Today we’re featuring a guest post from moneybargainideas.com.

In a difficult economy, there are many creative ways to save money that don’t necessarily require searching for discounts or clipping coupons.

For example, do you have a beloved, but old chair that’s starting to look a little rough around the edges? Maybe a flea market find of a sofa that’s well built, but boasting a few holes? You can learn how to reupholster old furniture and save money.

Keep reading to learn how reupholstering can save you money, and a basic outline of how to tackle the do-it-yourself (DIY) reupholstering project.

How Does Reupholstering Old Furniture Save Me Money?

Whether you use a professional upholsterer or DIY person, you’re restoring an old piece of furniture and foregoing the expense of purchasing a whole new piece.

Not only is reupholstering great for restoring older furniture, it also represents a return to a more sustainable way of living. Instead of indulging in the consumerism mentality of constantly buying everything new, you can refurbish an older piece and work with what you already have – and enjoy the results!

Reupholstering older furniture allows you to repair broken frames, fix or replace strings, install new padding, choose your own customized fabric and even monitor the quality of craftsmanship that goes into the structure. With those kinds of options and features, you can’t afford not to reupholster old furniture.

What Are the Basics of Reupholstering Old Furniture?

If you’re just starting out reupholstering an old piece of furniture, here are some simple and basic steps to give you an overview of the project. You may want to consult a more thorough DIY book or video to help you through it.

First, you need to assemble your tools, including a pair of needle nose pliers, new fabric, batting, carpet knife, chalk, heavy scissors, screwdriver, industrial staple gun, reupholstering hammer, a tack puller and a claw tool.

If you like, you can often purchase a full reupholstering tool kit from many hardware retailers.

The Next Steps

Then you essentially disassemble the piece of furniture, replacing batting and hardware as you go, and finally reattaching new fabric using upholstery tacks, staples and glue. Of course, when you actually start to reupholster old furniture, it’s going to be a lot more complicated, but that’s the basics of any reupholstering project.

For beginners, try to start small and focus on a surmountable project, like a dining chair cushion. From there, set your sights higher to full-length sofas and massive headboards, because once you get the upholstery bug, you won’t be able to stop working on old furniture to save money.