apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Pam,

It's alot easier than one might think... I salvaged theseThonet chairs this past winter...

It took me one afternoon (about 4 hours) to address the wood and then about 4 more hours to finish the wood and deal with the upholstering. Total cost was about $120 for the two (chairs and materials)

Go for it, it's quite fun and frankly the bragging points go a long way (hell, I think this is the umpteenth thime I've posted about these chairs..I think I've just about used up their mojo- time for a new project...)

Julian,

I'm so impressed! Brag away! And thanks for showing the step-by-step.

Those chairs look fantastic, Julian!

I've done some reupholstering of fully upholstered furniture. Like many skills, it's not hard to do an OK job, but it really does take a lot of experience and skill to do a very good job. So, some of the expense of having a piece professionally done is simply paying a professional to give you professional results. I say this as someone who's a hobbyist, NOT a professional!

No idea of hard and fast dollar amounts for doing an entire piece, but my upholstery class teacher charged me $70 to cut, sew, and stuff the cushion on my chair project. I provided the fabric and of course the cushion. (It is without a doubt the most professional-appearing part of the whole project, which looks pretty good, certainly better than before, but not "showroom good".)
Maybe took her 2 hours, so $35 an hour, probably at a discount for a student--so say $40/hour.

Another big part of the cost is upholstery fabric. Bargain-basement cost for upholstery fabric is $10 a yard (54" width) and it goes way, way up from there. And it takes way more fabric than you might think to reupholster a piece, particularly if there's a design that needs to be carefully centered and pieced to make the back/seat/apron (front below seat) look coherent. My friendly local upholstery store has a chart that suggests 10 yards for an upholstered chair like a wingback. I got away with less for a similar chair (no "wings") but the pattern of my fabric didn't require me to be obessive about putting the design in register.

So: say you've got a couch, estimate conservatively 20 yards of fabric at $20/yard, that's $400 for fabric. Estimate 20 hours of work at $40/hour, that's $800.

Your Upholstery Experience may vary, but if you're looking for a ballpark figure, there's one!

For something more grounded, call around your local upholstery shops and ask them for estimates.

I splurged last spring & got my sofa reupholstered this past spring (in NYC). Total came to $3800. They used 17-18 yards of fabric at $45 a yard, the new stuffing was foam wrapped in down (not the most expensive option, but not the cheapest either. They resprung it as well.
I loved the lines of the sofa - that's why I had it done. I still love it and now it's actually comfortable & looks great. I still wince at the cost though.

I reupholstered a small convertable sofa. Most of the materials I purchased on sale, which helped to keep the cost very low and I did all the labor myself. It took me about 1 evening to remove existing upholstery, 1 evening to add batting where needed and cut out the new fabric. The ultrasuede I used was not patterned, so that minimized the amount I needed. Took 2 evenings to sew the cushion covers and cover the sofa base. The sofa had minimal lines to it, which made the job easier. No shirring or much in the way of pleating.

Price breakdown:

poly quiliting batting, maybe $15
12 yards of ultrasuede, $80 on sale
furniture tacks, thread, scissors, staple gun, $40

Does anyone have an idea of about how much doing an "egg" chair might be? I can imagine the cost being prohibitive for something unique (even though its a late 60s/early 70s knock off from grandma).

pam, i had two small armchairs re-upholstered at lakeview upholstery (or is it lakeshore upholstery?), on broadway between addison and belmont. they did a beautiful job, but it was really expensive - two small chairs came to about $1300. i'd gotten the chairs for free (they were very high-quality, but the fabric had been ruined) and thought i'd save money by re-upholstering as opposed to buying new ones. i was wrong, clearly :)

i'd say re-upholster if you absolutely love the sofa/chairs - otherwise, you won't lose any money by buying new ones.

Julian, those chairs look AMAZING! great job!

Shoot, my mother found two matching 1930s slipper chairs at an estate sale for $11 each and I'm worried about having them redone next spring. They have real springs an' stuff, not just modern foam cushions, and I think a home re-up job is beyond me. Would be so much cheaper to have them done in MI (where they are now) but then I can't hold the fabric choices up to them in person and I fear a long-distance style miscalculation. This stress I don't need.

If you can hide all the staples/tacks and the stuffing is in good enough condition to simply cover, it's pretty easy. I did a chair seat in nubby black linen--I sprayed the fabric with water before stretching, it tightened up beautifully when dry.

You can do small seats (like dining room table) yourself. But bigger jobs usually need a pro.

I have just acquired a way cool 1940s wicker set (heywood wakefieldish) and plan to repaint etc. but need to actually acquire and cover cushions.

So....to answer a question with another question can anyone out there suggest a place to get foam for a good price? It certainly is a big part of the tab.

thanks
Laura

Ah, I always shy from posting on AT, but Laurel, if your chairs are in metro Detroit and you can take a trip here, go to Haberman Fabrics in Royal Oak - they should be able to provide you with some names of people who would be willing to do the work, they have a fantastic selection of materials, and their staff are smart smart folks. It would be worth it, I suspect. In fact, poking around their website (click my name) reveals that they have a swatch service - maybe they could help without you even making the trip.

Dining-type chairs are simple. Sofas and upholstered chairs I wouldn't try without having taken a class!

I know someone mentioned Lakeview Upholstery, but does anyone have additional suggestions for upholstery company's in the Chicago area? I'm looking to get a large chair upholstered and would prefer to go someplace on recommendation. Thanks!

Thanks to all those who responded! I will check back in with AT Chicago once the chairs are done.

I have quite a bit of work done to vintage pieces of furniture, and have probably used about every firm in the city that does it. The closest and cheapest that I would reccomend is Eli Wyn at 2211 North Elston. If you describe the piece of furniture to Molly or Steve over the phone they can generally ballpark a labor number and a fabric yardage amount. If you bring in a snapshot with dimensions they will give you an actual quote. They have a back hall that is filled with fabric 'extras' that are the remains of old projects. They generally sell these for around $10 per yard. They also will order new fabric for you, and have fabrics that range form $15 per yard to $200 plus per yard. They do all of the work for Modern Times. They can be reached at 773-276-4441. If you have any sort of vintage mid century anything, the place to go is the Furniture shop at 4259 South Western. The best guy there to talk to is Mark Roe. He can redo womb chairs, all of the Mies stuff, has an amazing cleaning system that can make the vintage fabrics look like new. In his warehouse he has literally hundreds of pieces of vintage stuff (like Dunbar sofas, and entire room of Mies chairs, etc) that he will sell to people to have redone. The last time I was there he had some sweet McCobb pieces as well. He has an entire room of fabrics for sale, ranging from actual vintage Knoll wools to all of the high end mart textiles. His phone number is 773-376-2525.

Can anyone in the Chicago (NW burbs)area lead me to someone who can skillfully clean a vintage Knoll sofa? I'm afraid to just look someone up in the phone book. It's big, beautiful and red and has some dog odor I need to remove. Too valuable to have ruined by some schmuck. Help!

Gary

I highly recommend re-upholstering things yourself. It is not complicated by any means and very self fulfilling. Start with something small and easy that you aren't absolutely in love with and move on from there.

It takes a few tries to get a real eye for what you are doing. So don't start with your favorite piece. I started with pieces I found in deumpsters and at garage sales. If I made mistakes, there was no harm done. Now I am working on pieces for my friends and family. I reupholster my furniture at least once a year as my mood changes.

Also, slip covering is a really good option. And no, I do not mean the icky one size fits all slip covers that you buy at a discount store. Making, or having made, custom slip covers can be a really great option for those of us with spill prone friends. I had a sofa slip covered in white for a while and was completely ok with letting my college buddies eat on it.

If you are looking for Re-Upholstery - DO NOT USE LAKEVIEW UPHOLSTERY OWNED BY JOE PESCI ... this is a scam operation. He only offers sub-standard fabrics, he sources out the work, and will over promise on delivery (saying two weeks). Check out the BBB or Complaints.com - this guy has a long bad track record of ripping off people - this is a broderline criminal enterprise

Look elsewhere !!!!!!!

The registered agent for Lakeview Upholstery is actually Kenneth Ditkowski. Joe Pesci is only an alias. The contact information for the operation is also incorrect. The business address is 2626 W. Touhy Avenue, Chicago, IL 60645. I am in the process of taking Lakeview to court for failing to provide any service whatsoever - they took my money and tried to keep my furniture as a way to extort more than the agreed upon price. Avoid Lakeview Upholstery at all costs!