Care from the frame to the final seam.

Good upholstery starts with looking properly at what you’ve got. The frame, the springs, the foam, the way it’s been used – all of it decides what’s worth doing, and what isn’t. Here’s how the work actually goes.

the workshop

One upholsterer, start to finish.

Lilo has been upholstering for 10 years – trained on traditional frames, springs and hand-stitched edges, and working since on everything from a single dining chair to a full boat interior. The person who quotes your job is the person who strips it, rebuilds it and sews the cover.

That’s the practical difference here. Nothing gets handed down a line, nothing gets rushed to keep a bench busy, and if something inside the piece turns out worse than it looked, you hear about it from the person with their hands in it – before the money is spent, not after.

10 years upholstering, trained in traditional frame and spring work
Domestic furniture, vehicle interiors and marine work in one workshop
Based in Kingseat, working across Papakura, Pukekohe and Franklin
Free assessment before anything is quoted, and an honest answer if a piece isn't worth restoring

our approach

Every piece gets looked at on its own terms.

Shape, construction and condition decide which steps are worth doing. Two sofas that look identical from the outside can need completely different work.

Assess

We go over the frame, joints, webbing, springs, foam, cover and seams, and find out how the piece is actually used. That’s what tells us whether it needs a repair, a re-cover or a full rebuild.

Plan

Materials, colour, firmness and the details get agreed with you before anything is cut. You’ll know what’s being changed, what’s staying, and what it costs.

Strip & rebuild

Old cover and failed padding come off. Loose joints get re-glued, sagging webbing and springs get replaced, and the foam is rebuilt to the firmness you asked for rather than whatever was in there.

Re-cover

The new cover is patterned on the piece itself, cut to follow the shape and the fabric pattern, sewn and fitted tight — then the piping, buttoning or studs go on.

details make the difference

Clean transitions, seams and finishes.

Piping, top-stitching, buttoning and upholstery studs aren’t decoration. They’re what holds the shape, keeps the tension even and stops a cover going baggy in the places that get sat on. On a piece that’s been done properly, they’re the parts you stop noticing.

Cut to follow the shape, and to keep the pattern running true across the piece
Seams and edges built for the way the piece is actually used
Padding firmness set to your preference, not to a standard
Details chosen to suit the piece rather than a house style

It’s also where the cost difference sits between a quick re-cover and a proper one. A cover can be thrown over old padding in a fraction of the time – it just comes back looking tired in a year or two, because nothing underneath it changed.

a wide range of projects

See the full gallery →

More than sofas and dining chairs.

Headboards & wall upholstery

Made-to-measure padded headboards and wall panels, built to the room’s dimensions rather than cut down from a standard size – leather set into fabric, recessed detailing, edges bound to hold the join.

One-off and antique pieces

Carved frames, claw feet and shapes nothing standard fits – stripped back, re-sprung where they need it, and covered in something you’d actually choose rather than a period reproduction.

Vehicles and boats

The same bench, the same standards – car and campervan interiors and full boat fit-outs, including canvas.

Free, no-obligation quote

Show us the piece.

Send a few photos through, or give us a call and we’ll talk it over.