Hello AT,
I recently bought a vintage settee (made between 1960s-1970s?) and I'd like to know if it is a piece worth reupholstering? It's about 50 x 30 inches and I bought it for $125 because it seems unique (dunno who designed it)...
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I have visions of reupholstering it in soft lemon velvet and lacquering the woodwork in white. Any info on its background or any ideas about reupholstering it (i.e. how much should I spend to reupholster it and best materials) would be great.
Thanks! Celina
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Comments (17)
lemon & white? LOVE IT!
If you love it and its 'bones' are strong, it's worth recovering regardless of monetary value or lineage.
If you do go for it, please show an "after" picture. Good luck.
That will be quite an expense. I think they say tufts are about $10 a piece each. Plus the general cost of reupholstery. I guess it just depends how much you love the piece and what your budget is. I think the piece has potential, but I know that the amount of money it would require would probably make me personally choose another option.
i say, if you love it go for it.
the lemon and white sounds quite scrumptious.
I can't imagine it costing less than $1,500 to have done not including the fabric. I CAN imagine it costing more.
I would estimate at least $1000 plus the cost of fabric just for reupholstering. Lacquering the woodwork would be an additional cost.
Its a cool piece-but it may be steep to redo-not only the fabric and labour-but chances are you'll need to spend on back and seat foam, frame re-inforcement and maybe springs..
color combo sounds great though..
I'd say your creative vision is worth realizing - think of how great it will feel when it's finished and you can tell the story of how it came to be. What price tag would you put on that? Perhaps it will spur you to risk further adventures in color :-)
This is the kind of project you do because you love the piece and are excited enough about the results to pay rather a lot (or expand your DIY skills dramatically), rather than for any sort of antique value -- so if that's not your situation, sell it to someone who's a better fit.
This will be a complicated upholstery job on a piece that probably started life at a very mainstream, non-"designed" furniture store or department store.
It would be possible to reupholster without the tufts, or with a smooth seat cushion and tufted back, to save money. It would change the look but I actually think it would look nice--a little simpler. Love that woodwork detail on the arms...
Maybe take the money you would use on re-upholstering and take a really thorough re-upholstering class. If that's your thing.
I think the yellow/white combo would look fabulous though!
WHY?
As to reUpholtsering this setee- and omitting the tufting, in the redo....
WHY?
that's about all it's got goin' for it.
Not, that I can't "see" your California Lemon and Insane Asylum White lacquer "vision"...it will be H O T - ...but, at what price?
I just paid $1400 to upholster a chair which did not have any tufting and was in perfect shape in terms of stuffing, etc. (admittedly I chose an expensive fabric, $85 a yard). This will definitely cost you way more - I can't imagine this running you less than $2K with a simple fabric and minimal stuffing problems, and that doesn't include getting the wood refinished either; spending that kind of money on a reupholster and then spraypainting the wood doesn't seem like a smart approach.
Do some careful shopping and see if it's really worth it to you to potentially spend $3K or more on this piece. Does the frame wiggle? Does it seem to have a good provenance or is it a department store piece, as Wende noticed? Is it the perfect size/shape for a specific spot in your home? Can you get something new for the same price? I suspect you will ultimately end up passing it on to someone else, who will just put a throw on it and use it as is.
As far as commercial pieces, when I worked at the Fed I was able to get a down couch that was in the Branch Mngrs' office for $50. Had it reupholstered and it came out great and the frame is mahogany...so sometimes commercial is great quality. I guess they built it for maximum use, which may not be the case with the above piece.
Big thanks to AT for posting and for everyone's input about this vintage settee. However, I cancelled its delivery (and purchase arrangement) this past weekend after realizing the seller was pulling the wool--and that was before I read your helpful comments.
Revelation: vintage can be junk, and when in a rush to find a unique piece of furniture, one can be a sucker. But not me. Yay!
Celina
If you love it, you can go for it. But I see this settee is nice, if you do not use it, just let it be there.
i say go for it, but do it yourself! $1500 for reupholstery sounds scary, and while it might take some doing, there's no reason why you can't.