'Sprucing' up your home can be green

AUSTIN (KXAN) - If you're thinking of sprucing up your home but buying new furniture is not in the budget, reupholstering may be the way to go.

Spruce Upholstery is taking an old way of refurbishing to gain ground with those concerned with the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency said 8.1 million tons of furniture ends up in landfills annually, and the women of Spruce are fighting those numbers one chair and sofa at a time.

"What you throw out is just contributing to landfills,” said Spruce co-owner Amanda Brown. “So, in terms of being green, it's great. You can reuse a piece that you already have and make it work in your space."

A crew of four women spends hours reupholstering used furniture. Sometimes the pieces are heirlooms passed down from generation to generation but can now be turned into original showpieces.

“The love of vintage here, the love of one-of-a-kind,” said Spruce co-owner Lizzie Nguyen. “People come in, and they want their statement piece."

"With the economy being a little uneasy, upholstery is a great option for being more economical,” said Brown. “You're reusing what you already have."

The cost to redesign starts at just a few hundred dollars and varies in price, based on the size of the furniture and cost of the fabric. In some cases, getting the new look can be faster than buying or ordering.

"It takes a few days to do. It takes about half-a-day to strip it down,” said Nguyen. “We take everything down to the frame and rebuild with all-new material."

One of the other things that may work better for your budget is learning how to reupholster yourself.

Spruce offers classes that provide all the tools and assist customers in finding the right fabric for the piece of furniture they bring to the class.

Upholsterers said old furniture sometimes has the best body and that frames of some new furniture are not always reusable.