo at the top of this page is that couch.
- Brown pillow-back to grey chesterfield. The slider above. Buttons and studs added.
- Torn antique settee to turquoise velvet. A smaller carved piece, deep-buttoned across the back. See antique settee restoration.
How the job runs
- You send photos. One of the whole couch, one of the arms, one of the worst patch. WhatsApp them to 074 019 9297.
- We bring samples. Chesterfields show every fabric differently, because the buttoning throws light across the pleats. Velvet looks darker in the folds. Leather shines on the rolls. Seeing a sample in your lounge beats guessing from a phone screen.
- We collect. The couch goes to our workshop in Jabavu, Soweto.
- We strip it back. Old cover, old buttons and old studs off. Tired foam comes out and the frame gets checked.
- We rebuild and re-button. New foam where it’s needed, the new cover pulled into the button pattern, then the stud trim set along the arms and the front.
- We deliver. Back to your lounge, into its spot.
Velvet, leather or leather-look?
Velvet is what we see most on the chesterfields in our before-and-afters: grey, teal and turquoise. It shows the buttoning beautifully and it’s soft to sit on. If the couch lives with dogs or small children, look at leather-look instead. It wipes down, and Stanley’s review mentions “Leather (or faux leather)” being stretched “taut across the backrests and seats”. Read choosing fabric for a couch before the sample visit.
Chesterfields from Florida and Roodepoort
Florida, Roodepoort, is where most of our work comes from, and a chesterfield is heavy. You don’t load it. We collect it from your lounge, re-set the buttons and studs in the workshop and carry it back in. Collection starts at R250. See how a Florida job runs.
Is your chesterfield worth redoing?
Usually, if the frame is sound. Chesterfields tend to be heavy, well-built couches, and a new one isn’t cheap. Do the 4 checks in reupholster or buy new first: lift a corner, push the arms, sit in the middle, and decide whether you like the shape. If the arms rock like a hinge, tell us. It’s fixable, but it changes the quote.
For what goes into the price, read what it costs to reupholster a couch. For the full service, see couch reupholstery.
Questions we get asked
Can you turn an ordinary couch into a chesterfield?
We've done it. In the slider above, the brown pillow-back couch came back as a grey buttoned chesterfield. Whether yours can go the same way depends on the frame, so send a photo and ask.
Velvet or leather for a chesterfield?
Both work. Velvet shows off the buttoning and the colour. Leather and leather-look wipe clean. We bring samples of each to your house so you can compare them in your own light.
Do you replace missing buttons and studs?
On the chesterfields in our before-and-afters, the buttons were covered in the new fabric and the studs were set fresh. Ask about yours when we quote.
