Anybody ever have furniture reupholstered?

[Jack D.]

They make a do-it-yourself re-upholstery kit that works great too...

[Ombligo]

Like others have said if you have quality furniture it can be worth it.

But be careful about judging it against the cost of new - much of the new is mass produced junk. Anything from a places like Rooms to Go is built to fall apart in a year or two.

Every piece of furniture in our home has been reupholstered at least once. Our sofa was custom built and the last reupholstering was done wit fabric costing $125 per yard and it took 17 yards. Luckily my Father-in-law owns the shop at did it as a gift using material paid for then rejected by a clent (it was intended for a home in Miami Beach).

I've learned a great deal about furniture quality from him. One trick for strong quality build at a lower cost is to buy commercial or office furniture. It lacks character but is built to hold up.

[WHiiP]

This is an industry where "they" typically quote very high initially. It is up to you to get them down to a reasonable number. Do NOT blindly accept the first quote. Properly done, you should be able to get them down at least 30% or M O R E .

Improve your negotiating skill set!


:ohsnap:

[Robert M]

Whip,

Not the place I went to for the quote. It's all off the shelf numbers. Non-negotiable. It'd be a waste of my time to go back to them.

Robert

[cbelt3]

I've done seat cushions and small upholstered bits and pieces myself. It's not difficult- my inlaws taught me- they reupholstered their own furniture. But the hard stuff, like couches and chairs- that's a lot harder. The tools and skillset you need are not trivial.

I will say this- in an era of disposable everything, reupholstery is a sop to the good old days, when things were worth cleaning, fixing, painting, and reupholstering. If you want to learn to do it yourself, start small (like with simple chair cushions) and work your way up.

There's a nice feeling of accomplishment when you put your tush on something that you made yourself. Especially if you didn't leave any staples sticking out that bite you ! :biggrin:

[timg]

I have never had any of my furniture reupholstered, but I've sure reupholstered a lot of furniture.

My grandfather did it for a living and taught us. My parents still run a shop.

As others have said, it depends on the quality of the furniture whether it is worth the cost. And the cost will be highly dependent on the fabric you choose. Of course, there's an added benefit in that you can get exactly the fabric you want.

I would think most shops would have standard labor costs for typical furniture - couch, chair, etc. if what you have is unique, it may be a little more.

[rz]

We bought a sofa and two chairs at an auction for $90. They were Bassett (decent brand), and we decided we were going to get them reupholstered. We got a quote from one place that was upwards of $1,000 for all 3 pieces. So my wife decided she was going to do it. It took her pretty much an entire weekend, and it still cost several hundred dollars in fabric. I helped her as much as I could. They look great, but had we known the price and time it would take up front, we would have just bought a set we liked as is.