Unico Interiors: Future Forward Mission

Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Unico has a single future-forward mission: to reduce global furniture waste.

Founded by Cristina Díaz-Dickson in 2020, today the company has grown to include end-to-end reupholstering services and an online fabric store.

By focusing on reupholstering existing pieces of furniture, Cristina believes the company can reach the most customers and make the biggest impact.

“It is estimated that furniture waste amounts to roughly 5% of landfills. By reupholstering our furniture, we can reduce the amount of global furniture waste. In addition, when we choose to give new life to old furniture instead of buying new furniture, we also reduce the consumption of natural resources such as wood and steel required to manufacture new furniture.”

But when should one choose to reupholster a furniture piece rather than replace it? We asked Cristina for some advice.

According to Cristina, there are a few factors, including cost and sentimental value, to take into account deciding to reupholster or retire a piece.

When to reupholster?

“Your furniture may not be anything special to most people, but you may be attached to the memories the piece represents. Perhaps it was a wedding gift or something you carefully picked out years ago. Maybe it reminds you of lovely times with friends and family and you would rather pay to extend the life of your beloved piece than buy something new,” Christina says.

“Also, if the item has been in the family for a while and has been passed down from generation to generation it is worth reupholstering. Some things are irreplaceable and it is impossible to put a monetary value on that.”

If it is a quality piece, valuable antique or unique piece of furniture, Cristina also advises reupholstering it rather than retiring it.

Lastly, she says that if the cost of reupholstering does not exceed replacing the item with a new piece, it is well worth doing it.

When to retire?

“If your furniture was relatively inexpensive and not a very good quality when it was new or if it does not have any sentimental value and can be easily replaced, then it’s probably not worth it to reupholster. Rather than buying a brand new piece, consider buying a high-quality secondhand piece at an estate auction or an antique furniture store and reupholstering it! The amount you spend will likely be comparable to the cost of buying something brand new but you will end up with a unique piece that has been restored to be as good as new and you will be making a small but important contribution to helping the planet,” says Cristina.