reupholster

Word family

• upholster
  verbC1
• upholstery
  nounB2
• upholsterer
  nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Reupholster is narrowly about replacing the fabric and padding on furniture — nothing more. Recover can carry the same furniture meaning in specialist contexts ('recover a sofa'), but its everyday sense is 'get back' (recover from illness, recover lost files), so it often creates confusion. Refurbish is broader: a refurbished chair might have its frame repaired and its legs sanded, not just new fabric. Renovate is broader still, applying to whole rooms or buildings — you renovate a kitchen, not a single armchair. Restore implies bringing an item back to its original state, often for antiques; a restored Victorian chaise longue keeps period-accurate fabric, while a reupholstered one might get a modern floral print. Choose reupholster when the only change is new outer material and stuffing; use refurbish, renovate, or restore when structural work is involved.

Common collocations

Etymology

Formed by adding the prefix re- ('again') to upholster, a verb that emerged in the 19th century as a back-formation from the much older noun upholsterer (a tradesperson who fits furniture with coverings and padding). Upholsterer itself traces back through Middle English to the Old French word houpelande, referring to a padded overgarment — the same root that gives us the noun upholstery. So reupholster literally means 'to upholster again': to give a tired piece of furniture a fresh skin.