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I've heard great things about the quality and price of the upholstery program at the jail in Norfolk. Google around, there is an article about it from the globe I think.

Not to be a negative Nelly, but I would be wary of putting money into an upholstered piece that had been stored in a basement for a while. Think mold, bugs, etc.

To respond to Matilda

Any good upholsterer will replace the foam, batting and webbing, etc. Sometimes they will even strip it down to the bare frame.

The couch is great and well worth getting it reupholstered! Please post an after picture!

The Fabric Place in Woburn has a good re-upholstery service. The prices are reasonable, too.

You could also try calling Zimmons in Lynn. They are major suppliers of fabric and might be able to refer you to someone.

My grandmother was a professional re-upholsterer at a place in Wellesley, somewhere on Washington Street. I know they are still in business and do major restorations on frames as well as re-stuffing, re-shaping, and slipcovers. But, they are incredibly price-ie.

mcb- Thanks for the tip! That sounds like such a great resource. I've been searching around for upholstery places too, and that looks like the best option yet.

ehy2k, all Fabric Place stores are closing (*tear* I worked at the Framingham store in high school). So I'm not sure if they'll still be doing upholstering in Woburn as they're pretty much just trying to clear out inventory now. Obviously call ahead.

Ohhh - a Castro Convertible!
Well worth reupholstering.

Melo Uphosletering in Somerville. One of their workers teaches the very very populr upholstery class in JP at the Eliot School. Or, take that course and DIY. It is a big piece but all straight lines so it could be easier thank you think.

I can't remember the name - but there's a nice little place, been there forever, on washington st. in Roslindale. We had a chair done there and they did a fantastic job (and it was a curbside found chair, so it had some issues!)

Wow, I agree with bepsf, what a great sofa find with such nice lines! I love the way it reclines and the tufting. I also second homelady's recommendation of Melo and Sons in Somerville. Paul is the upholster and he also teaches at the Eliot School in JP. He's fast and they aren't very expensive. They also pick up and deliver, I think for free(?)

What color are you going to do?

I had to google the prision (the first hit was prisiontalk.com... I like to keep the guys in IT wondering ).

The program that trains inmates in upholstry is MassCor, and apparently they also do silk screening, printing, etc

http://masscor.us/ac4store/

The article mcb mentioned above is:

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2005/04/14/prison_rehab/

It gives contact information, decribes the process (and comparative prices for one piece by the reporter) and results. Apparently a lot of the workers in the shop have 10 years experience, so you are not getting fresh recruits, and the results are very good for the price.

has anyone used or heard of freddie farkel's in watertown? i visited once and they had a sizable collection of discount upholstery. i was there exactly 4 minutes and only had enough time to see that they carried a lot of traditional/chintzy fabrics, but was told i just needed to dig for something more modern. they quoted me around $6-700 for an antique wingback with nailheads that i found on the mean streets of cambridge. would this be comparable to melo and sons in somverville?

In the globe article, she mentions a similar quote from more commercial places (700ish for labor, plus 8 yards of fabric), and $250 from the prison (who told her 5 yards of fabric...she brought 8, they returned 4 with the finished product).

I just found this listing from Boston Consumers' CHECKBOOK Magazine (which I've never heard of before). It won't let you get the ratings unless you subscribe, but at least it's a listing of quite a few options.

thank you all so much for the help - i'm going to look into all of the options suggested (although i think i'd feel fantastic supporting that prison program and the pricing is difficult to turn down - thanks siobhan!). the thing i'm worried about is whether or not this sofa technically counts as a sleeper sofa (the article states that the prison program won't accept them).

bepsf - thanks for helping me identify this thing! i am going to try to research it more, i know nothing about it... only that it holds a world of potential.

we have yet to decide what color/pattern/fabric we're going to use... any thoughts?

I asked the owner of Reside in Cambridge and she suggested Kampler's Upholstery 617 254 0397.

Hi Julia,

great couch!! You might try Bloom & Company, which I found off of Angie's List a while back; they seem fairly affordable from the estimate they gave me for a pair of bergeres ($650), though I haven't yet used their services.

Ehy2k-- I think you're thinking of E. A. Davis, in Wellesley next to Blue Ginger. Their upholsterer is a true professional, but he's extremely pricey-- he quoted me around $4000 for the same pair of chairs (given that they are antiques, he wanted to use horsehair to refill the cushions, etc).

All best!
Phoebe